HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS | #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

The Harlem Globetrotters started in 1926 on Chicago’s South Side, not Harlem, founded by African American players from Wendell Phillips High School. Originally the Savoy Big Five, they became the “Globe Trotters” under Tommy Brookins, and in 1929, Abe Saperstein took over, renaming them the “New York Harlem Globe Trotters” to tie them to Black culture and suggest global travel. Early on, they were a serious team, playing over 1,000 games by 1936 and winning the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940. In 1948 and 1949, they beat the Minneapolis Lakers, proving Black talent and influencing NBA integration.

By the 1950s, as the NBA opened up, they shifted to entertainment, with stars like Goose Tatum and Meadowlark Lemon adding comedy and tricks. They toured worldwide, playing for huge crowds—like 75,000 in Berlin in 1951—and became “Ambassadors of Goodwill.” Wilt Chamberlain joined briefly in 1959. They’ve since played over 26,000 games in 124 countries, entertaining millions. Ownership changed after Saperstein’s death in 1966, with Mannie Jackson reviving them in 1993. The first woman, Lynette Woodard, joined in 1985. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, they still perform widely today.

THE RHINE DERBIES EXPLAINED: BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH, COLOGNE, BAYER LEVERKUSEN AND FORTUNA DÜSSELDORF

Bayer Leverkusen versus Borussia Mönchengladbach is just one of the big Rhine derby rivalries. - © DFL/Getty Images/Alexander Scheuber

Rhine rivals Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Cologne and Fortuna Düsseldorf duel for regional supremacy in north-west Germany as well as points when derby day comes around each season.

bundesliga.com snuggles into the footballing hotbed of North Rhine-Westphalia and the major derby rivalries that mean these fixtures are among the biggest games of any season for the fans — and players — of the four major clubs.

Fortuna Düsseldorf - Cologne 

First derby: 11 May 1950, Düsseldorf 0-1 Cologne (Oberliga West)

First Bundesliga derby: 29 October 1966, Düsseldorf 1-3 Cologne

First Bundesliga 2 derby: 19 October 1998, Cologne 1-0 Düsseldorf

Most recent derby: 21 September 2024, Cologne 2-2 Düsseldorf

Bundesliga derbies: 46, Cologne leads with 22 wins, 14 draws, 10 defeats

Bundesliga 2 derbies: 5, Cologne leads with 2 wins, 2 draw, 1 defeat

Distance between clubs: 26.8 miles as the crow flies.

This rivalry does actually have real history to it. And we mean "history". It dates back to the Middle Ages when Cologne - a former Roman colony - was already a well-established cathedral city and Düsseldorf - 'dorf' means 'village' in German - was no more than its name. Many of the farmers from around the village fought for the Duke of Brabant against the archbishop of Cologne in 1288 in what became known as the Slaughter of Worringen, and it all started there. We said there would be history...

Fortunately, now the fighting is limited to on the rink between the cities' two ice hockey teams, who will have four derbies this season. The football teams met frequently too between the 1960s and 1990s, but since the turn of the millennium, their yo-yoing between divisions means encounters have been much more scarce.

Düsseldorf and Cologne have a long-standing rivalry that goes well beyond the boundaries of the football pitch. - IMAGO/Moritz Mueller
 

Düsseldorf are very much second-best in terms of derby wins. They did get a draw in the last meeting between these two in September of last year, but historically the Billy Goats have held the upper hand.

Former Germany international forward Klaus Allofs, who won Euro '80, is the best-known player to have featured for both clubs. Born in Düsseldorf, he won two DFB Cups and finished runner-up in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1978/79. He then spent six years in Cologne (1981-87), winning another DFB Cup and a UEFA Cup runners-up medal in 1985/86. He returned as coach of Fortuna for the 1998/99 season, but was fired before the end of the campaign. He came back to Düsseldorf over two decades later in 2020 to take a role in the club's management.

Cologne - Bayer Leverkusen

First derby: 4 November 1951, Cologne 0-2 Leverkusen (Oberliga West)

First Bundesliga derby: 15 September 1979, Leverkusen 1-1 Cologne

Most recent derby: 3 March 2024, Cologne 0-2 Leverkusen 

Bundesliga derbies: 72, Leverkusen lead the series with 29 wins, 25 draws, 18 defeats

Distance between clubs: 9.3 miles as the crow flies

This derby does not have the history of the rivalry between Cologne and Mönchengladbach simply because Leverkusen were only first promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979. Suffocating geographical proximity between the two clubs and cities, however, means there are all the ingredients for a fiercely passionate derby atmosphere when the pair meet.

It is just a short train ride from the Domstadt — the Cathedral City — of Cologne to the town that gained its name from the 19th-century industrialist Carl Leverkus - and is home to the Bayer pharmaceutical company. The journey is one that has been made regularly by fans of both clubs since their first Bundesliga meeting in 1979.

While Cologne fans have been known to mock their neighbours' functional and much smaller stadium as a 'car park', Leverkusen — home to some 160,000 people — can certainly boast of having had the better football team over the last four decades than the million-strong city on their doorstep.

Cologne fans will rightly point out they were the very first Bundesliga champions in 1963 and that they also won it in 1977/78, but Leverkusen's historic unbeaten romp to the 2023/24 title may just trump that.

Die Werkself — the Factory Eleven, in reference to Bayer's creation and ownership of the club — have also finished league runners-up five times, racked up over 100 UEFA Champions League/European Cup appearances, more than 50 in the UEFA Europa League and claimed continental silverware in the shape of the 1987/88 UEFA Cup. They were also Champions League runners-up in 2001/02 and 2023/24 Europa League runners-up, the only game they lost in an incredible domestic double-winning campaign.

They have derby bragging rights too. They have the better head-to-head record by some margin, and achieved a near-14-year unbeaten run against the Billy Goats (if you're wondering, 'What's with that nickname?', see below) between November 1997 and April 2011.

This derby also generally provides excitement on the pitch. Indeed, only five times in their 72 Bundesliga meetings to date have the pair served up a goalless draw - and despite Leverkusen's better overall record, Cologne won in Leverkusen in both 2021/22 and 2022/23.

The highest-scoring encounter to date came in May 1985 when future FIFA World Cup winner Pierre Littbarski scored twice to help Cologne into a 3-2 half-time lead. They then went 4-2 up only for Herbert Waas to find the net twice to secure a point for Leverkusen, and ensure both sets of fans went home with smiles.

Despite the division, some players have crossed the divide. Patrick Helmes was born in Cologne and started and ended his professional career with his hometown club, but in between, the 13-time Germany international striker had a three-year spell at Leverkusen (2008-11).

More recently, Florian Wirtz — born in the Cologne suburb of Pulheim — spent 10 years at his hometown club's youth academy before making the switch to Leverkusen, where he has developed into a record-breaking bona fide Bundesliga star.

Cologne - Borussia Mönchengladbach

First derby: 10 September 1950, Cologne 6-2 Gladbach (Oberliga West)

First Bundesliga derby: 20 November 1965, Mönchengladbach 2-3 Cologne

Most recent derby: 9 March 2024, Gladbach 3-3 Cologne

Bundesliga derbies: 98, Gladbach lead the series with 52 wins, 18 draws, 28 defeats

Distance between clubs: 35.4 miles

Although Mönchengladbach is not situated on the Rhine like the other two, this one is considered 'the big one' in terms of local rivalry. Why? History. This time it's 100% football history, and the man who wrote much of it for both teams and one of German football's greatest figures, Hennes Weisweiler.

Just after Cologne claimed the inaugural Bundesliga title, one of their former players, Weisweiler, took charge of second-tier Gladbach. And to give you an indication of what he then did simply search for the BORUSSIA-PARK address and you'll find it's located at Hennes Weisweiler Allee 1.

That's because he took a team of young local talents such as Günter Netzer and Jupp Heynckes to the summit of German — and very nearly European — football in a ludicrously successful period in the 1970s, a decade in which the club won the Bundesliga title five times.

But he's also a legend in Cologne. Why else do you think the club mascot — yes, the goat — is named Hennes?

After leaving Gladbach in 1975 following a legendary 11-year stint, Weisweiler coached Barcelona briefly before taking over as Cologne boss in 1976. Over the next four years, he worked his magic again, taking an unheralded team to the domestic double in 1977/78 as well as to a European Cup semi-final.

Players have made the switch too. Part of that great Gladbach side and now club vice-president, Rainer Bonhof, captained Cologne later in his career while Hans-Georg Dreßen transferred back and forth no fewer than four times, and — after injury cut short his career at 26 — later became assistant coach with Borussia. "There was never any problem," he said of his treatment by opposing fans. "Neither in Gladbach, nor in Cologne."

That was certainly a good thing for Weisweiler and some of his players who were treated by dentist Franz Wichelhaus. 'Who?!' you cry. Wichelhaus was the very first player to be transferred between the two clubs in 1953 in the pre-Bundesliga days. He couldn't make the breakthrough in Cologne and so moved to Mönchengladbach where he became team captain before switching to the profession he had studied for after his playing career.

Leverkusen - Mönchengladbach

First derby: 19 October 1952, Leverkusen 2-2 Gladbach (Oberliga West)

First Bundesliga derby: 15 December 1979, Leverkusen 0-0 Gladbach

Most recent derby: 18 January 2025, Leverkusen 3-1 Gladbach

Bundesliga derbies: 86, Leverkusen lead the series with 36 wins, 28 draws, 22 defeats

Distance between clubs: 26 miles

Almost certainly one of the reasons both Cologne and Mönchengladbach fans treat Leverkusen as their 'little' Rhine derby neighbours is that the Bayer-built outfit have got the better of both of them throughout their Bundesliga history.

Leverkusen are now unbeaten in 11 top-flight outings against the Foals, following up a frustrating goalless draw at home last term with wins at home and away this term.

Even if Leverkusen won the 2023/24 double, the club is still playing catch-up in the silverware stakes. Gladbach fans can console themselves with a weighty haul of five Bundesliga titles, three DFB Cups, two UEFA Cups, and — like Leverkusen in 2001/02 — European Cup runners-up.

That was in the 1976/77 final, however, and the last of Gladbach's Bundesliga titles came in that same year — two years before Leverkusen even played their first German top-flight game.

With only a DFB Cup and Bundesliga 2 title added to the trophy cabinet since the pair first met with top-flight points up for grabs, Gladbach fans have not got much to goad their neighbours about now. 

While fans would not dream of doing so, players have crossed the divide.

Christoph Kramer joined Leverkusen aged eight and went on to play for the first team before really making the breakthrough at Bundesliga level during a two-year loan spell at Mönchengladbach between 2013 and 2015. He returned to Leverkusen for a season, but the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner made the switch to Gladbach permanent in 2016, making 288 competitive appearances before an emotional departure in summer 2024.

The transfer traffic has gone in the opposite direction too. Walter Posner played just two Bundesliga games for Mönchengladbach — that was enough to get him a 1974/75 title winner's medal — but featured in 134 for Leverkusen over a nine-year spell.

Hopefully Heiko Herrlich got a return ticket when he left Leverkusen after winning the 1992/93 DFB Cup to join Mönchengladbach. He won another DFB Cup there before playing for Borussia Dortmund, but he came back to the BayArena as coach between summer 2017 and December 2018.

 - Bundesliga.com

BASEBALL LEGEND WILLIE MAYS, ALL-ROUND GREAT OF AMERICA'S PASTIME, DIES AT 93

Willie Mays, star outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, arrives on Feb. 4, 1962 at a San Francisco public playground equipped for a workout on his own. Mays, who recently signed a Giants contract for an estimated $90,000 largest in Giants history, said he wanted to limber up some as spring training is just around the corner. Robert Houston/Associated Press 1982

 

 Willie Mays, the Hall of Fame centerfielder whose all-around skills made him one of greatest baseball players of all time, died on Tuesday at the age of 93, Major League Baseball announced.

Mays, who brought an explosive exuberance to the game in his peak years, died of heart failure, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Mays played 23 seasons for the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets, from 1951 through 1973.

In his prime, he could do it all on the baseball field. Mays was the epitome of what came to be known as a "five-tool player" - meaning he was exceptional at hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, throwing and baserunning.

But Mays' talent was only part of what made him a superstar. He also played with a verve and passion that were discernible even to spectators in the cheap seats. He was known for playing stickball with kids on the streets of Harlem, near the former Polo Grounds where he played.

In the real games, fans delighted when Mays would sprint with such speed and fury that he would run out from under his hat as he stole a base or chased down a flyball to deep centerfield.

His snag of a fly ball in the 1954 World Series, sprinting with his back toward home plate some 460 feet away, is known simply as The Catch.

"He could do everything and do it better than anyone else, (and) with a joyous grace," wrote New York Times sports columnist Arthur Daley.

Mays, known as "The Say Hey Kid" because of his standard greeting, was ranked second on The Sporting News' 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players - behind Babe Ruth and ahead of Ty Cobb.

Baseball-Reference.com ranks him fifth all time using the modern statistic Wins Above Replacement, which measures a player's overall value, behind Ruth, pitchers Walter Johnson and Cy Young, and his godson Barry Bonds.

Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility, won the Most Valuable Player award twice and was named to the all-star team 24 times, a record shared only with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial.

When he retired, Mays held third place on the all-time home run list with 660, behind Aaron at 755 and Ruth with 714. He was also the first ballplayer to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases.

Willie Howard Mays Jr. was born in the gritty steel town of Westfield, Alabama, on May 6, 1931, during the segregation era and was inspired early to play ball by his father and an uncle, he said.

"My uncle would say every day, 'You're going to be a baseball player. You're going to be a baseball player, and we're gonna see to that,'" he said. "At 10, I was playing against 18-year-old guys. At 15, I was playing professional ball with the Birmingham Black Barons, so I really came very quickly in all sports."

Mays joined the New York Giants of the National League early in the 1951 season, four years after Jackie Robinson had integrated Major League Baseball. He failed to get a hit in his first 12 trips to the plate before smacking his first, a home run off future Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.

Mays went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in 1951 with a .274 average, helping the Giants come from 13 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers before his team won the pennant on a legendary home run by Bobby Thomson. Mays, then 20 years old, was on deck when Thomson hit his home run, later telling reporters he was so nervous he prayed he would not come to bat.

Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of 1953 while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, spending much of his service time playing for the Army baseball team.

He returned to the Giants in 1954 and won the first of his two Most Valuable Player awards as he paced the Giants to a four-game World Series sweep of the Cleveland Indians. In the first game of that series, Mays pulled off The Catch, which remains one of the most memorable plays in baseball history.

At New York's Polo Grounds, the Indians' Vic Wertz hit a shot to deep centerfield. Mays turned, sprinted toward the wall, made a graceful over-the-shoulder catch and then immediately whirled around and made a perfect throw that kept two Cleveland baserunners from advancing.

"I was a guy, when I first came up, I believed I could catch any ball that stayed in the ballpark," Mays told an interviewer years later. "I guess I was kind of a cocky kid, knowing that if the ball went up, I could catch it."

In 1958, the Giants moved to San Francisco, where Mays was not quite so beloved. Fans crowding into tiny Seals Stadium, the Giants' first home, instead embraced rookie sensations Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey as their own.

"Mays never was to San Francisco what he was to New York," wrote sportswriter Dick Young. "When the Giants moved to California, the San Francisco fans saw Mays as 'of' New York."

The Giants moved into cavernous and windy Candlestick Park in 1960, robbing Mays of many home runs that would have gone out in a more typical ballpark.

But Mays still possessed extraordinary skills and in 1962, carried the Giants to another playoff win over the Dodgers and into the World Series.

The series was a seven-game spellbinder won by the New York Yankees when Bobby Richardson speared a line drive for the final out of the game with Mays on second base, representing what would have been the winning run.

By the late 1960s, Mays was slowing down. In May 1972, he was traded to the New York Mets and made a final World Series appearance in 1973, his last season, when the Mets lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games. He retired later that year.

In his book "Willie's Time," baseball writer and historian Charles Einstein wrote:

"The lights were hot and the cameras rolled and you knew Willie was there because you heard that laugh. Came The Automatic Question: 'Who was the greatest player you ever saw?' His answer was prompt enough: 'I thought I was.' There was merriment in his eyes as he looked around the room. 'I hope I didn't say that wrong.'"

- Reuters 

QUEEN ELIZABETH II (PRINCESS ELIZABETH) GREETS PARTICIPANTS AT WIMBLEDON | 1951