The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders

Subject: The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:12 pm

A writer named Dick Burdette was skeptical. He had heard all the stories about the Waterloo Wonders and took them with a grain of salt. So he traveled to the village tucked deep in the hardscrabble Appalachian hills of Southern Ohio. The first of two original Wonders he found was wearing bib overalls and strumming a guitar. More skepticism.
They walked to the home of the second Wonder and then strolled down to the new consolidated high school where the basketball team was practicing. The two old Wonders, both in their late forties now, took on the young players in an impromptu game and made monkeys of them. Then the pair went to center court and each hit seven straight baskets. With each shot, Burdette's skepticism faded until it had vanished.

More sophisticated fans laughed when the Waterloo Wonders showed up in Columbus for the finals of the 1934 Class B state tournament. Even the name of their coach and the school's principal, Magellan Hairston, was the butt of a few jokes. The players did the unthinkable and passed the championship trophy from one to another before the opening tipoff.
Then the game began and the laughter ceased. A display of crisp behind-the-back passes, bullet-like throws to teammates, dribbling between and around their legs and brilliant shooting silenced the crowd.
But that was nothing compared to their usual antics. Basketball was supposed to be fun, wasn't it? So they had fun. When an opponent missed a shot, a Wonder often grabbed the rebound, made a courtly bow and handed the ball to the player for a second try. They hit baskets by bouncing the ball on the floor and through the hoop. During timeouts they munched hotdogs and, after building a lead, two of the players would sit in the grandstand and eat popcorn while the other three put on a dazzling display of passing. While a game was in progress they were even known to open a bag of marbles and play a game at center court.
These hijinks drove Magellan Hairston crazy because all he wanted to do was win. Which the Wonders did by taking the state championship two years in a row.
During the second year the Ohio High School Athletic Association relaxed the rules to allow the Waterloo Wonders to play as many games as they could schedule. They traveled throughout the state in Hairston's car and easily defeated the best of the large schools. One night the car broke down and they didn't arrive for the game until two-thirty in the morning. The entire crowd was still waiting to see them play.
After graduation they turned pro and beat the best of the professionals, including the Original Celtics and the Harlem Globetotters. Then World War II put an end to their playing days.
How did five kids from the backwoods (one came from a place called Greasy Ridge) do it? By learning to shoot baskets with a ball made of rags. By practicing in the hayloft of a barn. By working harder then anyone else and above all by having fun. The Waterloo Wonders, the world won't see their likes again.
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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
www.dickstodghill.com

Subject: Re: The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:17 pm

I would have loved to see them play the globetrotters. Basketball is one of the few sports I really enjoy watching. But the ones I watch are preferably watched in person. I love the enthusiasm of the crowds, it is contagious.
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:31 pm

Playing for money did away with playing for fun. Too bad. Lots of youngsters today go out for sports and it is no fun. They hear phrases like, "no pain, no gain." Unless you are made to sweat and hurt you can't make it. I suppose that's true with the new rules, but sometimes just playing for fun can be fun. That sounds like the Waterloo wonders.
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"To Beirut and Back"
http://www.freewebs.com/abemarch
"With every adversity there is a benefit."

Subject: Re: The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:36 pm

While winning and losing can be important, if you play for fun, losing isn't that painful. I love to play cards, but it doesn't really matter if I win or lose, I just enjoy the game.

Many kids today do not seem to take joy in the doing, only the winning. And then there are the parents who cannot bear to have their child lose and say don't keep score. So how do they learn how to lose with grace or strive to succeed?
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:09 am

The Harlem Globetrotters came to Casa Grande when I was somewhere around 17. That was in the time of black and white tv. The movie downtown played three times a week, the same movie.

What great entertainment the Trotters were! I wish I could have seen the Waterloo Wonders!

What a fond and fun memory you have brought up for me, Dick. It hangs right in there with the Enid bakery smell on the way to school.

Love,
Betty
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