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Get your basketball tickets now, for the second Harlem Globetrotters tour of Turkey Sweet Georgia Brown's favorite-sons open in Izmir Basketball Hall of Fame Team is back next month after a 17-year gap 'Hall of Fame' Globetrotters return to Turkey... Click for enlargement! Thanks to Hürriyet Gazetesi 5 October 2006 Harlem Globetrotters Return to Turkey in November after 17 years -- open 3-game 'show' basketball tour in Izmir "Basketball" is the easy answer to the question, "What's the #2 favorite sport of Turkey." (See our blog at football-association--006-05-10.html if you have any doubt about the #1 favorite.) So, the Sport Salon should be packed when basketball's most famous show team, the Harlem Globetrotters (Harlem Gezginleri), begin strutting their stuff to 'Sweet Georgia Brown' again next month in Izmir. The 'shoot-off' begins at 8 PM local time in the 9,000 seat Kalkapınar Spor Salon on 3 November. Although a different black show team, the Harlem Wizards, visited Turkey in 2001, this will mark the Globetrotters 2nd Turkish tour in the team's proud history. The Globetrotters first came to Turkey for the opening of Istanbul's ABDI İpekçi Spor Salon in 1989. The Harlem-based team, which combines real basketball talent and showmanship on the basketball court, was established by London-born promoter Abe Saperstein (1902-1966), way back in 1927. During the Saperstein years the team was featured in films and in a long-running animated cartoon series -- even while they continued to wow basketball fans worldwide. After Saperstein passed away, the team went through a period of decline during the 1970s and 80s. But in 1993, the Globetrotters franchise was revived by Mannie Jackson (a former team member) who purchased the team and set about reversing its fortunes -- which have been on the rise since then. In 2002 the Globetrotters were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Up to now the team has played more that 22,000 b-ball matches, usually against inept opponents, such as the Washington Generals (1953–1995) and the New York Nationals (1995–present). But, to quiet basketball critics, the Globetrotters still play pickup games with college and NBA-quality teams, notably The Magic Johnson Basketball All Stars -- though the results have been mixed. You can order your basketball tickets for the opening match in Izmir from Biletix (http://www.biletix.com/) -- in either English or Turkish. In fact, tickets are available from Biletix for all 3 matches of the Turkish tour, as follows: Harlem Globetrotters 2006 @ İzmir 3 November Friday 20:00 Halkapınar Spor Salonu Harlem Globetrotters 2006 @ Ankara 4 November Saturday 18:00 Ankara Atatürk Spor Salonu Harlem Globetrotters 2006 @ İstanbul 5 November Sunday 16:00 Abdi İpekçi Spor Merkezi See you at the Halkapınar Sport Salon, that Friday night in Izmir? Scalping tickets? Post your comment...»

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