The Globetrotters
shoot to help the troops

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a review of the Harlem Globetrotters, an Anthony Fedorov update, a fun family idea and a cryptogram.

THE TROTTERS
The Harlem Globetrotters spun their annual debut through Philadelphia on March 10 and 11 between the Wachovia Center and Liacouras Center.
The Harlem Globetrotters have become a part of history, entertaining more than 120 million fans in 115 countries. They will always be considered comedy showmen because of their humor, jokes, slam-dunks, ball handling and dancing on the courts.
Each year they travel to many states and countries to entertain. This year, the 2007 performance was no different.
The Globetrotters continued their tradition of good will and again become part of history by traveling overseas to entertain our troops. They showed their American pride by showing the audience at this year’s tour a mini-documentary about their trip overseas. It consisted of a 21-day tour of the Middle East that included stops at 12 U.S. military bases in five different countries.
According to their Web site, they stopped at "three bases in Kuwait and three different stops in Iraq, including Camp Sykes in Tal Afar, Camp Warrior in Kirkuk and Camp Liberty in Baghdad. While in Baghdad, the Globetrotters toured Al Faw Palace, one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. The team then played at military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Africa, and a game aboard the USS Eisenhower, an active U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf."
I did not realize until I wrote this column that this was the third consecutive year the Globetrotters have visited U.S. troops overseas in December for the holiday season.
I am still amazed about some of the information from my 2006 column, where I found out that our government asked the Globetrotters to travel to Berlin, Germany, after World War II, with Jesse Owens to bring harmony and good will to its people and country.
Team owner Mannie Jackson’s opinion was, "I think that whoever coined the phrase ‘American ambassadors of good will’ back in the ’50s, it was fortuitous (happened by chance), because the Globetrotters have in fact been ambassadors of goodwill. I think further that it was not until the seventies [then-President] Gerald Ford made the declaration that has made us the official American ambassadors of good will. But it has also been something that the Harlem Globetrotters have lived by for years and years, where they have tried to build bridges between people and cultures and to represent the values of this country in every city and continent that we have been on."
Anyway, the Globetrotters, like always, played the New York Nationals, a group of talented former collegiate players. However, if you are wondering who won the game, if you said the Globetrotters, you are absolutely correct.
The game did not disappoint anyone. The Globetrotters started the game with their usual circle of basketball tricks to the tune of Sweet Georgia Brown. The routines included phenomenal basketball spinning, amazing passes, and even catching the ball on the back of their necks. This is the fourth year that I have seen them perform, and it never grows old. I look forward to seeing them again next year.

ANTHONY FEDOROV UPDATE
Anthony Fedorov is the next former American Idol contestant to make the leap onto the New York stage. Anthony will star in the lead role of Matt in the off-Broadway production of the world’s longest running musical, The Fantasticks. The show debuts May 1 at the Snapple Theater Center and is scheduled to run through July 29.
Anthony was featured as a guest on Fox 5’s Good Day NY last Friday. He performed two songs from the Broadway show The Fantasticks: Try to Remember and I Can See It.
Also Anthony is an official spokesman for the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA).
His 28-year-old brother Denis passed away on Sept. 16, 2006, from a rare form of ewings sarcoma cancer. For more info on the Sarcoma Foundation of America, please log onto www.curesarcoma.org.
Anthony also appeared on MY9/WWOR TV on Sunday to discuss his participation in the Sarcoma Foundation and what can be done to help find early detection and a cure. Anthony sang a very special song he wrote in honor of his brother, Never Over.
"I am extremely happy and proud to be involved as a spokesman for Sarcoma and to have this opportunity to appear with some of the most experienced and skilled sarcoma doctors in the U.S.," he said. "I will have the opportunity to share my own personal experiences with the audience and the doctors and together we’ll discuss the various things that can be done to help create more awareness to aid in the battle."

FUN FAMILY IDEA
Since Dancing with the Stars made the sport of dancing popular again, I saw an ad for Riverdance and thought some people might be interested in attending this:
According to a news release, the Original International Phenomenon is in its 12th year. It will be performed at the Academy of Music May 15 to 20. Riverdance had its world premiere at the Point Theatre, Dublin, in February 1995. Riverdance draws on Irish traditions of dance and music. Riverdance consists of 70 performers performing to Bill Whelan’s music. It has had more than 9,000 performances, been seen live by more than 19.3 million people in over 276 venues throughout 32 countries across four continents. They have traveled more than 500,000 miles (or to the moon and back!).
For tickets, call 215-731-3333 or www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway.

CRYPTOGRAM
BZABEF TJGJGHJT LKJ GJC BCY APGJC AKP BTJ PNJTFJBF OXUKLXCU OPT ZXHJTLE
Hints: G is M, A is W, C is N, T is R
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com