WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — The Washington Generals, the singular green and gold-laden rival team of the beloved Harlem Globetrotters, are no more.
The Generals announced this week their decision to disintegrate after being dropped by their opponent of over 60 years. The ever-losing team’s general manager, John Ferrari, got the decisive call last month, “and they just told me that was it.”
“I turned to my wife and just said to her, in disbelief, ‘It’s over,’” he told ESPN.
The equally-globetrotting team lost well over 16,000 games against their red, white and blue-clad rivals since their formation in 1917. Only a single game was won, and in 1971 — the winning shot made by team owner Red Klotz — it went down in history labeled under “notorious.”
“Beating the Globetrotters is like shooting Santa Claus,” the late Klotz famously said.
The Globetrotters will still entertain crowds, but against a new, probably internally recruited teams. Games played against the Generals, after all, were for long a stable partnership, but as the Globetrotters are under new ownership, the move is suspected to be financially inspired.
“All great rivalries come to an end, and as we get set to celebrate our 90th anniversary, we are excited to take on a new opponent,” Globetrotter alum and current coach Sweet Lou Dunbar said in a statement. “We are looking forward to building a new great rivalry as we entertain families worldwide for years.”
The Washington Generals reportedly played (and lost) their last game on August 1 in New Jersey.
“After all these years, we didn’t even get to say goodbye,” GM Ferrari said.
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