Monday, December 2, 2013

The World's Best "Loser"

 “I’ve run more miles on more courts in more countries than any other human being,” -Red Klotz.


If you lost 14,000 basketball games during your career, people might call you a loser.  But if the masses then found out that "losing" meant more to the global spread of basketball than any other factor, they might have to reconsider.  If they then were informed that the player continued playing full court basketball into his 80's, they would stir in their chairs. If they then found out that the"loser" was the shortest player ever to win an NBA title, they would perk up and listen to the story.

Well, the story is told by a friend of the group Tim Kelly, who has quite a few interesting things about him also.  Tim's dad named old Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia, giving Tim a front row seat at just about every interesting happening in Philly, including the annual Wing Bowl. And he has run every Sea Isle City Island Runs (2 of the last 3 winners were PSU Track Alumni Golfers!) except one. And he doesn't hold that against his daughter, he just didn't time her birth correctly.

It took Tim a lot longer than he anticipated and he took a lot of heat from people, but he wanted to get it right.  But finally, the book is out!


It details the life and times of Red Klotz, long time owner, coach and player for the Washington Generals, the team that happens to play the Harlem Globetrotters in every game around the world. There's even a foreword from Joe Posnanski, a recognizable figure to PSU fans. Here's an article from the Inquirer about the book.

And here's another article by Tim from South Jersey Magazine.

And there was that time that Red drained the 2-hand set shot to give the team their only victory...  But you'll have to read that for yourself.

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