Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament  | | | | | | | | | | Earl "The Goat" Manigault. Herman "Helicopter" Knowings. Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond. Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland. These and dozens of other colorfully nicknamed men are the "Asphalt Gods," whose astounding exploits in the Rucker Tournament, often against multimillionaire NBA superstars, have made them playground divinity. First established in the 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a New York City Parks Department employee, the tournament has grown to become a Harlem institution, an annual summer event of major proportions. On that fabled patch of concrete, unknown players have been lighting it up for decades as they express basketball as a freestyle art among their peers and against such pro immortals as Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain. X’s and O’s are exchanged for oohs and aahs in one of the great examples of street theater to be found in urban America.Asphalt Gods is a streetwise, supremely entertaining oral history of a tournament that has influenced everything from NBA playing style to hip-hop culture. Now, legends transmitted by word of mouth find a home and the achievements of basketball’s greatest unknowns a permanent place in the game’s record.Highlighting a little-known piece of New York history, Mallozzi, a sports editor at the New York Times, documents the Harlem basketball institution called the Rucker Tournament. Begun in the 1950s by young, Harlem-born Holcombe Rucker, the tournaments included some of basketball’s great games throughout the decades. Here, such pros as Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain and, more recently, Kobe Bryant pounded the asphalt with local unknowns. Mallozzi, who grew up and played basketball nearby in the 1970s and 80s, has covered the tournament since 1986: "nowhere else could I find the kind of basketball that was being played at Rucker Park, where legends, nicknames, and great rivalries are born every summer." While he celebrates the tournament’s past glory (Rucker died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 38), he doesn’t shy away from its sometimes controversial moments (many people think it’s become simply a hip-hop show and shoe ad, where the game is hardly taken seriously). Mallozzi lends an even hand to this fast-paced tale. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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Posted by
Gregg Holland
on 05.18.2009 | I almost cried when I read this piece. I grew up on 150th and 8th ave. I remember as a child going to the games every weekend and seeing all the names you mentioned above and others. I remember seeing white ball players as well as the brothers and I remember the day they named "The Dr." the Doctor. I remember the oohs and the assh as he and Ollie Taylor competed for the best dunks on the pre-game lay up line. Don’t forget about Tiny and Charlie Scott - some big competition went on in that park and that is where I became a Basketball junkie. It is sad those days are gone forever ........ . | Posted by
George
on 01.18.2009 | I played in the Rucker Tournamen back in 1966 - 68. I played in Manhattan (Mount Morris Park), Bronx (Col Young Park), and Brooklyn (st Johns). The game was and is all about skill and knowledge of the game. I enjoyed the competition and I ran into several palyers when I went onto college. I still have my jersey (whats left of it), and trophies, . |
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