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On Hallowed Ground
By Lisa R. Foeman

"There is no life after basketball because life is basketball. Is that a problem or a solution?" Indeed a rhetorical question that strangely is in itself an answer…an answer to why On Hallowed Ground: Streetball Champions of Rucker Park is of special significance.

On the surface, Hallowed is just an entertaining basketball film about Harlem’s legendary Rucker Basketball Tournaments. Special appearances by former Rucker streetball masters Dr. J., Pee Wee Kirkland, Elton Brand, Mark Jackson and Vince Carter add appeal for the basketball enthusiast while an assortment of young, streetball impresarios with dazzling monikers such as “The Future,” “Half-Man Half-Amazing,” “Captain Nappy,” and “Whole Lotta Game” draws in the Gen Xers. The basketball scenes project raw energy typified by the crowd’s intense excitement, the rap music playing in the background, and the players’ exhibition of natural talent - streetball talent.

on hallowed ground
© 1999 TNT, Inc.
The profundity of the film, however, rests in the detail. Hallowed’s incorporation of Kirkland quotables and interwoven biographical tidbits of his life story, are smart pieces of information which alert the viewer that the film is partly as Kirkland, the original crossover master, puts it “about pride, self-respect, and community.”

Holcombe Rucker, founder of the summer basketball tournaments and namesake of Rucker Park, established the games in 1946 and died of cancer a short nine years later at the age of 38. A passionate proponent of education, Rucker sent 300 Harlem children to school at Laurinberg Institute in North Carolina over the course of 12 years. While the latter fact isn’t expressly mentioned in the film, Rucker’s commitment to education is crystal clear. Profound message number 2: a life singularly committed to sport is like tunnel vision correctable only by the expansion of mind and opening of doors that result from education.

on hallowed groud
© 1999 TNT, Inc.

After Rucker’s death, organized summer basketball tournaments at the park faded until the advent of the Entertainers Basketball Classic (“EBC”) in 1980. The EBC takes place each June through August and features teams sponsored by various entertainment groups such as two-time champion Bad Boy Records, Puff Daddy’s label. The Classic draws thousands of fans who are treated to a free exhibition of talent rivaling that found in any professional basketball arena in the country. As Hallowed makes clear, the Rucker legend would have died if the EBC hadn’t stepped up to the plate.

Hallowed also masterfully provides insight into the evolution of the NBA game. Before integration, the set shot and unstylistic play characterized professional basketball. They became a thing of the past when streetballers like Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Nate “Tiny” Archibald came aboard. Today’s streetball influence on the NBA game is exemplified by Rucker alumni such as Allen Iverson, Shaq and Ray Allen.

Getting back to the original question posed, so what exactly is meant by the thought provoking words uttered by the narrator: “There is no life after basketball because life is basketball. Is that a problem or a solution?” Witness the mentality of “The Future,” a talented veteran of the Rucker tournaments featured in Hallowed. Spurning the European circuit for its lack of real money-making potential and possessing no realistic prospect of playing in the NBA, The Future appears afraid or reluctant to start making steps toward a life after basketball. For The Future and many others like him, there doesn’t appear to be a life after basketball. Basketball - a solution? Basketball - a problem? Maybe it’s neither when one realizes that basketball is merely a means to an end. Kirkland puts it even better, “play the game and [don’t] let the game play [you].”

Hallowed premieres May 6th on Turner Network Television (TNT) at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT with encores on May 13th at 12 p.m. ET/PT and May 17th at 11 p.m. ET/PT. Emmy Award-winning actor Andre Braugher of Homicide: Life on The Street narrates. M

April 2000
"There is no life after basketball because life is basketball. Is that a problem or a solution?"
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