Big Al Szolack was shocked when he heard the news Friday. One of the sports world's great traditions had gone down.
"I'm searching for words," he said. "It's something generations of Americans have been enjoying for how many years?"
Sixty-three. That's how long the Washington Generals had been getting their brains beaten in by the Harlem Globetrotters. Then they'd show up the next day to try again.
But word seeped out this week the Generals have been dumped. The company that owns the Globetrotters, Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., did not renew the contract.
It was done quietly, like a corporate knife in the back.