..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
scotsmen can't jump
does anyone else remember the harlem globetrotters? for some reason one part of my childhood that i recall includes sitting in front of the telly watching the harlem globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team who (seemingly) always managed to win every game they played, take the mick out the referee, and use their undoubted skill to make people laugh - perhaps with the exclusion of the opposition. apparently originally a genuinely competitive basketball team, they would only start the clowning around when they had achieved what they considered to be a safe points advantage in the match. players like meadowlark lemon and curly neal were extremely entertaining to watch, making the game seem waay cooler than those involved in the likes of the rather anaesthetised european championship matches.so when, in 1992, ron shelton produced white men can't jump starring wesley snipes and former cheers barman, woody harrelson, in a movie about hustling on the public basketball courts that seem to be a recurring feature of west coast america, who could resist? and while both snipes and harrelson have made countless other movies not even close to the same genre, this one sticks. and it sticks in the memory almost entirely because mr snipes wore a cycle cap throughout pretty much the entire length of the film. in the early scenes it was emblazoned with large time logos on each side, but the residing iconic image from 'white men can't jump' is the orange, brown, blue and pink colnago cap worn by snipes' character sidney deane.
that was the defining moment when i subliminally realised that i just had to own a colnago (and you know pretty much the rest of that story). i, and seemingly many others, have trawled magazines, catalogues and more recently, websites such as e-bay desperate to find a colnago cap of verisimilitude. all completely without success until today. because the uk saviours to many a cyclist beholden to the iconic past, prendas ciclismo, bought their own copy of the film, watched it into the wee small hours then scribbled mightily with coloured crayons. and as i type this, i am proudly no nearer emulating wesley snipes than i am the harlem globetrotters, but i do have one of the finest cycle caps ever to grace my scraggly barnet. at only £7.50 each, this must be the steal of the century.
if you own a colnago, or have a small savings account that is heading in that direction, buy at least one right this minute. and you should probably nab a copy of white men can't jump from amazon while you're at it. meanwhile i'm having word with those in power to have mick and andy placed on the queen's birthday honours list.
if colnago or basketball isn't your flavour, so to speak, prendas have also resurrected the la vie claire, mondrian style cap, along with a salvarani logo'd casquette.
posted on tuesday 10 february 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................