For almost 40 years ABC's Wide World of Sports spanned the globe looking for athletic competition that highlighted, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." While I enjoyed some of those segments, others spanned a little too far afield to suit me.

Here are some cliff notes of some of those days in sports.

The Harlem Globetrotters were a staple of the Wide World of Sports.

As a kid, I looked forward to the appearances of the Globetrotters. Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal stand out as the Globetrotters I remember.

Of course, the Globetrotters' patsy opponents were the Washington Generals. The Generals never won. I think this actually started a trend in American of Washington Generals not being able to win.

The Generals were led by a guy named Red Klotz. Red stood 5ƍ" and played point guard for the Generals until he was 68 years old. Now, not to speak disparagingly about the Globetrotters, but if your opponent is led by a 5ƍ', 68-year-old white guy, people are going to talk about your strength of schedule.

I think as Red got older, they should have called him Red, "Blood" Klotz.

And then there was cliff diving from Alcapulco.

For some reason, the Wide World of Sports honed in on this event. I have to admit not understanding ABC's love affair with this "sporting event." What I saw were guys who had to make sure they missed the rocks on the cliff and hit the water. It seemed to me, it was like going to an auto race and waiting for a crash.

Don't get me wrong, what they do isn't easy, but I consider it more of a show than a sporting event.

And there was lots of figure skating.

Some of this was watchable. There was always a chance one of the skaters would wipe out. And then there was Dick Button.

Dick would analyze what was going on and tell us what to look for. I remember Dick would get excited by a flying camel. Actually, the prospect of a flying camel seems dangerous to me.

Plus, there was stuff I was really unfamiliar with.

In looking at the roster for the Wide World of Sports programming, I saw hurling listed. I thought that must be a sequel to a hot dog eating contest. It turns out it's something altogether different.

Evel Knieval made a few appearances on the show.

Actually, when he started, he was known as Mischievous Knieval and he went on from there. Of course, Evel is most noted for his failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon.

It was like the Wide World of Sports' Al Capone's Vault episode.

The Wide World of Sports gave attention to some actual sporting events that really caught on.

The Little League World Series comes to mind. The time frame I most remember is when the team from Tawain would come over and kick the American kids' butts. It always ended with a joyful celebration on the part of the Taiwanese little leaguers.

I remember them getting hugs from their wife and kids. It was a touching moment. Apparently, those kids from Taiwan matured early back then. It must have been intimidating for those 11-year-old American kids facing a pitcher with a five o'clock shadow from 46 feet away.

Those are some of my memories of ABC's Eide World of Sports. If you're old and like sports you probably have your own.

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