Today, Basketball and Rolls Royces, tomorrow, who knows?

Yesterday I felt like it was time for a parade, so I rounded up a few friends and we did one. There’s nothing to beat it on a hot late summer day. We may be hicks up here in Massachusetts, but we’ve got a few things the slick folks in the big city don’t. One of them is the Basketball Hall of Fame, and this weekend was Enshrinement Time, when they induct new members into the Hall of Fame.

Prior to photographing and embedding them in the Hall’s concrete walls, new inductees are flown to Springfield and placed in the Marriott and Sheraton hotels downtown. I organize a parade of Rolls Royce automobiles to carry the inductees on their fateful one-mile journey from Hotel to Enshrinement.

This year we had six inductees, so I brought seven Rolls Royce cars. Anyone who plans a convoy knows there is a possibility of vehicle casualties (breakdowns, fires, explosions, alien abductions …) so with seven cars and six riders we could lose 15% of our transport and still deliver the inductees, provided they weren’t lost with the vehicles.

As in prior parades, we also had a police escort to keep the lowlifes out and the inductees in. Plus, we get to run all the red lights with the law on our side.

This year’s lineup of cars featured my Mini as the lead car, followed by the renowned Sea Breeze, brother of musician Taj Mahal, in the two-tone Rolls Convertible. He’s followed by my heighbor Gordy Palley in a 2001 convertible, and Perrin Edwards, a famous foot surgeon, in a 2000 convertible. Behind him you’ll see Bobby Hartsfield, one of the most refined gentlemen you’ll ever meet in my red Bentley. Making up the rear we had my friend Gene’s ivory sedan, Paul Picknelly’s two-tone sedan, and Perrin’s spare car.

The buses in the background carry the hordes who are here for the spectacle, along with their gear.

Some of you readers may wonder what Rolls Royce parades have to do with basketball. Well, I’ll tell you. In the twisted minds of those who promote tourism to our city, Springfield was the Birthplace of Basketball. It says so on our license plates, and the convicts who manufacture them are reminded of that fact every single day, as are motorists who can read. Springfield was also the location of Rolls Royce’s American factory, back in the 1920s.

Rolls Royce actually built cars for the American market right here in Springfield, until the depression killed them off. And my company, Robison Service, is located on a corner of the lot that housed the old Rolls Royce manufacturing plant.

So it’s sort of rolling history. Smiling ladies sell copies of that same story for $4.95 at the Tourism Center for our city, so I hope you appreciate reading it for free here.

I am pleased to say all the vehicles and all the passengers transited the parade route uneventfully. Those of you who are basketball fans may wonder who the inductees were this year. They are: Harry Flournoy, for Texas Western basketball, Roy Williams, University of North Carolina, Mirko Novosel, Yugoslavia National Team, Phil Jackson, L.A. Lakers & Chicago Bulls, Pedro Ferrandiz, of Real Madrid, and WNBA coach Van Chancellor.

Everyone had a good time, and to celebrate another successful parade I ate a large waffle cone at the adjacent Cold Stone Creamery.