I was talking with some friends in the barber shop the other day, among them was John “Mookie” Thomas, and we came to the realization that Brooklyn doesn’t get that much love on the playground level. Brooklyn has been known to have their share of players, but when people think playground basketball Brooklyn is an after thought. While talking, the name Ed Smith came up. Some of you might know him simply as “Booger.” Booger was the real deal. Point blank. Period.
I can honestly say that he had the tightest handle I have ever seen on a lead guard, high school, college, playground and Pro included. Booger also had uncanny court vision to go with his Yo-Yo handle. Coming up as a young whipper snapper in BK, all I wanted to do was imitate that left-handed in-and-out and follow it with a cross, then drop a no look dime to my cutting teammate for the deuce. Booger was a trend setter on the playground, he was doing tricks before AND 1 hit the scene. If you don’t know about him, go cop the Soul in the Hole documentary but in the mean time, check out the video above!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
illest says:
What he meant to basketball is shown right here….
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9600/index.htm
September 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
BallGurl says:
“Booger” def. had the chop handles and flash down to a science, as well as a ridiculous court I.Q. He is the real deal playground or otherwise.
I might be from the BX, but I’m not blind or a hater…LoL
BK Stand Up!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
FM says:
i’m not trying to hate, but that new documentary just doesn’t look all that compelling to me. whereas Soul In The Hole was mythical… scenes from it will be forever etched in my mind (along with many from Hoop Dreams of course)
September 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
g says:
Boogs NEVER did tricks,meaning he didnt go out of his way to deceive his defender. that was his game,PERIOD.
the most under rated part of Boogs game was his ball IQ and his D-side. Boogs always knew where his team mates were or should be and how to get them the ball and he got pockets. cant too many dudes say they fed him math anywhere…..
if things wouldve clicked right,he’d either be in Minnesota,Milwaukee or Chicago skating in the league,giving dudes fits…. just didnt…..
As for Brooklyn not getting the recognition, Uptown tends to get the shine on the reg. dont know if its because of the legend or ambiance of 55th or that the nicknames are always given out there or whatever,but theres no question that Uptown tends to get more credit.
Brooklyn dudes will go where ever to play to boot,so its not like theyre not visible or are ducking the comp……
Mook,Junie,Murdah,Stixxx,DP and I have this discussion rather frequently……. never found the exact reason for the “slighting”,but ball dudes know what it is…..
September 5th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Brooklyn says:
Booger was so good he the only guard that probably could of average 20 assist a game he was that good!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
ali says:
whoever’s sleeping on BK has got to be from outside of ny – pearl, chris mullin, connie hawkins, jumpin’ jackie, booger, born ready, the marbury brothers, roger brown, world b free, the microwave, the jones brothers, lenny wilkens, the kangaroo kid, bassy, and on and on.
September 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
kenny Patt says:
They just dont have the big name tournaments in BK anymore, but the players have always come Uptown to rep hard. As far as Booger is concerned, Amazing handle and court vision, but I watched up close in the late 90’s and he was too skinny and couldnt shoot anything other than a layup at that point. To be fair, he may have stopped working on his game. Everyone that came to see Booger went away more impressed with a young Jamal Tinsley, who was playing JUCO ball then.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
mr. k1x says:
sick player, another case of bad timing. he would be a very wealthy household name in todays streetball age… great name, swagger, street cred
and yes i would sign him to K1X. Him and Homicide up top!!!!! get those ankles taped up, lol
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
illest says:
definitely cant sleep on brooklyn. and that soul in the hole soundtrack is one of the greatest ever.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Paris says:
Boogs is the truth, king of the nyc playground, comin home this month, we missed him.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Randy Millard says:
This is a Public Service Announcement….Ed “Booger” Smith will be home soon and oh yeah Brooklyn has the BEST GUARDS in the COUNTRY…………..
September 6th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
“we came to the realization that Brooklyn doesn’t get that much love on the playground level.”
how do you make a statement like that? how could anyone from brooklyn not feel appreciated enough?
if anyone considers Bounce Magazine a fair barometer of playground coverage, we’ve had the following BK players on our cover: Junie Sanders, Sebastian with his brother Ethan Telfair, Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson, and Jack “Black Jack” Ryan. bx would come second in cover representation (homicide, kareem reid, kemba walker). inside we’ve covered fly williams, sam worthen, jackie jackson, mike campbell, darren phillips, charles jones, chris mullin, and pearl is coming in late september, on and on.
when we did our first ever ALL-STREET selections in 2007, Campbell, DP, and Mookie all made 1st Team, dominating it if you broke it down by borough.
then let’s forget about publications, and go to AND 1, who’s poster child was Skip To My Lou, from Queens. no slight against BK, Skip deserved all that and more.
and more fact: when the producer/director of Soul In The Hole first started, they actually were following Booger and Skip initially, then decided to stick with Booger, FROM BK. (sidenote to illest: i was actually the person who linked lillabet to steve rifkin, owner of loud records, so that soundtrack/score could be made.)
you watch our Summerball show, who from BK doesn’t get shine on it? anyone deserving has gotten their highlights.
yes, brooklyn players have always traveled Uptown, that dates back to even the ’50s when the Rucker was on 128th St. and 7th Ave and Connie Hawkins and Jackie Jackson was catching peoples shots on the boards and all that. some even consider fly williams the best player to set foot at rucker park, even beyond joe hammond, and that’s from a coaches mouth in the rucker hall of fame, not mine.
brooklyn has top flight tournaments with rickey rivers and dunker’s delight, but they are young in the scheme of things. tillary park, soul in the hole, breevort, van der veer, kingston park, etc. all have had notable unlimited tournaments, but for whatever reason they haven’t lasted continously into the present day and age of media attention.
so where does this complex about BK not getting the love come from? for real, i’m asking serious cuz i want to know . . .
September 6th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
oh, and let me continue . . .
the greatest book about playground basketball “Heaven Is A Playground” was written about brooklyn’s foster park. the writer rick telander was from chicago. he didn’t go to the southside to pen his masterpiece. he went to brooklyn.
booger smith graced the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, shot in Tillary Park. that stands as the only outdoor photo ever to grace that publications front teeth that i know of, and it was taken in brooklyn.
anthony ‘biz’ heyward aka half man half amazing was one of the original AND 1 tour members. he’s from bed-stuy.
so how does bk not get love? when have they been shunned? i’m not being a wise-ass, i really want to know . . . help me understand! good lookin’
September 6th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Darnell Foye says:
whasup, booger is my favorite streetball player ever. Alimoe is a close second. i was just wondering what booger is up to these days? anyone who knows the real truth, please email me. also, how can i get the “king of the streets” dvd? holla at me
DarnellFoye@hotmail.com
September 8th, 2008 at 12:54 am
the stuy says:
Boogs was Skip BEFORE Skip.. I’m quite sure Skip would admit that.. Also, KBL, dude said “playground basketball in Brooklyn” not “playground basketball players in Brooklyn” I think that’s true.. Brooklyn tournaments get NO love.. Even on Summerball.. I only saw yall once in BK this year(@ The Hole) and that park isn’t even popping anymore.. No Dunkers coverage, no 8-Ball.. And the SAME Brooklyn ballers who play Uptown play in those tourneys!!
September 8th, 2008 at 1:00 am
the stuy says:
Oh and if you did cover Brooklyn I might’ve missed it.. If so, my bad..
September 8th, 2008 at 7:38 am
illest says:
bobbito…..thank you.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:42 am
illest says:
bobbito…im not surprised by that. definitely a ill soundtrack. didnt stretch put together the ill soundtrack for boiler room?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
stuy-
we did have dunker’s delight on the show this year, and the nike metro swoosh brooklyn site for youth, plus when i took the cameras out personally for the shu niles at soul in the hole. we’ll cover brooklyn, there is no evil plan to deny it. and i really think kyle was talkin’ about players from his borough, not tournaments.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Dan the Man says:
He was KING OF THE STREETS…………..
September 16th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
nosmelone says:
Bobbito great info about soul in the hole starting with skip and booger and eventually just sticking with boogs, I bet most people never new that (at least I didn’t and I consider myself his biggest fan outside of BK). I was talking with Future about him at the legends tour in Arizona about 5-6 years ago and he had nothing good to say about him (I’m sure he was just showin out) but Alimoe spoke very highly about him in 2003 during the and1 open runs. I have some footage of an EBC game when he was playing against a team with Prime Objective that was amazing. I don’t know what year it was filmed but its poor footage and Kenny gets kicked out of the premises for swearing and throwing a fit. But booger was sick as was prime. Prime took over the game with about a minute left but all in all amazing job for both of them.
September 17th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
nosmelone says:
actually I think that above mentioned ebc game was filmed in 2000 because Puddah was on his team at that time as well. I know they played together in the ebc under kenny kings at that time as well.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
The Saint says:
i remember hiz story in issue 8
that joint scared me!!
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Jay B. says:
Bobbito,
Is Summerball back this year? I’ve heard some rumblings about a certain Harlem legend who might be the subject of the first episode.
Thanks