21 Pairs of Sneakers

A young equipment manager for a college gym saves the day when a pro team forgets their sneakers.

Scripts Needed (minimum): 4

Performance Royalty:  1 For Each Performance

Cast: 2+Male, 2 Female

Time: 1 hours

Sets:  Simple Set

Author: Stephen LaRocque

Synopsis:

On a bone-chilling Sunday morning in 1934, Lloyd, the star of the Manhattan College basketball team, embarks on an elaborate scheme to get his new heart-throb, Myra, away from her Sunday afternoon duties at the college library and down to the Polo Grounds for the championship football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. He attempts to enlist the aid of Dewey, his roommate and the team’s equipment manager, but Dewey objects, leaving Lloyd to set the plan in motion by himself.

As Lloyd maneuvers offstage, Dewey receives a puzzling phone call from the equipment manager of the New York Giants, who is desperately scouring New York City for 21 pairs of basketball sneakers to give his team some traction on the icy football field in the upcoming game, which is only a few hours away. With the aid of Margaret, the college librarian, Dewey rushes off for the game with all of the basketball team’s sneakers, just as Lloyd returns to report that his scheme is falling apart.

Lloyd is left to mope around the gym all afternoon while the radio reports the Giants’ astonishing come-from-behind victory in the famous “Sneakers Game.” Finally, Dewey returns with the sneakers and gives the dumbfounded Lloyd a detailed account of the game and all the famous players whom he met. He consoles Lloyd with the fact that his sneakers were involved in a key scoring play of the historic game. They leave the gym together, with Lloyd’s morale somewhat in repair.