SHERBURNE – It only took a phone call to R.E.M.’s band manager Burtis Downs for the manager of a young Gus Macker team to receive the alternative rock band’s sponsorship.
“Burtis Downs is a big basketball player. He was happy to do it,” said David Levitt, father of Ian, who, along with his three, fourth-grade teammates, hope to mimic R.E.M.’s 1986 film sound track, “Superman” at the tournament in Norwich this weekend – and take it all.
Levitt, who moved to Earlville four years ago, is longtime friends with all of the members of the internationally famous band, also known for ‘Losing My Religion’ and ‘The One I Love.’ He attended the University of Georgia with them in the 1980s and ended up living on the same street and running in the same circles in Athens.
