MR. TUXEDO: STYLE'S HIS GAME
NO MATTER THE SURFACE, PENN'S ERIC HORSEY HAS MOVES
By TED SILARY, Daily News Sports Writer
Eric Horsey stepped to the foul line and the booming voice of a female fan reached his ears at the same time the ball, courtesy of a ref, reached his hands.
This happened in early December, when William Penn played a non-league basketball game at West Philadelphia.
"Hey, Mr. Tuxedo," the girl yelled, temporarily breaking Horsey's concentration and forcing him to flash more than a hint of a smile. "Who taught you how to shoot fouls, Eddie Bruce?"
Eddie Bruce, thanks to cable TV, is known to almost every teenager in the Middle Atlantic states as the co-host, along with Bill O'Brien, of WPHL-TV's popular "Dancin' on Air," a dance show (what else?) that runs from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Eric Horsey , thanks to frequent appearances on the show and the fact he always wears a tuxedo, also has assembled quite a following, though his recent exposure has been limited due to his duties as a 6-1 junior forward for Penn.
Tuesday, wearing basic black trimmed in gray, Horsey scored six points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Penn defeated John Bartram, 69-64, in a Public League opener.
Yesterday, wearing his favorite tuxedo, a burgundy number replete with ''Mr. Tuxedo " stitched in pink over his heart, Horsey appeared on ''Dancin' on Air" after receiving permission to miss practice from Coach Bernie Handler.
Air isn't the only substance Mr. Tuxedo dances on. Channel 17 isn't the only place at which he dances, either.
Horsey formed a dance group, the Philadelphia Floortakers, four years ago at age 13. The group now numbers eight and has grown so in stature, the six male members flew to Houston on New Year's Eve to perform a half-hour show.
"It started with me," Eric said, "and a little kid (Vincent Harrison, now 13) who lives three doors away.
"We were performing at a bar and I went to do the thing where I kick the top hat onto my head. It didn't quite work. The hat hit some lady sitting at the bar and she wound up knocking over her drink.
"We tore out of that place. We were scared they were going to whip us or something. We didn't even wait to get paid. "
These days, the Floortakers perform their soft-shoe routine (Eric: "I got most of the ideas from watching old Fred Astaire movies") at wedding receptions, nightclubs, discos, cabarets and even halftime of Sixers' games.
They no longer run out before getting paid, even if Mr. Tuxedo or another member of the group spills three drinks per minute on 50 percent of the patrons.
"You make it worth our while, we'll be there," Eric said. "The most we made in one night, performing at four different places, was $1,003. We made a lot on tips.
"Friday and Saturday nights, performing at four different places isn't unusual and we often don't get home until 2:30 in the morning. Some of the kids are a lot younger than me. One boy's only 7. But their parents know I take care of them like a father. "
Eric Horsey became Mr. Tuxedo in September after he became a regular on ''Dancin' on Air," which is done live at 17's Wynnefield studios.
"Last year," Eric said, "my group appeared on the show and (producer) Mike Nise remembered me.
"I wore regular clothes the first day and Mike said, 'You said you have lots of tuxedos . Why don't you wear one? ' So, I wore a tux one day and the next day and the day after that and somebody asked me, 'When you gonna run out of tuxes? ' I told him, 'You'll have to wait for a while. ' "
Horsey soon was ordering his personalized tuxedo, expanding his collection to "something like 37." Also, mail started arriving at the station addressed simply to Mr. Tuxedo.
"I have 79 letters," Eric said. "After basketball started, and I wasn't on the show very often, I got nine from fans who wanted to know what had happened to Mr. Tuxedo."
Eric's girlfriend, Claudette "Buddha" Bowser, is one of the group's two female members and also appears on the show.
"She was my girlfriend before she was in the group," Eric said, laughing. ''I didn't know she could dance so well when I first met her. "
Similarly, Horsey didn't know his appearances on "Dancin' on Air" would turn him into a star.
"When I transferred here earlier this year from Strawberry Mansion, the first day was murder," Eric said. "Girls were all over me. I had to get an early dismissal, go home and collect myself. Some girls have the wrong impression of me. I'll walk past and they'll say, 'He thinks he's cute because he's on TV. ' It's just that I'm quiet. "
Horsey started his group after watching a performance staged by a similar group.
"It just kind of grew," said Eric, who makes the group practice for an hour most weeknights at a site near his home at 16th and Montgomery. "People would see us and tell their friends and we'd wind up with another show to do. Being on 'Dancin' on Air' helped us, too, because people wrote to the show and Mike put us in contact. Mike has given me a lot of help. He's my man. "
Later, Mr. Tuxedo amended that statement to say that Nise and Handler are his co-men.
"I was on varsity briefly at Mansion last year, then I quit," he said. ''I came over here not really expecting to start. But Mr. Handler gave me a chance and I've been trying to show him he was right. "
Before long, Eric Horsey hopes to be as famous for basketball as Mr. Tuxedo is for dancing. And it might happen for something more than his playing ability.
"I'm thinking," he said, "of having somebody make me a warm-up suit that looks like a tux. What do you think?"
To be honest, we can't do much more than shudder.
The viewers of "Dancin' on Air" might be ready for a guy who owns more than half as many tuxedos as Heinz has varieties, but we have serious doubts about the fans in Public League gyms.