My buddy and I went to the Magic game earlier today and I was impressed with what I saw. Sure, the game was great. At some points, especially early, the Magic dominated. Dwight Howard is so ridiculously good that it’s scary. The team needs to work on its perimeter defesne, but they have time to figure it out.

What impressed me even more than the team though was that the fans were back into the game. The O-Rena (I refuse to call it the Amway Arena) was rocking at different times throughout the day. There were some times when the crowd was out of it, and the lack energy affecte the team, but when the crowd was into the game, that place was loud, like how it used to be in the old days.

The coolest part of the entire day came as we walked out of the arena. Before the game each fan was handed a noise maker as they walked in. I don’t really like noise makers, but it made the place even louder. Anyway, as we walked outside, a spontaneous let’s go Magic cheer was started by the fans.

“Let’s go Magic!!!” And then you heard the thunder from everybody making noise with the giveaway toys. “Let’s go Magic…” It echoed all the way up the street until we walked out of the parking lot.

It’s the first time since the Shaq/Penny era where I can remember fans being genuinely excited about the team. I’m not saying it’s anywhere close to that level of excitement, it’s not. I’m just saying that people around town are getting excited about the team again, where it goes from here is all up to the team.

That’s why this playoff run is the most important one the Magic have had in the last decade. The team is actually good again. They have a chance to get this whole city to fall in love with the Magic again. You could see the seeds being planted today, people want to support the team, but the only way that will happen is if they win.

If the Magic continue to win, mark my words, this city will go nuts for them once again.

Tags: Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.