The year was 1989. I was six years old, and I had just moved to a strange new place called Orlando. I wasn’t sure what to think about my new home city, it seemed all right, but Michael Jordan was nowhere to be found, and I was missing my buddies. My dad, knowing that I was still a little sad about the move, somehow snagged two tickets to the Magic’s first ever regular season game, and figured the new team might be able to cheer me up.

It was opening night, and for the first time since we left Chicago, I felt like I might actually fit into this new place. I can still remember walking into the Orlando Arena and getting goosebumps. The place was packed, and everybody was screaming at the top of their lungs. The energy in the building was off the charts and there was a buzz in the air. I sat in awe for the rest of the night, cheering on my new team.

Over the next few years, my parents and I would always make it a point to go to the first game of the new season. There was always a sense of excitement on Opening Night; anything seemed possible when the new year started.

That’s why I was so disappointed last night after the Hawks-Magic game. For the first time that I can remember, Opening Night wasn’t fun. Sure, the Magic played terribly, which didn’t help matters, but there was something else missing. The Amway Arena (formerly Orlando Arena) wasn’t rocking, and the house wasn’t even packed. In fact, there were empty seats all over the upper deck. The energy that had been there on every other opening night had disappeared. The atmosphere was flatter than a pancake inside the building, even before the contest had been decided. The only noise that was consistently making its way through the building was coming from the JuboTron speakers.

What upset me most about the night was that the enthusiasm, which I had seen over the last two decades, was gone. As I looked around the Arena, I didn’t see crazy fans dressed up in blue and black anymore, I saw a mostly older crowd who spent the night sipping on their $12 dollar drinks and shooting the breeze with other people who seemed genuinely unmoved by the game, which was unfolding right in front of them.

This isn’t neccessarrily meant to be a knock on the Magic. The franchise made several classy throughout the night by honoring members of the inaugural ‘89-90 squad. Mark Acres, Sidney Green and Jerry Reynolds (talk about blasts from the past!) were just a few of the players who were introduced before the game. This is meant to illustrate how much different an NBA opening night has become over the last 20 years. As far as I can tell, there are very few cities in which the beginning of a new season, and regular season games in general, are cause for a celebration anymore.

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It seemed ironic that Freddy Krueger appeared in the stands last night in Orlando, because the game truly was a nightmare for Stan Van Gundy and company. The Magic got smoked by the Hawks, who must be salivating at the thought of having Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Josh Smith together for an entire season.

Anybody can have a bad game, and I’m sure the Magic are going to look better in the weeks to come, but in my mind, this could be the year in which bad draft picks and high-priced contracts finally catch up with Orlando GM Otis Smith.

A few notes from last’s night Hawks-Magic game:

The Magic are going to seriously miss Keyon Dooling
Smith decided not to re-sign Dooling, a combo guard, who served as a super-sub on last season’s team. After one game, at least, this looks like it could be Smith’s biggest mistake. Dooling was usually the first person off the Magic’s bench last season and also provided the team with some energy, especially on the defensive end. Last night, the first sub off the bench was none other than J.J. Redick. The words defense and energy have never been words to describe the former Duke star’s game. Van Gundy seems willing to give Redick a chance to get in the rotation this year, but after watching him fire up four bricks in almost 19 minutes of play, the coach’s patience is already running thin. To make matters worse, every time Redick stepped on the floor, the Hawks seemed to make it a point to attack him on the defensive end, something that didn’t happen last year with Dooling on the floor.

The Magic have no bench
Anthony Johnson, Keith Bogans, Tony Battie, Marcin Gortat and Redick all saw minutes off the Orlando bench last night and combined for a grand total of 11 points. This is where the lack of a good draft comes in: ‘05: Fran Vazquez (Still in Spain, may never play in the NBA) ‘06: Redick (Can’t create his own shot and doesn’t play much D … not exactly a good combination) ‘07: Traded draft pick away (which became Rodney Stuckey) for Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo. (Any one of those guys would be an upgrade for what resides on the Magic’s bench now) Rookie Courtney Lee didn’t get in the game, but will probably see some action in the next few weeks if this group can’t get things going.

Jameer Nelson is not consistent enough to be a starting point guard
Smith rolled the dice last summer by signing Nelson to a long-term, multi-million dollar extension, even though critics wondered if the St. Joe’s alum was worth it. Nelson looked frustrated all night, shooting just 4-for-12 from the field while committing three turnovers, this coming from your starting point guard, who you locked up for six years …

Pietrus is going to help Magic
The one move that seems to have looked good on this night for Smith was the signing of Mickael Pietrus. The free-agent acquisition plays solid defense and can knock down open shots, something he should get plenty of opportunities to do with Howard on the floor.

Josh Smith is may take the next step this season
J. Smith was all over the court last night, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, several of which came against Dwight Howard himself. If Josh develops a consistent jump shot this season, the Hawks will be in business.

Superman’s kryptonite is still at the foul line
Speaking of Howard, if you look at the box score, you’ll see that he had yet another HUGE game. 22 points, 15 boards, and five blocks of his own. But, the big man was just 6-for-13 at the line. It won’t be long until teams start using the “Hack-a-Dwight” strategy.

“Soriano is a proven hitter,” manager Lou Piniella said. “And he has that ability to stay up and keep trucking, keep performing.”

Lots of people don’t seem to be too high on Soriano at the moment, but that was a big hit tonight.

In a couple years, I think he will end up somewhere else, but for right now, the Cubs need him if they want continue to contend. He is too good of a hitter not to produce at this stage of his career.

“They didn’t do anything that beat us, we just made too many mistakes,”—-Hedo Turkoglu after the Magic got beat, once again, by the Pistons, this time ending Orlando’s season.

Hedo, my man, the Pistons forced you into making a lot of those mistakes. You made the same mistakes the entire series, but hey, there’s always next year…

You’ve got to give the Orlando Magic marketing people credit, they are trying to get everybody swept up in the “Blue and White Ignite” promotion….even the media. I went to the game last night and sat almost directly behind the section where the press sits behind the floor.

As it was on Sunday, each seat in the O-Rena, had either a blue shirt or a white shirt on it, and people were encouraged to put them on. I was in the white section this time, and I guess so were the press people.

That’s because on almost all of the chairs I saw, there was a white shirt laying on them. To every press person’s credit at the game, I did not see anyone put on the shirt, I even saw some writers throw their shirts to fans in the stands.

Are the Magic serious though? Why even put any shirts in that section? Do they really believe that any member of the media was going to put that t-shirt on. Were they trying to influence them, or was it just an honest mistake by the people who put the t-shirts on the chairs?

Either way, it was embarrasing to have to watch working media members, have to sit on the white Magic t-shirts.

As I flipped through the Sentinel this morning, I realized that there was a huge ad on the back page. Sometimes, a car dealership will buy a full-page ad in the back page so I wasn’t expecting much, but when I saw what the ad was for, I was surprised.

That’s because it was a full-page ad for Powerade, and the person featured in the ad was none other than Rashard Lewis. Now, let me start off by saying that I think Lewis is a very good player. The Magic would not be where they are this year without them, and from all the reports I’ve seen, he seems like a genuinely nice guy too.

Having said that, I think Lewis is extremely overpaid. I am not blaming him for that at all though, hey if somebody wants to give me 118 million dollars I’ll take it. I blame the Magic for making that decision.

The thing is, I can’t understand why a major company, like Powerade, would pay Lewis to be a spokesperson for their product, and why they would feature him in a full-page ad. Like I said, Lewis is a good player, but is he really worthy of a full-page ad, and endoresement deal with Powerade?

Endorsement deals should be reserved for athletes who can actually help sell a product. When was the last time you heard anyone say, “Hey I want to go to the game to see Rashard Lewis play.” Or how about, “Hey, I’m going to drink Powerade because Rashard Lewis drinks Powerade.” I just don’t see that happening.

Having worked for an agent, I know how important they can be to an athlete’s success, especially in terms of how they are marketed. That’s where I think the credit should go in this situation. Lewis’s agent Tony Dutt, not only got Lewis a max contract, he now has gotten him a Powerade endorsement deal as well.

While he’s no Tom O’Connell (my old boss), he has definitely proven that he can make his clients some money.

That may not be such a big overstatement. For the first time possibly in the history of the city, Orlando will play host to two major league sporting events on the same day. First, the Magic will be playing at home against the Raptors in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Out at Disney, the Tampa Bay Rays will play “host” to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first of a three game series.

I can’t remember the city ever having two games, as large as these, happening on the same day. The thing I just can’t seem to grasp is why in the world the Rays would have scheduled these games at Disney while the Magic are in the playoffs. They saw the NBA schedule just like everybody else, obviously, they didn’t believe the Magic would be that good. How else can you explain why they would have scheduled the games the way they did?

You’ve got to think that the Magic being in the playoffs will have a major impact on the attendance, and overall coverage, the Rays will get out at Disney. I would be out at the baseball game on almost any other day, but I want to see the Magic in the playoffs instead.

You’ve also got to figure that the Sentinel will devote a hefty portion of its space to the Magic, and push the Rays to the back pages.

The Rays supposedly scheduled these games to try and drum support in the Central Florida area, but their target audience is basically the same as the Magic’s.

Where would you rather be if you were a local fan in town, at a playoff basketball game, or a regualr season baseball game?

At least, for once, local fans will be able to make that choice for themselves.

Tim Arango of The New York Times wrote a great story in today’s edition about the ever-changing world of sports blogging. As you can imagine, this is a topic that I have a lot of interest in.

The prevailing thought in Arango’s story is that sports leagues and media outlets are trying to figure out where the line is, in terms of who can cover what, and how much access should be given to the person covering a particular story.

There are a few quotes that I would like to highlight and then comment on afterwards. Arango’s words will be in block quotes, mine will be after that.

The explosion of new media, especially with regard to advertising income, has made competitors out of two traditional allies — news media and professional sports.

While I would agree that the news media and the leagues seem at a crossroads at times, especially with how much access the teams give the local media, I would argue that, at some points, the alliance between the news media and sports leagues has become stronger, on certain issues, because of the explosion of new media.

Here’s what I mean: In a lot of markets, the local newspapers and television stations are afraid that bloggers will take hits away from their paper’s/station’s website, or eyeballs off their television broadcast. Therefore, they hold to the theory that they are a “legitimate news gathering organization.”

In most cases, sports leagues, who don’t want to deal with every Tom, Dick, and Harry, coming out of the woodwork, looking for a press pass and access to the players, then only allow supposed “legitimate news gathering organizations,” to have access to their teams.

See, this is where in a few years I think you will start to see the walls come tumbling down on local newspapers and television stations…and because of the domino effect, on the sports leagues. There is this stereotype out there that bloggers are not legitimate, that they live in a basement, and don’t come out of the house.

While I think this is beginning to change, the stereotype is still present, and still held against people who are just trying to put together an interesting site. What I think will start to happen down the line, and has already started to happen now to some extent, is that people (readers, viewers, in local markets) will realize that they don’t have to get their information from traditional media outlets.

They’ll be able to get their news from other places, from other bloggers/websites, etc. That’s why local media outlets are holding on to the idea that they are the only “legitimate” media outlets in certain towns. The one advantage they have on Joe Blogger is access to that town’s team, but now, as evidenced by this article, even that is beginning to change.

The onus is on the bloggers and people who run these sports blogs to continue to put together sites that people want to come to. If they do, sports leagues will have no choice but to allow them to sit in a press box, and have access like every other journalist.

Mike Fannin, the president of the Associated Press Sports Editors and the managing editor for sports and features at the Kansas City Star, said the dispute was the result of traditional news organizations redefining themselves in a changing technological environment.

“Ten years ago newspapers weren’t in the world of video and audio,” he said. “We were in the world of print. The leagues don’t have a print product. Their view of this is that we entered their world.”

This quote perfectly illustrates what I have already discussed several times on this blog. Newspapers are still trying to re-define themselves, so are local television stations. I don’t know many people that still read the newspaper every day, (although I know they are out there) and I really don’t know anyone who watches the local news.

The thing is, there is still a name-brand recognition with these news outlets. When people want to read about stuff happening in Syracuse, they go to The Post-Standard, and the local tv stations. When people want to read about stuff happening in Orlando, the go The Orlando Sentinel’s website, and the local tv stations, etc.

If decision makers working for the local papers/tv stations are smart they will hire people like Dan Steinberg and Brent Axe, bloggers, that strictly cover one local sports scene, whose work appears almost exclusively in an on-line format.

The problem for local news outlets though, is that they simply do not have the financial resources to bring bloggers like that on board. That’s why, in the next few years, I believe there will become even more choices for local readers/viewers.

There are lots and lots of talented people who come out of journalism schools, like Newhouse, every year. Once they realize that most news outlets can’t offer them the money or exposure they think they deserve, then they will have to take another route, thus giving readers/viewers another option.

Students fresh out of college, will understand soon enough, (if they haven’t already) that they can make a name for themselves on their own. While it may be tough, especially at first, to get a site off the ground, and gain a following, the talented people will figure out a way to do it, and secure the advertising dollars to make it all happen. That’s why the prestige that once came with working for one of these “traditional media outlets” won’t mean as much down the line.

“It’s a new world,” said Jason Zillo, the head of media relations for the Yankees, surveying the team taking batting practice. “We spend a lot of time in spring training on media training. The biggest danger now is that with some of these blog sites there is no structure. There is no one that John Smith reports to.”

This criticism is one that I have heard over and over, and I still don’t understand it for the most part. Yes, there are bloggers out there who throw up ridiculous thoughts/commentary on their websites. Some of it is for entertainment purposes, and some of it is because they are just stupid.

But then there are other bloggers out there, like myself, who consider themselves to be journalists first. So I don’t have an affiliation with a traditional news outlet, does that make me any less of a journalist? Does that mean my opinion doesn’t matter as much?

I went to a well-respected journalism school, like thousands of others who make their living in the media business. If you want to look down on me or anyone like me, who is a blogger, than that’s your choice. But this idea that because I don’t answer to anyone, and I run my own website makes me somehow less of a journalist than somebody who works at a paper/tv station doesn’t make sense, because as I mentioned above, the biggest difference between bloggers and people who work for news outlets is access, something which most bloggers don’t have at the moment.

Maybe that’s where the re-definition must begin. Blogging has become a word with a lot of negative connotations attached to it, especially around most news outlets and sports leagues. What if we started calling bloggers what they really are at heart….writers. Bloggers are just writers who try to perfect their craft in other places besides the tradiitional mediums anyway.

In the future though, I believe bloggers will become the “traditional news gatherers,” while newspaper writers and tv reporters will be the ones that will be looking at the press box, looking for another way in.

The Magic’s slogan for the playoffs this year is “Blue and White Ignite.” I’ll be the first to admit that when I originally heard that that was the slogan, I thought it was incredibly dumb. Considering that the people in the Magic’s marketing department were the same people who brought us last year’s unbelieveably stupid slogan of “Code Blue,” I wasn’t expecting much.

(For the record the “Code Blue” slogan during last year’s playoffs should go down as one of the single dumbest ideas in the history of sports marketing. The term “Code Blue” is used when a person is on the verge of death and their heart has stopped. I mean, I guess you could say the Magic were “Code Blue” last year, they got crushed by the Pistons. The same Pistons, by the way, who wear blue jerseys on the road. So, when they played in Orlando last year, and everybody in the stands was wearing blue, it looked, to the casual viewer, like everybody was supporting the Pistons….)

Having said all that, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw when I walked in. There was a blue shirt or a white shirt in every person’s seat. Half the crowd was blue, half the crowd was white. It looked good. The problem though, is that unless the Magic plan on giving every fan either a blue or white shirt every game, this Blue and White Ignite idea will never work. Most fans don’t care enough to wear one specific color during the game, let alone one color in regards to where your seat is.

Today, I was a the Blue/White border. I was in blue, the girl next to me was in white. What happens if I sit in a different seat on Tuesday? You get the point. Giving away a free t-shirt that you are supposed to wear, also leads to the always awkward double shirt look. I had on a collared shirt when I walked in, so for the first few minutes, I tried the t-shirt over the collared shirt look, it didn’t work.

Luckily, I had the foresight to take off the collared shirt, and just put the t-shirt on. The same could not be said for the older people sitting in our section. They shoved the shirt on over whatever they had on. It made for some really strange combinations, include the always stellar, t-shirt, long sleeve polo, and tie combination.

There is only one thing that drives me crazier than a person who wears the free t-shirt over the rest of their clothes, and that is the person who doesn’t wear the free t-shirt at all. Usually those people fall into two categories. The first is the, “I’m too cool for the free t-shirt guy.” If Budweiser’s real men of genius haven’t written a song about this guy yet, they should.

Dude, you aren’t that cool. Nobody cares that you are wearing a neon green shirt, when everyone else is wearing a blue or white one. Yes, you stand out, but it’s only because you look like an idiot.

The second person who refuses to wear the free t-shirt is the “I’m too hot for the free t-shirt girl.”

Sweetheart, I’ve got news for you… you aren’t that hot. If you were, you wouldn’t be sitting at the game by yourself in a black mini-dress, trying to flirt with the beer man. Yes, you too stand out, but for all the wrong reasons. Everybody is secretly laughing at you, because aren’t looking good.

This whole idea of all fans wearing the same colored shirts during playoff games is played out. It was cool like ten years ago, when I think the Avalanche had a “White Out,” during one of their playoff games. It’s just not cool anymore, because there will always be neon green shirt guy in the crowd, who wants to be different.

Sadly, the Magic aren’t alone in the playoff marketing stupidity. The Cavs, under the slogan of “Rise Up,” tried something similar the other day, when it looked like fans were given a yellowish/gold t-shirt upon entry. That’s great, but as far as I could tell, the Cavs weren’t wearing much yellow/gold at all, and the closest thing to yellow/gold on the court were the jerseys the Wizards had on.

Since when did the playoffs even need a slogan? The playoffs are when fans should want to be at the games the most. It’s the most exciting time of the year. Teams should just save the money on marketing and put it towards something else.

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.

For years, I have listened to some of my buddies complain about The Orlando Sentinel. When they do, I always ask them the same question, “What is it that you don’t like so much?” Everybody has different opinions, but the one I hear most often is that the coverage is biased towards a particular person or team.

I am sure it is a criticism that every newspaper deals with, no matter how you report the news, somebody is going to find something wrong with the way you do it.

I have tried to defend the Sentinel in most cases, because I know some of the people who work there, and I know they work extremely hard. As I have said in this blog before, when I left Syracuse, one of the first papers that gave me a chance to write was the Sentinel, and I will always be grateful for that.

Despite what my friends say, I believe that the Sentinel usually does a good job toeing the line between covering the news, and cozying up too close to sources. Having said that, there was something in today’s paper that I felt crossed the line. It was Mike Bianchi’s column about the lack of fan interest in the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Raptors.

Bianchi argues that the Magic shouldn’t have to beg fans to come see their playoff games. He believes that each game should be a sell-out because the team is good, and as a city, residents should get behind the team.

These are valid points. It’s the rest of the column that I have problems with though. The more you read into this column, the more it starts to sound like a member of the Magic’s PR Department wrote it. Bianchi lists a series of arguments (that I have put into block quotes), my words come after each set of quotes:

“You can’t say this team is just some one-and-done playoff pattycake. The Magic won a division championship for the first time in a dozen years. They have more than 50 wins for the first time since the days of Shaq and Penny. They have not lost a single series this season to an Eastern Division foe and have the second-best road record in the league.”

That’s all true, but this team also has some serious question marks on it. They don’t have a legitimate point guard. They don’t have a big man who can come in and score if Howard gets into foul trouble. And while I think they are going to knock off the Raptors, who says they will? The first time the Shaq and Penny led Magic went into the playoffs in ‘94, they were a four seed, and got swept away by the fifth seeded Pacers. Let’s see how Howard and Lewis do in their first trip together.

You can’t say management hasn’t spent money in an attempt to get better. The Magic paid $118 million for Rashard Lewis in the offseason and another $120 million extending Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. That’s $230 million for three players. Who do these guys think they are — the Yankees infield?

No, but you can say that they haven’t spent it well. Signing Howard was a no-brainer, but they so obscenely overpaid for Lewis and Nelson that even Steinbrenner is probably laughing at them.

You can’t say the Magic don’t have star power. I mean, come on, they have Superman on their roster. Does it get any better than that?”

Yes, it does in fact, get better than that. Howard is great, but I would rather have the star power of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen on my team heading into the playoffs.

The list goes on, but when reading those it just sounds like they came straight from an employee of the Magic.

My other big problem with this column is that Bianchi is too good of a writer to continue to use this same angle. I can’t tell you how many times in the last few years he has played the “Come on Orlando, we’re a Major League Town” card in some of his columns.

Conference USA Title Games…”If we don’t fill the stadium up we won’t look good on ESPN.”

New downtown stadium project…”If we don’t build them, we’ll end up like Birmingham!”

I love the passion, but you can’t write the same thing so many times. Orlando is just not a good sports town. Period. I’ve lived here pretty much all my life, and the only time I have ever really seen people get excited about sports was when the Magic were good in the mid ’90s, and when two local Little League teams made it to Williamsport. That’s it. People care about football here, but the only true local team we have, aside from the Magic, is UCF, and they are not a major program right now, no matter what they say.

Instead of writing this column, I wish Bianchi would have written about why fans don’t seem as into the Magic, as they were in the Shaq/Penny era. There have been glimpses this season that things are going back to how they used to be, (both Boston home games come instantly to mind) and there have been a lot of sellout crowds this season. But, I have also been to several games where there are scores of empty seats, and people just don’t seem to care.

Even more than that though, back in the days of Shaq and Penny, you couldn’t walk around town without somebody talking about the Magic. You just don’t hear that anymore though. Why doesn’t somebody write about that?

Now, do I really believe that the Magic had anything to do with the way this column was written…no. I don’t think the people at the Sentinel would let that happen. Furthermore, I think that Mike Bianchi is one of the best columnists in the country, when he puts his mind to it. But, in this case, I think he could have done a lot better.