As Magic fans continue to bask in the afterglow of the stunning (to everyone except Magic fans such as myself who knew the boys in blue had flexed their muscle against Cleveland over the past 3 years) over the Cavaliers, the usual noise from bitter Celtic and Cavs fans about the bandwagon fans infiltrating Amway Arena can be heard. While I will have none of that, here's a list of things for the Magic fans who deserve an NBA title:
- If you had a life-size Shaq cut-out as a kid or bought the size 22 Shaq shoes even if you were better off wearing flippers.
- If you started wearing goggles all the time because you thought Horace Grant was awesome.
-While Kenny Smith is an integral part of the best NBA studio show, his shot against the Magic in the 1995 Finals still makes you crings (same goes for Robert Horry). Thank you TNT for having him re-create that Tuesday night.
- You remember exactly where you were when you heard Shaq skipped town....and a little part of you died that day.
- While they probably wouldn't start for most teams, Darrell Armstrong and Bo Outlaw are legends.
- Lil' Penny is the puppet Kobe and LeBron wishes they could be.
- Deep down, you still hold a little bit of resentment towards the Milwaukee Bucks for beating the Heart and Hustle team of 2000 on the final day of the season to knock them out of the playoffs.
-You know that the Magic would've beaten the Lakers in the finals once in this decade with a core of T-Mac, Grant Hill and Tim Duncan. *sigh*
- David Vaughn, Brian Evans, Johnny Taylor, Courtney Alexander, Steven Hunter, Jeryl Sasser, Curtis Borchardt, Reece Gaines are not just NBDL legends....they're first round draft picks since 1996.
- Fran Vazquez...'nuff said.
- From 2001-2003, you always got to the set for the 4th quarter to see what T-Mac was gonna do next.
- You also know that Magic management surronded him with Pat Burke, Jeryl Sasser, Olumide Oyedeji, Andrew DeClerq, Ryan Humphrey, Patrick Ewing and Shawn Kemp's bloated carcasses, Chris Whitney and Don Reid.....yet it's his fault he's never been out of the 1st round. Well, at least those three years were excusable.
- You know the rules....no touching the railings at the O-Rena.
- You caught a stub from that mini-blimp thing.
- You've been this close to catching a t-shirt at least 3 times.
- When Paul Porter says staaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd and cheer.....you shout "YOUR ORLANDOOOOOOOOOOO MAGICCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!" right back at him.
- You kept watching even with John Weisbrod and Steve Francis prominently involved
- You KNEW Jameer Nelson would be a star.
- You remember that Darko Milicic wasn't half bad.
- You were thrilled when Billy Donovan took the money and ran back to mediocrity and bandwagon jumpers in Jortville.
-Most of all, you'll shed a tear when the O-Rena closes next season. Hopefully with a 2009 NBA Champions banner flying from the rafters.
This run is for those of us who know these all too well.
Preview later in the week.
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