Our absence has been less than graceful, I can assure you. This, however, is one of those moments where I simply had to stop what I was doing to write down my thoughts.
Tonight, if you're not aware, is the last regular season game at Amway Arena (to me, it will always be the O-Rena). The only home the Orlando Magic have ever known. I know that the Magic have the playoffs upcoming and are one of the favored teams to go to the championship, so they'll play more games there. None of those games are guaranteed, though. They could have as little as two left. So, it'll be best to write the memoirs now, during the game (and a time I know I should be reviewing criminal law.)
A brief history from Brian Schmitz:
Most of you know the Magic's history: A local businessman and FSU football nut named Jimmy Hewitt in the mid-‘80s had this wild hair about attracting the NBA. He ran into another man named Pat Williams, the soon-to-be former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, at a local church. Divine intervention, for sure.
And on Jan. 5, 1987, dirt was dug for a new arena. On April 22, the NBA awarded Orlando an expansion franchise to begin play in the 1989-90 season on 600 West Amelia.
Schmitz goes on to talk about a few of his favorite memories, and I can't say I disagree with them. I was a little young to appreciate Dennis Scott's theft of Michael Jordan, but I do remember being really excited and then having to go to sleep because it was a school night. Scott Skiles' 30 assist game still stands as a record, even as he squawks orders in Milwaukee.
I guess that's what makes the O-Rena so tough to part with. For me, the Orlando Magic represented a lot of firsts. They were my second "team" overall (that honor will always go to the Florida Gators), but they were my first pro team. They represented professional sports to me as a kid. Growing up in a town that didn't have ties to a major metropolitan area (e.g. living anywhere in New England and the Celtics) or a state endorsed team (e.g. New York Knicks/Los Angeles Lakers), the Magic were as close of a thing to a hometown team as I had. I hadn't quite developed an interest in football, but my grandmother and father were Dolphins fans; even then, Miami was 5.5-6 hours away (I-75 hadn't been extended near my town, yet). That ruled out both the Heat and the Dolphins. Tampa had the Buccaneers, the team I eventually adopted when we got season tickets, but again they were multiple hours away. Every kid in town was an Atlanta Braves fan, and they too were 6 hours away. To have some team to identify with and only an hour away? For this kid, it was something to be psyched about.
The official Orlando Magic monthly magazine was, I think, the first thing I ever actually purchased with my own money. I saved up $25 of my birthday money/allowance and paid my dad for a 2 year subscription. Whenever new issues came, I would read the magazine pretty quickly and hoard them in my under-sink cabinets, where one typically stores things like drain cleaner. (Note: my parents were wise enough to not keep such things in a child's room. I will likely not have that foresight.) I stayed up late to watch the ends of games. I had teams that I disliked and would tune in every time they played Orlando (the Knicks, especially). I was hooked. The line would come later.
The time had come for me to attend my first professional sports game. I thought it was really cool because I got to hang around my dad and his buddies and be up past 9:30 and watch the Magic in action. We were playing a team that wore a green jersey; if memory serves, it was the Milwaukee Bucks. Since the O-Rena was (is) really small, it was pretty loud in there. The game was pretty tight and momentum was shifting. Finally, Dennis Scott breaks it open with a 3 pointer under tight defense and the crowd exploded. I told my dad, "That was a hell of a shot!" I got my ass promptly spanked. That was the line. The sinker would unfold over many years.
I've seen all manner of Orlando Magic highs and lows. The two years with #1 picks (thus convincing me years later that the NBA Lottery is as rigged as professional boxing), which led to Shaq and Penny. The Lil' Penny advertisements. Dennis Scott's steal. Dennis Scott's four bricks. Hakeem Olajuwon welcoming Shaquille O'Neal to the NBA with back-to-back sweeps in the NBA Finals. Being absolutely devastated and angry when Shaquille O'Neal took the Lakers money at the 11th hour (whose contract value---$120M---equaled the cost to build the O-Rena). The Heart and Hustle Squad of 2000, which gave Doc Rivers Coach of the Year. Darryl Armstrong picking up a TV that Tim Hardaway had chucked on the court and plugging it into the announcer's table to make sure it worked. The John Weisbrod era. The near-signing of Tim Duncan (thisclose ><). The actual signing of Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. Seeing T-Mac's first career triple-double 15 rows up center court. T-Mac getting pissed and puning the basketball into the rafters. T-Mac being traded. Steve "Franchise" being as erratic as my golf swing. The GOD AWFUL DRAFT PICKS (Laron Profit, Steven Hunter, Curtis Borchardt, Reece Gaines, J.J. Redick [except he's turned into a player], FRAN VAZQUEZ (@!#$%^&*&^%$%^%$#@!#$%^%$#)). The birth of the Dwight Howard era. And now, here.
I have felt many things about the Magic over the years. I've never been fortunate enough to be able to afford season tickets. I've combed the box scores for years. I've always reacted to their drafts and signings, usually bitter disappointment, but only because I care about the team. Before the half, Vince Carter made a 3 pointer to set the NBA mark for 3 pointers made by a team and at the half, he was asked what the record meant to him. Vinsanity responded, "It's great to help out the team get this record, so long as we're winning. I grew up watching this team..."
That's when it hit me. A feeling I hadn't really had before. Lots of athletes grew up watching a team and then realized their childhood dreams by playing for them (Vince is from Daytona Beach, about the same distance from Orlando as I am). When those words left Vince's mouth, I stopped what I was doing and stared off into space. For the first time in my professional (again, Florida Gators exempted) sports viewing career, I identified with that. Vince grew up watching the Magic, and so did I.
I sat down, smiled, and said, "Me too, Vince. Me too."
So long and farewell, 600 Amelia Street Orlando FL 32801. You may have been called several things over the years--the O-Rena, the Arena at Orlando, TD Waterhouse Centre, Amway Arena--but you've always been the only home for my Orlando Magic. Of course, I am excited about the new arena next year, but breaking up is hard to do. It just won't be the same as it always has been.
The O-Rena was where the Magic began for this observer. Hopefully, one day, I'll see some young athlete from the Orlando area say the same words as Vince did tonight and it will mean just as much to me then as it did tonight. Go Magic.
