Orlando savors Magic's success

¹²³ · Jun 1, 2009

George Diaz
COMMENTARY
June 1, 2009

On one of the best nights of the year on Central Florida's social calendar, men in business suits and women in evening wear gathered around a TV screen at Epcot's World Showcase to watch a bunch of guys play basketball.

Not just any guys.

The Orlando Magic.

At Church Street Station, the bottleneck of people resembled the heydays of the Cheyenne Saloon.

Rich folks, poor, big and tall, short and stocky, black and white, coming together for one reason:

The Orlando Magic.

It is easy to dismiss sports as cotton candy, all fluff and no substance.

Even in our business, it is disdained by elitists. Sports is commonly referred to as "the toy department."

Perhaps there's a point to that.

For Orlando and the rest of Central Florida, the first day in June has that giddy get-up of a child scurrying to the Christmas tree.

Lookie here:

The Magic are going to the NBA Finals.

Orlando woke up Sunday morning, still buzzed from what happed at Amway Arena the night before. The Magic throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers — the team most folks penciled in to advance to the league's last dance of the season — by 13 points to win the series, 4-2.

Bring on the Los Angeles Lakers. And Bloody Marys all around for the Cavs and their pouty superstar, LeBron James. In a fit after losing, he scrambled back home without bothering to shake anybody's hand.

Poor baby. Poor sport.

Maybe he had a headache. King James did leave with the crown on his head dented by one of Dwight Howard's monster dunks Saturday evening.

But this is not about LeBron's legacy.

It is about ours.

Let's be honest: We're not a big-time professional sports town. We can cheer for teams outside our borders — the Bucs, Jaguars, Dolphins, Marlins and Rays — but they aren't really ours.

We've got the Magic. Other than that, it's been a flurry of other pro franchises, mostly distant cousins to the NFL. Arena Football, take a bow. Many of the memories just reinforce the small-town stereotype, like Shaquille O'Neal calling Orlando a "dried up little pond" after bolting to Los Angeles.

The Lakers got three championships with Shaq. The Magic got Rony Seikaly, Ike Austin and an "Hasta La Vista" letter from Fran Vazquez.

It is why the rest of the sports nation dismisses Orlando and its signature sports franchise as a bunch of small-time country bumpkins, only with Mickey Mouse ears instead of straw hats.

Now look. The Magic are heading to The Big City with the cement ponds, movie stars and everything.

Los Angeles is Disneyland (Anaheim, I know; but close enough, kids). Orlando is Disney World.

Los Angeles is the iconic Hollywood sign. Orlando is that cheesy miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty at Orange Avenue and Magnolia Street at the I-4 on-ramp.

Los Angeles is Jack Nicholson, the Academy Award guy. Orlando is Dennis Salvagio, the Fat Guy.

Bring on the jokes. See if this team cares.

"I think it's great," Howard said. "I can remember coming to the games and nobody is in the stands until we play, like, a Kobe or LeBron. And now the stands are always filled up.

"I think we started to bring back some magic in Orlando, and that's one of the goals that I set out to do when I first got here. I felt that we were a laughingstock around the league. Everybody played the Magic, they thought about Disney World. So I just wanted to change that. We as a team wanted to change that."

It's changed all right. The buzz is back.

That swanky affair Saturday night was the Chef's Gala, benefiting the Heart of Florida United Way. Tickets ran $200 per person ($1,850 for corporate ticket packages). It was a glorious feast of samplings from more than 20 of Central Florida's top restaurants.

Good food. Good cause. Good times.

Margot Knight took a pass. Knight, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida, put a Weight Watcher's Italian vegetable soup in the microwave at home to watch the Magic capture the NBA's Eastern Conference crown.

"It was an event for me," Knight said. "And I am sure there were many people like me who couldn't afford tickets and did the same thing."

Orlando's victory was Chicken Soup for the Soul for all of Central Florida. Nice and warm, pleasing to the palate. Everybody got a taste.

Our town. Our team. Enjoy it while it's hot.
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Lovely.

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