I watched the Magic lose to the Lakers tonight. I was nervous about it, I really wanted to see this team win, but I had a gut feeling that it was too early. We are a young team....I think next year is going to be a hundred times better and I can't wait.
I am not a hardcore sports fan. I don't know the specifics. It's not a hobby of mine. But I LOVE going to sporting events and have my whole life. Ive been to pro and college hockey, baseball, football, basketball, arena football, soccer, etc. games. I like the atmosphere, I like getting behind something and truly having it be a part of you. I like drinking beers while hangin at a bar watching a game. I just like the whole she-bang.
I had been into sports the entire time growing up. I played basketball from 2nd grade through High School and was pretty good at it, until I stopped growing at 5'2 and became way more interested in Snowboarding and smoking cigaretters. I also made it to State in the 100m Hurdles in track. Woop.
I love competetion. And I grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan. I had the Red Wings, The Pistons, The Tigers and The Lions. My dad was always a fan of sports (I remember hours in the car listening to baseball games, which is the worst....listening to baseball on the radio), so we got to go to all sorts of games. I specifically remember going to a Pistons game and was begging my parents to get me a Grant Hill jersey. Grant Hill was it for me. He was my hero and I loved him.
I have a signed Dollar Bill, by John Sally. I met him and he said he'd never signed a dollar bill before. I was young, like 10. It was awesome.
We had Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas, Dennis Rodman, Grant Hill and so many others when I was a kid. Also had Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson who I will never forget. Not to mention Cecil Fielder and Alan Trammel. Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lindstorm and Barry effing Sanders made the Lions and the Red Wings who they are today.
After I left Michigan, my allegiance was always to Detroit. They were my team. I moved briefly to florida for my last years of high school and then over to colorado. I always cheered for Detroit. I then moved back to Michigan where I fell back into place as a Detroit fan. The Red Wings were kicking ass during that time. Stanley Cup Champs in 02.
I moved over to Philadelphia when I was 21. Philadelphia is hard core. The fans are brutal and I lived within minutes of all the stadiums. They have the 76ers, The Eagles, Phillies, The Flyers, The Phantoms and the Soul. I worked for a good company and had friends who loved sports, so I pretty much went to sporting events all year long. I remember seeing the Eagles play in Baltimore. My seats were in the front row (a hookup from a client at my company). It was ridiculous. During that time, I hit all the stadiums there and in Maryland and New Jersey. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers was a Detroit implant out of college. So a majority of the games I went too, were Philadelphia vs. Detroit. And I always cheered for Detroit. Philly fans were ruthless. They would boo their own team. It wasn't my style, so I managed to not become a huge Philly fan during that time.
There was a brief period where I really loved the Boston Red Socks. It was of course, the year they broke the curse. My boss was a Boston boy. Born and raised. He was alot older than me and had endured years and years and years and years of suffering with defeat. He now lived in Philly, but was a never wavering fan of Boston. I watched the whole season while staring into a pint of beer with my coworkers. While I lived out there, the Red Socks broke the spell. I saw a grown man well up into tears the day they won it. It was an insane series....and i'll never forget it. Boston fans have a lot of heart.
Even with McNabb, TO, Bobby Abreu and Allen Iverson, I still had all Detroit teams in my heart. On New Years Day, I remember driving to Pittsburg to see the Steelers play the Lions. It was an important game...Detroit wasn't doing horrible that season. It was snowing and it was freezing and we had nose bleed seats . But it was fucking awesome. We both had on Detroit gear, and got harassed while walking into the stadium. The Lions lost, but it was an amazing experience.
I have recently moved to Orlando. Been here about 3 years. When I first moved here, I knew that Grant Hill played for the Magic. That's pretty much all I knew about the team. I knew he hadn't played much at all. I knew his nickname was "Glass Ankle". I went to probably a dozen games my first year here. The fans in Orlando are different. They have heart. A heart I didn't see in any of the other towns i'd lived in except Detroit. There wasn't much hating going on, more just love and support for their only professional sports team. Ive since seen the Bucs, Lightening and The Rays play and still none of the fans are better than The Magic's.
I quickly became a fan of the Magic, maybe not a die-hard, but I was a fan. I was still a Detroit fan but then The Magic started kicking some ass, which caught my eye. I have now lived here a few years and have been to numerous games, so my allegiance has changed. I love this team now. I love the fans, I love the spirit, I love that they aren't cocky. We try to do good by things in Orlando. We are a tourist town, hell our fucking reason for being is to MAKE OTHER PEOPLE WHO DO NOT LIVE HERE, HAPPY AND COMFORTABLE (damn tourists). Our downtown is meager at best, but we are growing. I have lived downtown for pretty much the whole 3 years of being here and I love it. This is my hometown now and the Orlando Magic are my hometown team. I'm proud of this city, the team and the fans during this completely enlightening experience during the finals. I got to watch the Magic win the Eastern Conference Championship against the Cavs. Live....lower bowl, thanks to my friend Danny who won tickets about an hour before the game. IT WAS AWESOME.
So I guess I jumped on the bandwagon. I think a whole lot of people in Orlando jumped on it as well and it's excellent. That's what sports is about. It's about everyone coming together and just being psyched about their team.
If you have been a die-hard Magic fan, don't hate on those who have jumped on the bandwagon. Educate them. Tell us the history, tell us the statistics, get us involved. Next season is going to be insane.
Go Magic!
