The Fan Voice: "Magic Energy Boost"

By Live or Die Magic | May 27th, 2009


Today was a rough day physically at work. It was hard to function on four hours sleep and a fitful four hours at that. It’s hard to sleep after witnessing such a nerve racking, absolutely action packed basketball game like we “witnessed” (see what I did there) in last night’s Magic victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The coffee I consumed did nothing but increase how many times I had to leave my office. My yawn-per-minute rate was at a solid .577 and by the end of the afternoon I was shuffling, not walking, around the office. But emotionally? Well, that was a completely different story!

Had I not slept at all, I think I could have made it through the day just on the energy boost from being a fan of this team right now. During Game 4, on the jumbotron, they displayed quotes from Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis in which the players stated the importance of the home crowd and how they feed off our energy. Well, I found out today that this aspect of the team/fan relationship is reciprocal in nature. Watching the way the Magic took everything that the Cavs gave them and kept asking for more, it gave me energy to last, well, until tomorrow night’s Game 5!

Anyone who was living here in 1995 is getting a familiar feeling. The city is buzzing about the Magic. People who haven’t watched the team much in years are suddenly hanging on every play and find themselves with just as much righteous indignation toward Joey Crawford (or insert any other NBA refs name here) as even the most dedicated member of the official Orlando Magic Message Boards. Wives are balled up on the couch, hugging pillows and screaming at the television; DVRs are working ovetime; and although it can’t be confirmed, at least one senior citizen in the Conway area proclaimed loudly “just who the hell does this Kenny Smith character think he is!?”

What it all means is that these are special times for Magic Land. The ride is far from over, and we have many more tough games ahead, but we’ve reached the part of our journey where we can emphatically say “Ok, we’ve entired new territory for this team. Everything feels different now.” People throw around the word “destiny” too much – though I bet you rarely hear it from fans – but I will say that this is a team that is so single-mindedly focused on its goal, I don’t see how they won’t achieve it.

I wrote yesterday of the importance of winning Game 4 so that the Magic did not need to worry about taking control of the series in Game 5, 6, or 7. To trivialize that sentiment now would be insincere and unfair. But I must say that this Game 5 now becomes the biggest game of the year. Sure, we get three chances to close the Cavaliers out, but tomorrow night is the Cavs first of three possible chances to stay in this thing. Why give them any hope? I heard a fan say “wouldn’t it be great if the Magic could close it out in Game 6 in front of the home crowd?” Well, sure, that would be a great outcome, but not in a million years would I take that over a chance to close it out in Game 5 in Cleveland.

But even if some fans are debating the merits of which game to win, you better believe that the Magic players are locked in on Game 5. As has been reported by basically every media outlet and the Orlando Sentinel, Coach Stan Van Gundy had his team convinced – within minutes of Game 4 ending – that this win was nothing and that they needed to focus on Game 5. In the O-Rena stands, in the tunnels, in Blue, in the media room, in the locker room, everyone that wasn’t a Magic player or coach was walking around in a giddy daze. Big grins, high fives, fist bumps, a hug here or there, all was happy and merry and oh joy the wonder of being alive and a Magic fan! At least four different times, Orlandomagic.com’s Dan Savage and myself kept asking each other “are the Magic actually up 3-1 on the Cavs?!” After all, the game lasted so long, it was hard to believe it was actually over. I still kept envisioning LeBron’s final three dropping. But the Magic players were calm, cool, and frankly, awe-inspiring in how matter-of-fact they were. They are living their professional dreams right now but you’d think they just punched the clock at an every day job…you know, like the ones the rest of us go to!

But that’s cool, it’s all good, because I took my portion of the Magic’s energy and goodwill and applied it to my day. People say that sports is just a game and it isn’t important in everyday life. Perhaps that’s true, I won’t debate that, but I will say that having your favorite sports team play this well makes all that everyday life stuff just a bit sweeter.


This message was not subject of approval by the NBA or the Orlando Magic. The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA, but solely the writer.

Are you sending your Dad to Cleveland to beat up Kenny Smith?

All I could think about while watching the game was how much I hate close games and at the same time love them. It's fun to watch if you have no emotional ties to the team but it drives you crazy not knowing what is going to happen next. I think my dogs have now learned that the sound of TNT's music means they need to run for cover, they head to their crates as soon as pregame starts.

I think as long as the team approaches these games as "must win" for as long as it takes to knock out Cleveland we will be fine. We need them out of the playoffs ASAP.

I don't know which will be worse.

Sleepy on the job yesterday or wired at work today constantly checking my watch to see how long it is unil gametime.

quote:

People say that sports is just a game and it isn’t important in everyday life. Perhaps that’s true, I won’t debate that, but I will say that having your favorite sports team play this well makes all that everyday life stuff just a bit sweeter.

Amen!

12 more hrs

I was having a talk like this with some buddies today. This town is buzzing like crazy about the Magic. I am seeing more and more shirts, people are talking about them, people are talking about the future of the team etc.

People who go to bed at 9pm are staying up late watching them and it is amazing.

I know that it has captivated people when I get a text from my girlfriend who instead of watching Jon & Kate plus 8 is at home alone watching the game sending me texts telling me the refs are too busy on their knees blowing the game.

It is truly amazing what sports can do for a city.

I also felt your pain after the game. I got home around 1230 couldn't really sleep until 230 woke up at 645 to get to an 8am at SCC.

we are less than 12 hours away from game time.

This Blog post is perfect for where we stand. The feeling I have right now I haven't felt since the Jordan Bulls days...Its been long, too long. This feels good, too good. So lets close it tonight guys...Crush them at home. Show that you belong. Go Magic

What about a six hours difference here?
I didn't even know what the word sleeping means, but like LODM has said, I somehow find the strenght to pass the day thanks to the emotional boost that our team is creating.

Too bad I didn't live in Orlando to feel all this buzz in first person.

This is amazing..this town is buzzing!!...

I am running on fumes, going on vacation starting tomorrow so I said, screw it. I'll rest next week...