Do YOU believe in Magic?

How could one NOT believe after last night's drumming of the Celtics?

So, they dropped the first three games of the best-of-seven series . . . they're not dead, yet!

Let's hope the guys in blue and white stun the Boston crowd again tomorrow night, so they can bring the Eastern Conference Finals back to Orlando for a big game seven!

The beauty of competition

In the late 1500's, the lives of three great artists converged in a single place: Venice. And, the competition sparked by these intersecting talents produced a flurry of masterpieces we socks still appreciate today.

The artists in question were Tiziano Vecelli, Jacopo Comin, and Paolo Cagliari--though, ye may know them better by their nicknames: Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese.

The Museum of Fine Arts up in Boston is hosting an exhibit dedicated to this rivalry thru the 16th of this month. (http://www.mfa.org)

One wonders if, individually, these three great masters would have achieved the heights of their greatness without the competition.

I doubt it.

And, that lesson resonates today--and in more than just the arena of fine art.

For example, as The ObamaNation has recently turned our collective consciousness to it's latest pinata of healthcare reform, those of us who appreciate the beauty of competition should make our voices heard.

The greatest opportunities for real reform lay not in the creation of some behemoth new federal entitlement program or bureaucracy. Rather, they may be found in the removal of existing barriers to competition.

Were ye socks aware that current regulations allow . . . nay, encourage . . . insurance companies to charge nearly twice as much for policies written in New York than they do for policies written in Pennsylvania?

We do not need to create either a single-payer system or a glideway to it as folks like Barney Frank suggest. Either of those "solutions" would effectively kill competition.

Instead, our elected representatives would do well to foster an environment that encourages competition among the various insurance companies that already exist.

Let those underwriters in Pennsylvania compete in New York and elsewhere, and ye will see premiums plummet.

And, the beauty of THAT sort of competition will resound for generations, too; because, unlike the alternatives proposed by the administration and its minions in Congress, it will not bury posterity under a mountain of debt.

Giddy in the City

I'll admit it. I'm still giddy over the Magic's big win last night up in Boston.

Made it back in town just in time for tip-off. I'm ashamed to admit that the Survivor finale was a designated back-up form of entertainment, because I had tuned-out the play-offs during my roadtrip--probably because I thought all was lost.

Oh, me of little faith.

Last night, the Magic got back to the style of play that got them into the play-offs to begin with. Hedo Turkoglu was the go-to guy, throwing up a whopping 25 points.

And, yet, as late as the 4th Quarter, it was still either team's game, with Orlando leading Boston by only 66 to 61.

Then, Coach Van Gundy must've flipped a switch, because the guys in blue and white erupted all over the Celtics--racking up a 23-point lead at one point.

Demoralized, Van Gundy's predecessor Doc Rivers pulled his new team's starters out of the game with 2:30 left on the clock, signalling Boston's surrender.

Final score on the board: 101-82, MAGIC WIN!

This is huge, ye socks. Orlando hasn't been to the Eastern Conference finals since 1996. One more hurdle to go before making it to the NBA championship series. Of course, we Magic fans can't get ahead of ourselves. Cleveland and their MVP LeBron James will be no minor hurdle.

But, for now, I suppose we can indulge ourselves in a little bit of giddiness . . .

GO MAGIC!

Magic hang on to beat Celtics

Ye socks who were unable to stay up to watch all of last night's opening game in the second round play-off series between Orlando and Boston missed an amazing 4th quarter.

The Magic controlled the game all the way to the end. They were up by 18 at the half, and zoomed to a 28-point lead late in the third (65-37). It helped that Kevin Garnett wasn't playing for the Celtics, and the guys in blue and white took advantage of that and every other opportunity they were handed.

But, then our former coach Doc Rivers turned on the juice, and his reigning NBA champs relentlessly chipped away at that lead.

Memories of Dubai Majesty fading late up in Kentucky this weekend were brought to mind. And, I'm sure I wasn't the only Magic fan in this neck of the woods that thought the hometown team was in danger of blowing their huge lead.

Fortunately, J.J. Reddick stepped up his free throw game and kept that from happening. When the buzzer FINALLY sounded, not a moment too soon for Orlando fans, the scoreboard at TD Banknorth Garden read: Magic 95, Celtics 90.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief now, and getting ready for Game 2 tomorrow night.

Go Magic!

Candidates' candor

David Broder wrote an excellent article about this week's GOP debate in Michigan, which appears in today's issue of the Washington Post. You can check out the online version here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101002123.html?sub=new

He wraps-up his commentary with a salute to my favorite candidate Mike Huckabee, crediting him for his rare candor.

Finally someone in the media is "getting it!!!"

In the mean time, across the aisle, old Hillary is at it again with her own version of candor. She jubilantly told reporters in Boston today about her plans to increase federal government spending by leaps and bounds if she gets her hands on the Oval Office next year.

To date, the illustrious junior senator from the great state of New York has pledged a whopping seven-hundred and twenty-four BILLION dollars ($724,000,000,000.00) in increased spending if she is elected to her lovely husband's old job. That works out to over eighty billion dollars ($80,000,000,000.00) for every month she's been on the campaign trail. And, we've got another twelve months to go, so if she keep up her present pace, that would equate to an additional nine-hundred and sixty BILLION. Add that figure to what she's already pledged, and she will have promised one TRILLION six hundred eighty four billion dollars ($1,684,000,000,000.00) in INCREASES alone!!

I appreciate her candor, too. She's making a very public display of her plans to expand the reaches of our federal government. And, we all know who will foot the bill for it, don't we?

To keep track of Hillary's ambitious (sinister?!) plans, check out the Spend-o-meter at this site:

http://www.gop.com/flexpage.aspx?area=spendometer

If Mike Huckabee's candor doesn't make you want to run out and vote for him in a Republican primary, then Hillary's plans for your wallet/purse should scare you into doing so!