How sweet it is!

The Magic's big victory over King James and the Cavs tonight (103-90) brought back a flood of memories from the last time Orlando seized the Eastern Conference championship and headed to the NBA finals.

That was way back in 1995. You know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, and Nick Anderson were on the Magic roster.

I remember that night very well, not so much for the game itself but for the raucous celebration that ensued immediately after the final buzzer.

I was driving my first real new car, a 1994 Chevy Cavalier. (How ironic is that, by the way?!)

I had my kid sister riding shot gun, and my cousin in the back seat, and we were doing Chinese fire drills at every red light on Orange Avenue until OPD told us they were going to start issuing tickets to any car they caught going thru the same intersection more than 3 times. (Fascists!)

Anyway, I remember we were honking my horn so much, and so hard, that the center of my steering wheel eventually popped-off in my hand . . . and, I was so deliriously happy that I didn't care until the next day.

Oh, how times have changed.

Tonight's victory will be celebrated more simply and quietly, with a couple o' phone calls and some cherry cider.

But, at least ye 4-wheeled transportation device in my driveway is safe from rowdies.

And, let's hope LA doesn't do to us what Houston did back in the day . . .

GO MAGIC!

Magic beat Cavs in overtime!

Stuff was happening at the Amway Arena in downtown Orlando tonight!

The Magic had to go into overtime to do it, but they took a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Championship series with LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers!

Once again, "King James" proved that one man doesn't make a team. He scored a whopping 44 points, including 2 free throws with less than a second remaining in regulation. He even came close to pulling a repeat performance of his recent buzzer-beating 3-pointer. But, ultimately, the rest of his team just let him down.

Final score: MAGIC 116, Cavs 114.

If . . . nay, WHEN . . . Orlando wins Game 5 up at the Quicken Loan Arena on Thursday, the guys in blue and white will be making only their 2nd NBA championship appearance in franchise history.

That's right, ye socks, this hasn't been done since way back in 1995, when guys like Shaquille O'Neal and Nick Anderson were on the Magic roster. (It was nice to see both of them attended tonight's game, by the way . . . wonder where Penny Hardaway was . . . .)

Anyway, the atmosphere in O-town tonight is nothing short of electric.

GO MAGIC!

What's with the officiating tonight?!

Ok, this is NOT just sour grapes posting here tonight . . . although, I am bitterly disappointed that our Magic lost by one stupid point with yet another buzzer-beating dagger to the heart.

This time, the death blow was delivered by LeBron James, to put the Cavs over Orlando, 96-95 in Game 2 of their big Eastern Conference Championship series in Cleveland.

I'll get over it, though. The Magic did manage to split the two games up at the mistake by the lake, and will enjoy home court advantage here in The City Beautiful later this weekend.

But, what I'm having a difficult time getting over is the poor officiating we saw up in Cleveland tonight.

Sadly, we've become used to Mo Williams running his mouth with nothing to back it up. But, what's with him launching balls at Dwight Howard in the first quarter?

And, how many times did "King James" get away with traveling or charging?!?!

All that being said, it should give fans of the old blue and white a lot of hope. Even with all the cluelessness of the refs and the undeniable abilities of the league MVP, the Cavaliers only BARELY eked out a win on their home court.

Methinks there will be a very different story floating around this dryer come Sunday night . . .

GO MAGIC

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!