A Game of Big

So can we please stop buying the line of media malarkey that claims the NCAA Tournament is "all about the guard play?"

This is what I call an Instant Cliche', a ready-made paradigm that we're supposed to accept as an industry standard, even though few of us can actually recall ever hearing it before. In football, the concept of "separation" - as between a wideout and a defensive back - falls in the same excruciating category. "Separation" came into vogue about two years ago, but we nod our heads at the very mention, as if we all grew up hearing our Pop Warner coaches holler at us to "Separate, dammit!" Such is the case with the Big Dance being "all about the guards."

Consider your Final Four. George Mason outrebounded former NCAA champions Michigan State and North Carolina by an average of 7 boards per game. Florida dominated Villanova's four-guard attack to the tune of a 49-36 advantage on the glass, 30 of those coming from Joakim Noah and Al Horford. LSU's leading scorer? Glen "Big Baby" Davis. UCLA doesn't even get a chance at bludgeoning Memphis were it not for a 14 point, 10 rebound performance against Gonzaga from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - his 8th double-double of the season. And shouldn't he add a couple more middle names, like Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo?

Point being, you STILL can't teach players how to be tall, and there's just not that many guys out there 6-8 or bigger who can handle the ball. Basketball is predicated on forcing an inflated spheroid through an elevated hoop - emphasis on "elevated." It's a simple game. If your bigs can play, you have the advantage. There's a reason why Pavel Podkolzine, Jake Tsakalidis, and for that matter, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo still have jobs in the NBA.

Granted, there have been some wonderous performances in the tournament from the little guys. Historically, I'll give you Ty Edney, Bryce Drew, Bobby Hurley, Mateen Cleaves, and all the rest. I'll also give you Sean May, Emeka Okefor, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Ed O'Bannon, Christian Laettner, Danny Manning, Pervis Ellison, Ed Pinckney, Patrick Ewing, Akeem (no "H" yet) Olajuwon, Goose Givens, Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Lew Alcindor - all former Most Outstanding Players of the NCAA Tournament, and all forwards or centers.

Excellent trivia question: last player to win tournament Most Outstanding Player on a losing team? Olajuwon, 1983.

Why did UConn lose? Because their bigs played like crap. Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone combined for 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven fouls. George Mason's Jai Lewis and Will Thomas, on the other hand, put up 39 and 19. Similarly, Big Baby Davis and his LSU frontcourt mate, Tyrus Thomas, combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds against Texas.

UConn's Marcus Williams scored 13 points and dished 11 assists against the Patriots. Villanova's Randy Foye, the Big East Player of the Year, scored 25 against Florida. Both in losing efforts. All about the guards? Puh-leeze.

I suppose, if you're a glass-half-empty kinda fan, you could point to the fact that Memphis (2-17 from three-point range) and Villanova (4-23) shot themselves out of the Final Four, thereby hanging it on the guards, but ask yourself this: what will be the most important matchups on the floor during the national semifinal games next weekend?

Taurean Green against Lamar Butler, who each scored 19 points in their Elite 8 games, or Noah and Horford versus Lewis and Thomas? LSU's Darrel Mitchell against UCLA's Arron Afflalo, or Big Baby versus the combination of Mbah a Moute and Ryan Hollins (14 points and 9 rebounds against Memphis, and he should have had 20 points - he was 2-11 from the free throw line)?

Gator fans, I'll submit this: if Florida is gonna win this puppy, they'll do it on the backs of Noah and Horford. Judging by last weekend, you've got to like your chances.

A Qualified Opinion

This is not another entry about the Orlando Magic. Just bear with me.

In 1995, the top-seeded Magic faced the 8th-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Orlando's pro basketball history stretched back all of six seasons; the Celtics were, well, the 16-time NBA Champion Boston Celtics. The Boston media, particularly Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, had a field day with the small-town newbies in Central Florida.

Shaughnessy and his visiting counterparts were mortified by the distinctly non-traditional game night presentation in Orlando: the dancers, the t-shirt tosses, the music and sound effects, Paul Porter's caffeinated public address announcing. The atmosphere of the Orlando Arena, coupled with the unabashed lack of cynicism from the basketball-challenged locals, led Shaughnessy to christen Orlando as "Hooterville."

Given that the Magic wiped the floor with the Celtics' jockey shorts in that series, including a 124-77 disembowelment in Game 1 that ranks as the worst road playoff loss in the Celtics' 59-year history, you'd think that Shaughnessy (and the rest of the Globe staff) would let the "Hooterville" joke die quietly. And you'd be wrong.

My father-in-law, who splits time between Sarasota and Massachusetts, tipped me off to a Globe article dated February 26th of this year in which Orlando is once again referenced as "Hooterville" (and by the way, the Hooterville Magic beat the Celtics in three out of four meetings this season). Curious, I did a quick search of the Globe archives, and found 66 "Hooterville" references from 1995 to the present - about two-thirds of those contained in stories about the Magic.

In January of 2005 - a full decade after the Magic-Celtics series - Shaughnessy finally went off the board in describing Super Bowl host Jacksonville as a "yahoo town." You gotta mix it up, after all.

You cannot fathom the vastness of the crap I do not give about Dan Shaughnessy's opinion of Orlando, Jacksonville, Yulee, Micanopy, or any other town in Florida. And while it might be fun, or satisfying in the short term, to return fire at the city of Boston, I can't, because I happen to love the place. I'm content to allow great weather, a million golf courses, pristine beaches, the best college football in the country, friendly neighbors, and a lack of state income tax placate me. I certainly don't feel threatened or insulted by any Boston Globe writer, or by anything regarding Boston. As former Magic (and current Celtic) head coach Doc Rivers liked to say, "it is what it is."

Why do I bring this up? Chris Ballard has an article in this week's Sports Illustrated describing how the internet, and specifically bloggers, have changed sports coverage. The article prominently features ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, who I think is terrifically talented and fun to read, as "the embodiment of the [online sports community's] prevailing ethos: the empowerment of the fan."

The author concludes that blogs are taking sports coverage "away from facts, reporting and professional decorum," which is not necessarily true across the blogosphere, but certainly not a stretch. The article touches on not just fan blogs, but also team-sponsored websites, many of which have become "exclusive" repositories for breaking news (read: a method of filtering information). Ballard delves into the world of newspaper reporters who also blog, and the subsequent effects on the reporters' relationships with the teams they are assigned to cover. Sports-slash-humor sites like Deadspin are also covered (and there, he missed one: Fistful of Sports, composed by Reid Kerr, unfailingly funny). In short, Ballard's piece is exhaustively researched and balanced, befitting an august publication like Sports Illustrated.

But there were a couple of passages that caught my eye:

"In this digital age...we can all be real-time observers, and opinion...often trumps fact. Which is to say, for those uninterested in actual reporting, the print media have almost become an afterthought." (page 60)

"It's...easier to take potshots when you never have to talk to your targets." (page 61)

"And now: the era of detachment and fragmentation - detachment because technology allows games to be covered from great distances and fragmentation because fans can tailor the 'news' to their needs." (page 61)

In my opinion - and it's ONLY my opinion - Sports Illustrated comes very, very close to calling the blogosphere "Hooterville."

There's no question that internet coverage has changed the game, particularly for traditional media. At one time, sports talk radio was considered the greatest threat to newspapers and magazines; now, the web is the elephant on the copy desk. Ask the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman, or the Miami Herald's Jason Cole, or any of the other fine newspaper writers who appear on "Sports Talk Live." All of them now include a blog, or occasional live chats, or some other internet component as part of their routine - and not necessarily by choice. For that matter, Sports Illustrated's web presence is hardly insignificant. In fact, in that same March 27 issue, the "From The Editor" column points out that SI's website enjoyed a record 440 million page views last month - and increased revenue 104 percent last year. The message from the traditional print media is clear: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - and THEN try to beat 'em. It's just business, and I have no problem with that.

That's one approach. Another approach is to question the credibility of internet sports coverage by pointing out, for example, that Bill Simmons "deliberately avoids meeting players" (page 61), and wrote a lengthy column on Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance despite the fact that he "wasn't at Staples Center...and had not interviewed anyone..." (page 60). Blogs that are composed by "unofficial" observers (i.e., non-credentialed media) are an even easier target. How can you, the consumer, take this stuff seriously when these guys are writing from their living rooms? Don't you want real reporters, with media passes and everything, getting quotes from actual players in authentic locker rooms?

Or, put another way - how could the mighty Celtics take Orlando, with its short-attention-span game night theatrics, seriously? Never mind that every team in the league - including the Celtics - would eventually copy the Magic's in-game presentation, to the point that today, it's the industry standard. It's not the way the Celtics did it in 1995 - not the way that made Boston Globe writers comfortable - and therefore, Orlando must be Hooterville.

It couldn't be us, so it must be them.

Internet sports coverage is in its infancy relative to print, television, and radio. The spectrum of accuracy, relevance, and professionalism is still the widest of any form of media. However, the traditional media outlets who dismiss the "empowerment of the fan" do so at their own peril. Fact is, Bill Simmons is funny. Sites like Sports Pickle are entertaining. And to fans, sports are forms of entertainment, supposed to be fun. No wonder the blogosphere has exploded. And no wonder entities like Sports Illustrated might feel just a tad threatened. As one who crosses the line between the traditional and the non-traditional media, I find this tension fascinating.

Beat them at their own game, or mock them. Either way, we're not in Hooterville anymore.

Caught Stealing

Got a note from a reader regarding my Too Many Questions post, in which I reaffirmed by belief that by the time 2010 rolls around, Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic will be regarded as "the draft-day steal of the decade." That column appeared on the old "Sunshine Network" website, pre-Sun Sports, but was also referenced here.

Anyway, the anonymous reader argued that San Antonio's Manu Ginobili, "the second to last pick in the draft," was a much bigger steal than Nelson, adding that "you're not gonna find many GM's who would rather have Nelson than Manu."

He's right - right now. However, Ginobili is nearing 30 years old and already has twelve seasons of professional basketball mileage on his body (yes, 12). Nelson just turned 24. If you were building a team for today AND tomorrow, is Ginobili such an obvious choice? What if I told you that this season, Nelson has a better shooting percentage, better three-point percentage, better free-throw percentage, and more assists per game than Ginobili, while scoring only one fewer point per contest?

Never mind that. As a card-carrying draftnik, I was curious about Ginobili vs. Nelson as "draft-day steals."

Even though Ginobili debuted with San Antonio in 2002, he was actually drafted in 1999 (second round, 57th overall, the "second-to-last pick," sure enough). He spent three more years playing in Italy before coming stateside. Point being, he wasn't drafted in THIS decade, so I'm sticking with my argument on Nelson. I'm all about technicalities.

Ginobili played eight professional seasons of basketball in Argentina and Italy before he ever wore a Spurs uniform. Nelson, on the other hand, was the Consensus National Player of the Year at St. Joseph's, a first-team All-American, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and finished as St. Joe's all-time leader in points, assists, and steals - and dropped to 20th in the 2004 NBA Draft because most so-called "draft experts" thought he was too short for the NBA.

Ginobili was a flyer, but a relatively safe gamble. Most second-round picks don't even make an NBA roster, much less become starters, or stars. San Antonio had nothing to lose by taking him 57th - and obviously, that low-risk roll of the dice paid huge dividends.

On the flip side, given the Magic's recent history of first-round picks - see Reece Gaines, Ryan Humphrey, Steven Hunter, Jeryl Sasser, Courtney Alexander - they had everything to lose by flying in the face of conventional wisdom and trading with Denver to get Nelson at 20.

Conclusion: Ginobili may (arguably) be the better player, but Nelson is the bigger steal.

Still curious, I sifted through the wonderful NBADraft.net website to compile a list of true "steals" from this decade. My list is limited to draft picks from 2000 through 2005 - no undrafted free agents allowed (sorry, Udonis Haslem), and no Ginobilis (players drafted prior to 2000 who debuted later). It's an interesting list.

2000

Only one glaring act of larceny in this draft: Milwaukee gets Michael Redd in the second round, 43rd overall. A 2004 All-Star, Redd signed the most lucrative contract in Bucks history last summer at six years, $91 million. Among the second-rounders drafted ahead of Redd: Dan Langhi, Khalid El-Amin, and Hanno Mottola. Ouch, babe.

2001

Lots of gems here. Richard Jefferson slides to the Rockets at 13 before being dealt to New Jersey that summer in a deal that brought Eddie Griffin to Houston. Again, ouch. Zach Randolph goes to Portland at 19, Tony Parker to San Antonio with the final pick of the first round. But the capper comes in the second round: Gilbert Arenas to Golden State, 31st overall. Career numbers: 21 ppg, 5 apg, 4 rpg. Currently 4th in the league in scoring at 29 per.

2002

How about Amare Stoudemire going 9th to Phoenix? Can a lottery pick be considered a steal? Again, we find the obvious theft in the second round: Carlos Boozer 35th overall to Cleveland. Career numbers of 13.7 points and nine rebounds per game got him six years and $68 million from Utah in 2004.

2003

My thoughts on Dwyane Wade are well-known. If the 2003 draft were replayed tomorrow, Wade goes second, behind LeBron and barely ahead of Chris Bosh. Josh Howard to Dallas with the final pick of the first round is generally regarded as the steal of the '03 draft, but what about Kyle Korver going 51st? Raise your hand if you believed he would stick this long.

2004

Nelson at 20, got it. Orlando also took Anderson Varejao at 31, and probably should have kept him. And what about Dwight Howard going first overall? Can we consider that a "steal," based on Howard jumping directly from a tiny high school, the perception of Emeka Okefor at the time as the "best big man in college basketball," and Okefor's injury history since? Remember how much wringing of hands took place when Orlando was studying those two players? Is there ANY doubt now?

2005

Way too early to judge, but I include the '05 draft only to point out that Ryan Gomes and Orien Greene, two players taken in the middle of the second round, have made a combined 24 starts for the Boston Celtics this season. Lesson: don't change the channel on draft day once David Stern leaves the podium, because you may be cheering for those second-rounders come January.

So who's the biggest draft-day steal of the decade so far? I'll give you Redd, Arenas, and Wade, with the obvious caveat on Wade - it's hard to be considered a "steal" when drafted in the top five. If Wade wins the MVP award this season, will Kiki Vandeweghe greet Carmelo Anthony at Denver's next practice with nothing more than a wistful sigh?

As for Nelson - I still like my chances. Ask me again in 2010.

Too Many Questions

Umm, the Orlando Magic have won four of their last five games. Has anyone noticed?

And while we're on the topic of surprises: in 12 games with Orlando, Darko Milicic has blocked 33 shots - more than he blocked in his last two seasons with the Pistons combined. You think maybe he was just a tad buried in Detroit? And you think maybe all that time that he spent getting hammered in practice by Ben Wallace maybe rubbed off on him?

With Darko on the bench, the Pistons won one NBA championship and came within one game of another, so you can't say they "blew it" or anything. Still, is anyone else wondering just what the hell Detroit was saving him for? Shouldn't Larry Brown have some culpability in this? And where was Joe Dumars?

On the topic of the Magic, I'm loving my previous comment about "Jameer Nelson as the draft day steal of the decade" more and more with each passing box score. Double figure scoring in 30 of 45 games this season; averaging less than two turnovers per game since returning from injury on March 3rd. Anybody think he's too short now?

And on the topic of Larry Brown - will he outlast Marbury in New York? Will either man outlast Isiah Thomas? How does Thomas keep getting hired for anything?

If you had to vote for NBA Most Valuable Player right now, would you take Dwyane Wade or Paul Pierce?

Is there any more unguardable player in the NBA than Wade? And is Miami really a better fourth-quarter team with Alonzo Mourning on the floor instead of Shaq?

You had Northwestern State, Montana, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee winning their opening round games, right? Me neither.

How high has Joakim Noah's stock risen in the last six months? If the NBA draft were held tomorrow, would he not be a first-round pick? Maybe lottery? You know he averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in less than 10 minutes per game last season as a freshman at Florida, right? Is there any way that Billy Donovan can keep him in Gainesville this summer?

The United States didn't really fail to reach the finals of the World Baseball Classic, did we? And does anyone believe that Roger Clemens has pitched his last game?

Would you bet against Daunte Culpepper having a monster season in Miami next fall?

Ever made birdie on a par-3 by holing out from a bunker? I did, and I have witnesses lighter in the wallet to prove it.

Have you seen the killer new Sun Sports studio set? Wait, I know this one: no. But on Thursday, March 23rd, you will, when the Chevy Florida Fishing Report debuts for 2006.

Walk It Up

Got an e-mail the other day from my friend Jeff with the following phrase in the subject line: "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid."

How can I resist that?

Jeff, a Manhattan attorney who once played the role of The Skating Bear at Cornell hockey games (really), was referring to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article that detailed the Florida Panthers' plans to charge a $5 "pedestrian fee" to hockey fans who don't park in BankAtlantic Center lots.

Here's the deal: the enormous Sawgrass Mills Mall, which obviously offers free parking, is literally across the street from the Panthers' home ice in Sunrise. For several years, many hockey fans who balk at the $15 BankAtlantic Center parking fee have instead parked at the mall and walked to Panthers games. Clever, no? To accomplish this, one must cross 136th Street - known as "Panther Parkway."

Off topic: if you own a Lexus, you'll never have this problem, because the BankAtlantic Center features a (free) private lot reserved for drivers of Lexus vehicles. I am utterly fascinated by this.

I checked cars.com and found a '93 Lexus with 110,000 miles selling for $4900 bucks. If I buy that puppy, it pays for itself in free parking after just 326 Panther home games. At 41 home games per year, that's a mere eight seasons of hockey. However, if I spring for the brand-new '06 SC 430, with a list price of $65,355, I'll have to watch 4,357 Panther games to cover the cost. That's 106 NHL seasons. This, to me, is at once the most intriguing and repulsive act of sales and/or marketing that I have ever encountered.

Anyway, the quotes from the Sun-Sentinel article were priceless. One Panthers season-ticket holder pointed out, correctly, that "I can still get hit by a car if I pay $5," while another season-ticket holder thought the idea was "fantastic," adding "these scammer people pay nothing."

Ahh, South Florida.

For the record, the Panther Parkway isn't exactly a bridlepath. It's a six-lane divided highway that surrounds one of the most-visited attractions in all of South Florida (again, really). Trying to cross a street anywhere in Broward County is hard enough - doing so before and after an NHL hockey game, with 17,000 potential ticket-holders scrambling for parking spots, is taking your life into your own hands. Panthers officials cited those safety concerns as a prime motivation for the fee, hoping to discourage the mall parkers. To make it more palatable, Panthers COO Michael Yormark asserts that revenue from the "pedestrian fee" will go to designated charities, not to the Panthers.

That's fine, but if I were a testy fan with money to burn - hardly a stretch in South Florida - I'd be calling my lawyer buddies to see just how many different parties I could sue here. My list would start with the Panthers, extend to Broward County, probably include the NHL, and perhaps I'd bring in Roberto Luongo just for the hell of it. Point being, I'm struggling to see what leg the Panthers plan to stand on.

So here's one solution: if you've already got a designated "Lexus Lot," why not convince another potential sponsor to foot the bill for a pedestrian flyover? You know, those fenced footbridges that allow children to cross busy roads on their way to school. Bring in a corporate partner who agrees to fund construction of such a structure and allow them to plaster their logo all over it. High-visibility advertising in front of gazillions of hockey fans and shoppers, and safe passage for the mall parkers.

Know why it will never happen? Too many cooks. Broward County owns the BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise Sports and Entertainment owns the Panthers (but runs the arena), and The Mills Corporation owns the mall. They'll all want a piece of the action. Plus, this solution makes way too much sense. No chance.

Final point from the Sun-Sentinel article: there's a quote from a restaurant VP at the Sawgrass Mills Mall lamenting the pedestrian fee, claiming that his business "ebbs and flows with the events at the arena."

The name of the dining establishment? "Cheeburger Cheeburger." The sound you hear is me pounding my head against my desk for not thinking of that first.

Cleaning out the desk, in no particular order:

--I'm going with the "pick them quickly without thinking too much" approach for my NCAA tournament brackets this year, mostly because I routinely suck at picking winners. Log on to SunSportsTV.com and play along with me in our Pick 64 contest. You can win a new TV, and more importantly, you can form leagues with your friends and start talking smack.

--A note to Tom Rados: I haven't forgotten about you. Tom is an Air Force intelligence analyst stationed in Fort Walton Beach who sent me a detailed proposal for a Division I college football playoff system. It works, too. We exchanged e-mails, I suggested that his idea might show up on Sports Talk Live one day, and then the football season ended and, well, you know how it goes. Tom, I promise you, I will find a way to do something with your plan. Stay tuned.

--Note to everybody: the third season of the Chevy Florida Fishing Report will begin on Thursday, March 23rd. And no matter what the guides say, I am a Florida native who grew up on the water and therefore NOT an idiot when it comes to fishing. That little inside joke ends right now. Murphy, I know where you live.

--Is Darko Milicic a head case, or just unhappy? As long as he keeps blocking shots, it doesn't matter.

--Before you condemn Barry Bonds, consider this: none of the substances he is accused of using - not one - was deemed illegal by Major League Baseball at the time that he allegedly used them. Does that make it right? No - but it sure makes Bud Selig's office look impotent. Just stop and think about who should be crucified here.

--On that note: someday, when I'm in an especially ornery mood, I may tell you the story of how I very nearly saved Mark McGwire's career, but was out-voted. I'm not even kidding.

That's it. Look for the season premiere of the fishing show on the 23rd of this month - and check out the new look for the studio. Way cool.

Nick Of Time

For a team often saddled with a "curse" label, the Orlando Magic did everything right on Friday night.

By "the Orlando Magic," I mean the front office, not just the basketball team, although the guys in sneakers did okay. The 29-point throttling of the Cavaliers was a clinic in ball movement and team defense, led by a suddenly spry second unit of Arroyo (see, you love him, don't you), Milicic, Dooling, Outlaw, and Turkoglu. The Magic had twice as many assists, eight more rebounds, three fewer turnovers, and 13 more points off turnovers than a Cleveland team headed for the Eastern Conference playoffs. All of that is well, good, and desperately needed, but none of it topped the list of chill-bump moments at the TD Waterhouse Centre.

Number 25 was back in the 'House.

Nick Anderson, the Magic's first ever collegiate draft pick from the expansion days of 1989, was honored in the building where he spent a decade as a pro. Festivities included an on-court presentation between the first and second quarters, lengthy interviews on Sun Sports before, during, and after the game, and the unveiling of a permanent banner with his likeness on the concourse.

That morning, before shootaround, I approached Nick to get some comments on former teammates Scott Skiles and Dennis Scott, who are slated to be similarly honored during future Magic games as part of the team's "Commitment to the Past" campaign. He made a funny comment to the assembled media about watching Sun Sports and telling his friends that "he knew me." It set the tone for what turned out to be one of the most enjoyable Magic games of the season.

Nick spent two full segments with us on the Sun Sports pregame show that night, and he was warm, engaging, appreciative, and completely in the moment. After the first quarter, he walked to center court and received a framed reproduction of the aforementioned banner, and was handed a microphone to address the crowd.

His comments were from the heart. He spoke of how Orlando had embraced him "from the moment I stepped off the plane from Chicago," how much he valued his time with the Magic, and how appreciative -- there's that word again -- he was of this evening. Judging from the sellout crowd's reaction, Nick could have run for mayor and won by a landslide. Players on both teams, most of whom were in grade school when Anderson was peaking as a pro, stepped out of their huddles to applaud. It was one of those rare occasions in sports marketing when an orchestrated moment takes on a life of its own, organically, and blossoms. Proof that honoring Anderson was the right thing to do.

Not only is Anderson still the franchise's all-time leader in games played, points, and steals, but he was the original Mr. Clutch in Central Florida. Players often talk about "wanting the ball in my hands" in crunch time, usually with mixed results. Number 25 delivered. I hope you watched the halftime feature we dug up from 1993 and aired on Friday. "Nick's Buzzer-Beaters" could have been its own half-hour pilot.

Nick has always been one of my favorite basketball players, but he was never one of my favorite people, going back to my tenure as a broadcasting intern and television producer for the Magic. Too often during our crossover years of 1993 through 1997, Nick came off like a typical star athlete -- blowing off scheduled interviews, offering little in the way of useful commentary, generally acting surly. At least, that's how I remember it. It was a long time ago, and I was pretty young. So was he, for that matter.

The Nick Anderson who appeared in Orlando on Friday night, impeccably dressed and in phenomenal shape for an ex-player, is a person I could really like. Somewhere between then and now, he grew up. I'm tempted to write "humbled," but that's too much of a backhanded compliment. He just grew up, and we're the better for it. Put simply, Nick was an absolute delight. Charming, honored, and yes, appreciative. Good for him, and kudos to the Magic for knocking it out of the park.

The next step, of course, is to make sure that no Magic player ever wears 25 again.

Officially, the Magic have no retired uniform numbers. There's a banner at the TD Waterhouse Centre sporting the number 6 for "The Fans," but it's a gesture. As I recall, Patrick Ewing wore 6 during his brief tenure in Orlando. It's time to start lifting some real jerseys to the rafters, and the no-brainer place to start is with Number 25.

Beyond Nick, it's tough to decide who should earn this honor. Do you retire Shaq's 32? Yes, he put Orlando on the NBA map, and took the team to the 1995 Finals, but the bulk of his career, and his success, came elsewhere. As hard as it is to believe, O'Neal only spent four years with the Magic. If the Basketball Hall of Fame asked for a "cap" during inductions, as baseball does, Shaq would be wearing Laker purple and gold. That said, both teams have an argument for retiring his number. Miami, check back in a couple of years.

Number 1? Penny Hardaway was among the five best players in the league during his time with the Magic, and the same could be said about Tracy McGrady, although I'd take 1995 Penny for my team over 2003 T-Mac any day of the week. Regardless, which name goes on the jersey? And again, do you honor players who left under less than ideal circumstances? Retiring a jersey should be a nod not just to stats, but to complete contributions, and impact on the franchise. Put it this way -- I'd like to see Darrell Armstrong's number 10 go up before number 1, and anyone who spent any time watching this team over the last ten years can immediately understand where I'm going with this.

54 for Horace Grant? 3 for Dennis Scott? 4 for Scott Skiles? None are obvious, all have merit. The only layup in the bunch, of course, is 25.

The Basketball Diaries

Fourteen basketball games in ten days.

Sounds like a fun buddy trip, except I wasn't there to watch - I was doing the play by play for Sun Sports. For all fourteen games.

And we're not talking about the NBA or Division I college hoop, with comprehensive stats available on the internet and miles of videotape footage to watch in preparation. We're talking about six Florida high school girls' basketball state championship games, followed by six title games for the boys, followed by the mens' and womens' finals in the Division II Sunshine State Conference.

Here's the assignment: prepare for each and every one of those 14 games as if it were the Final Four. Remember, these games may seem "small" to the average sports fan, but to the parents, coaches, students, and players involved, they are the biggest events of the year - maybe the biggest events of their lifetimes. Each one must be treated as such. Fourteen games in ten days. Go.

The odyssey started at the Lakeland Center, where the Florida High School Athletic Association conducted the girls' and boys' state finals. Mark Wise and I were assigned to work all fourteen of these games together, and the first one presented a unique challenge - Shekinah Christian of Jacksonville against Sarasota Christian for the girls' 1A title.

Ever try to get accurate stats for a 1A girls' basketball team? And did I mention that Shekinah Christian is all of three years old? Shekinah's roster featured a 6th-grader, three 7th-graders, one 8th-grader, three freshmen, and five sophomores. No juniors or seniors on the roster. They won by 29.

If you're thinking "Danny Almonte" at this moment, let me assure you that during her postgame interview, Shekinah star Loliya Briggs acted every bit her age. State record for giggling. As Mark stated during the broadcast, "1A teams in Florida better start working out now, because this team is going to be around for a looooong time."

The 2A final on Saturday featured The First Academy of Orlando against North Florida Christian of Tallahassee, the top two teams in 2A. The NFC Eagles won their district championship game by 46, their regional quarterfinal by 56. First Academy beat Daytona Beach Father Lopez - the team that knocked them out of the state semifinals last year, a game that the Lady Royals watched on tape before every single contest this year - by 44 in their district tournament.

Among the interested spectators at the 2A title game was Jack "Goose" Givens, whose daughter Jaimie is a star for the Lady Royals. Goose keeps the stat book for his daughter's team, a job he takes very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that when the final buzzer sounded on a 23-point win for First Academy, our cameras caught Goose with his head down, diligently completing his scorebook.

Jaimie Givens' postgame comment: "He's a great dad."

Before the 4A final, one of Titusville Astronaut's assistant coaches told Mark and I to keep a camera trained on head coach Greg Hostetler, "because he's the best defender on the team."

Hostetler, who would go on to win his first state championship since 1991, literally adopts a defensive stance and crab-legs up and down the sideline while his team is on defense. Utterly priceless. When we showed him the videotape and asked him about it during his victory interview, Hostetler grimaced and said, "well, I think I crossed my legs a couple of times there." Coaches never stop coaching.

One week later, the boys' finals started with a 1A title for Miami's Calusa Prep, who handily beat Lake Mary Prep behind an all-Puerto Rican starting five. Calusa Prep was this tournament's version of the 1989 Illinois Final Four team - "The Clones." Picture five copies of Guillermo Diaz running the floor together.

Jones High of Orlando won the 3A title over Boca Raton St. Andrews, who brought just about the entire student body to Lakeland. The Benjamin School from North Palm Beach was also notable for a big crowd in the 2A final, as was Milton High in the 4A game. Sadly, they both lost. Kudos to the six kids from Milton who painted themselves in school colors. Being a fan is hard damn work.

Best uniforms of the tournament: Sarasota Booker, your 4A boys' champs, who wore purple-and-gold replicas of the LA Lakers' road jersey. Accurate in every detail, from the style of the collar to the white numerals to the text on the chest, which reads "Booker" instead of "Lakers." Very cool.

How about a nod to Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, who flew to Florida in time to see his son Jeremiah play in Winter Park High School's Thursday 6A semifinal, flew back to Boston in time for the Celtics to beat Indiana on Friday, then back to Lakeland to see Miami Norland beat Winter Park in the state championship game on Saturday, then on to Toronto to catch up with his team against the Raptors on Sunday. Being a parent is hard damn work, too.

When in Lakeland, try Molly McHugh's on Kentucky Avenue. If you're lucky, you'll get there on a night when the Irish trio is booked. They've got a teenaged fiddle player who's got five-star skills.

Pack up from Lakeland, drive 45 minutes to Wesley Chapel, check into Sleep Inn. Stay up until 12:30 on Saturday night preparing notes for the NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference Finals at St. Leo University the following day. 7th-seeded Barry University would play top seed Rollins College in the men's final, while the Rollins women, who were a perfect 28-0, would play the second-seeded University of Tampa.

Men play first. Barry has a 5-9 point guard named Ryan Saunders who has, as his coach once described, "a Division I mind in a Division III body." Split the difference, and you have a Division II guard, one that made the game terribly entertaining to watch. Barry was playing four men down due to injury, with only one reliable player available off the bench, and they managed to take the Tars to overtime (only because Saunders' crashing layup through four defenders at the buzzer rolled off). Rollins wins, giving head coach Tom Klusman his second SSC tournament title in 26 years at Rollins, and sending the Tars to the Medium-Sized Dance of the Division II Tournament.

Women play next. I've been looking forward to this game, if only because I wanted to see what 28-0 looks like. On this day, it looked vulnerable. Tampa comes out swinging, crashing the boards and preventing the Tars from running, and completely throws Rollins off its game. Head coach Tom Jessee had reminded his players beforehand that THEY were a pretty good team, too, and they took him to heart and took it right at Rollins. Upset City on the campus of St. Leo. The Spartans get the automatic bid into the Division II tournament - but Rollins would learn later that they got in, too, via an at-large berth.

The Tars didn't know that at the time, of course, and you can imagine the emotions after the loss. I walked onto the St. Leo soccer field - doubling as a parking lot on Sunday - to see one of the Rollins players sitting on the grass, face in her hands, sobbing. I saw a lot of that over the last ten days.

Across the field, beyond a fence, I could hear the distinctive "tink-tink-tink" of batting practice. A lazy Sunday on a rural campus. Nothing left but a two-hour drive back home through the dying sunlight of another glorious Florida weekend.

Fourteen basketball games in ten days. Each one has a story.