If It's Magic

Official Website

I was as devastated by the Cleveland Cavaliers collapse on Saturday as Lebron James was! Okay, now that I've got your attention, no I wasn't. I didn't lose a penny on this series and neither did he or anyone who actually played in it. I don't bet money on sports anymore... although, I used to many years ago. Being the honorable man that I am who always pays his debts, it left me a little light in the pockets some nights.

It is quite obvious that I'm not good at picking winners. You see, I told someone as the playoffs began that the Boston Celtics were not going to come out of the east this year. I said that with Kevin Garnett out, the Celtics were weak and Cleveland was going to expose that weakness. Chicago exposed it and nearly pulled it off. I then said that Orlando, who had just dusted off my Sixers, would surely expose it and they did.

Whether it was in the barber shop or on the corner, I predicted with some certainty again, before the first game of the Eastern Finals began, that Orlando would probably win the first game. After that, I predicted that the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had operated so far with a surgeon's efficiency and ruthlessness, would knock off the Orlando Magic, who I deemed "not quite ready for prime time."

Was that wishful thinking? I don't know but, it certainly wasn't accurate. This Orlando team, which I must admit I hadn't paid much attention to, turned out to be deep and better than anyone thought. I did some research and I found out that during the regular season, they beat Cleveland two games out of three. They also swept the Los Angelas Lakers 2-0 in their season series. Who knew? These guys are for real!

It looks like the Orlando Magic, a team I have nothing against and a team that surprised everybody, will be facing Kobe and the Lakers in a few days. I wouldn't be too quick to say that Kobe has his fourth ring in the bag. These guys just might prove anyone who thinks that way wrong.

I feel bad, though. I was really enjoying all of the commercials with Lebron James and Kobe Bryant in them. I was so looking forward to a showdown between the two best players of their generation. I'll just have to wait until the two teams meet in the regular season for that, I guess. I wonder if Dwight Howard has time to shoot a few commercials with Kobe?