In his weekly NBA MAILBAG, a popular column on ESPN.com Bill Simmons decided to take a shot at the Orlando Magic fanbase. Fair enough, he’s entitled, however I felt the need to respond. So I did…

Q: Can you please talk about how much of an idiot you were for picking the Cavs to cruise in the 2009 Eastern finals? By the way, you’re an idiot.
– Every Orlando fan

There was a response to the question that ended with this…

By the way, how dare a Magic fan give me crap? You root for the Orlando Magic! Were you even a fan three months ago? Back in late November, Nick Friedell wrote on Yahoo!: “I’ve covered several games in Orlando during the early part of the season, and there are always plenty of good seats to be had. What surprises me more than anything, though, is the general lack of enthusiasm from some of the crowds. For the most part, the crowds I’ve seen at Magic games are flatter than a pancake. Sure, there are some exciting moments, and, if asked, the fans are usually willing to get out of their seats and cheer. But, if it wasn’t for the noise blaring from the speaker system, you would be able to hear Stan Van Gundy barking out orders on almost every possession.” The 2009 Orlando Magic: Our crowds are flatter than a pancake. Should Disney World premiere its Orlando Magic Bandwagon Ride during the Finals or just wait until this summer?

My response? Note: This is the actual email I sent.

Mr. Simmons,

You’re better than that, right? It was just two seasons ago that the Orlando Magic actually pulled in more fans each night, than the storied franchise of Boston.

Nick Friedell, who you cited in your article, was using Orlando as an example went on to say…
“The scary part for David Stern and company is that Orlando has a booming fan-base compared to that of the Sixers and Grizzlies. Those teams rank 28th and 30th, respectively, on the NBA’s attendance list. The Grizzlies have been bad for several years now, but the Sixers have a young team, that added Elton Brand in the off-season, so why are they struggling so badly to draw a crowd?”

It’s mid November in the NBA, that would be like calling out a crowd at Dodger Stadium or Yankee Stadium in May…Still early, nothing riding yet, of course there will be some empty seats and down time.

In their 1st few years of existence the Magic had a sellout streak at 258 games (starting before Shaq arrived), one less than big the Pistons streak which was broken this season. Yes, the Magic did have some lean years in the early 2000s (14,059 for the first full post strike 99-00 season was their low point), but at our attendance never sunk to the levels of a Sacramento (12,571 this year), or an Indiana (12,221 last year), or even Cleveland (11,496 the year before LeBron).

Our attendance the last three years has been near sellout level (over 17,000 in an arena that holds 17,461). Percentage wise, we were 3rd in the NBA last year in filling the arena, 7th in ‘06-07 as a SUB .500 team.

As for the noise level of the crowd…Reggie Miller publicly stated during the Eastern Conference Finals that the Cavs would not win one in Orlando because the crowds that plagued him in the mid 90s were still around, and that made Orlando a very tough place to play.

Sure we’ve got A LOT of bandwagoners, all professional sports franchises have then. But as a long time Magic fan I can tell ya the crowds and fans have endured some reallybad times here. The loss of Shaq, the injuries to Penny Hardaway, the ultimate trade of Penny after a 1st round loss to the 7th seeded Sixers, Grant Hill’s contract and subsequent years, Tracey McGrady’s guarantee, and Steve Francis…not to mention we never saw the second round of the playoffs OR more than 45 wins for 12 years before last season.

Name one town Orlando’s size/makeup that would have had crowds after a resume like that…I couldn’t

http://www.apbr.org/attendance.html

Yes, this is a silly as shit thing for me to email you about. It’s such a minor thing in a great article…It’s just my passion for the Magic I guess.

If you’d like to check out something I’ve written about this topic feel free…A One Team Town…

If not, I understand.

GO MAGIC!!!

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