The Amway Center is set to open its doors to basketball on October 10 for a preseason game between the Magic and the Hornets. The regular season starts October 28 as Orlando takes on Washington. With the countdown on to the premier of the Magic's new building, I thought it would be good to give Orlando Arena a proper send-off and recount some of the best memories from our old home.

We are t-minus 56 days until regular season basketball in the Amway Center!

And now a file from the strange occurrences that happened at the Orlando Arena. This is the kind of event that proves even a humdrum game in the middle of the regular season can turn into something, well, different.

There is a long list of athletes damaging equipment in a stadium. From Ron Artest throwing a TV in the tunnel to the locker room as he walked off the court or a baseball player taking his frustrations out on a poor, defenseless water cooler, athletes have a funny way of showing their frustration.

There have been few players that were as boisterous, passionate and intense as Tim Hardaway. Hardaway made his career leading the Run TMC crew in Golden State. His killer crossover earned him plenty of YouTube-worthy highlights and a cover appearance on NBA Live. His career really took off when he was traded to Miami and, along with Alonzo Mourning, made the Heat one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Hardaway and Magic point guard Darrell Armstrong had something of a history before the Nuggets came to town in March 2002. Armstrong really started to work his way into the hearts and minds of Magic fans with his surprising play in the 1997 NBA Playoffs against the Heat. Armstrong's fire was hidden by Penny Hardaway's super nova performances in Games Three and Four to stave off elimination, but Magic fans would soon know the name of Armstrong.

Armstrong gave Hardaway all kinds of problems with his speed and quickness. Tim Hardaway was getting long in the tooth at this point, although he was still an elite point guard in the NBA. He did not want to deal with this young up-and-comer.

Miami won that series despite Tim Hardaway struggling in the decisive Game Five. Armstrong went on to become one of the darlings in Magic history and probably the most popular player in team history.

What happened on March 15, 2002 probably endeared him to the Orlando Arena faithful more.

It is safe to say Orlando has no clue what to expect when the Amway Center opens its doors for its first event on October 1 and for its first basketball game on October 10. The Amway Arena was hardly what you would call "state of the art" when it opened in 1989. The arena was somewhere between the going trend and a dinosaur.

Magic COO Alex Martins has assured both the public and fans, they are about to experience something they have never experienced as fans.

The in-arena restaurant, the in-arena team store -- Fan Attic, if you will -- and the overall amenities will be things that blow Orlando fans away. But they are also things that many fans in other NBA cities have enjoyed for several years now. The Amway Center will be the crown jewel of the NBA and a great centerpiece for the NBA All Star Game in 2012 and, hopefully, an NBA Finals in 2011.

A new building brings new amenities, but it also brings new costs (the toll levied on the city, the county and the taxpayers notwithstanding -- that is another issue entirely). Like what is inside the building, a lot of the things outside the building -- including pricing -- will be very new to Magic fans.

The days of topping ESPN's "Bang for Your Buck" list may be long gone with a new arena and its potential new revenue streams.

Most of the main sponsorships that will be attached to the main elements of the building have been filled -- Jack Daniels, Budweiser and Geico were the latest announcements -- and the fan experience will be quite different in the Amway Center from the Amway Arena.

One thing that will change, probably much to the chagrin of fans, is prices.

The Magic have long been one of the more affordable teams to go and see. This could be because of the old arena and the relatively cramped quarters inside Amway Arena. It could also be because the Magic have a tradition of being relatively mediocre and struggling for fans.

It is easy to recall seeing large patches of empty red seats in the 2000-2007 days where Orlando simply qualified for the postseason and bowed out. Really only three periods of time have seen consistent sell outs -- the inaugural year, the 1994-96 Finals runs and the present.

Perhaps in response to the sudden rise in demand for Magic tickets and the completion of the new arena, the team is introducing variable ticket pricing for the first time. This has been a growing trend throughout the NBA, beginning in Portland a few years ago.

The basic premise of variable pricing is to have the market determine how much tickets should cost. For instance a ticket that would have cost $20 in Amway Arena, would now cost $25 for the Thanksgiving Eve game against the Heat but only, say, $15 for the November 3 game against Minnesota.

The price of the ticket will be determined by the opponent, the day of the week and how well teams are playing.

On a purely economic basis, it is a good business decision. Why should you pay the same price to see the Nets as you do the Lakers?

I am sure this will still be a minor annoyance to Magic fans.

Dwight Howard's decision to sit out the World Championships
have led to more doubts from the national media.
Phil Walter/Getty Images/PicApp

If you watched Saturday's World Basketball Championship rout of Croatia by the United States, you might wonder: "Hmm, maybe Team USA did not need Dwight Howard." Rest assured though, even with Spain's loss in the team's first game to France, the American's roster deficiency will appear at some time.

It is not a deficiency of talent for sure. With Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose, there is plenty of talent to lead the team in scoring and employ the team's signature press defense.

It is a deficiency of experience and quality big men. Lamar Odom and Tyson Chandler are the only players on the team with international experience at the national team level. And Tyson Chandler is the only pure center on the roster -- and Odom is starting in the middle.

It is not like everyone did not know this problem was coming. David Lee got hurt in training camp and Amar'e Stoudemire could not get his contract insured in time to participate. That means there is only one person to blame for the National Team's lack of post presence and maybe the Achilles heel that keeps the country from winning its first World Championship since 1994.

The national media's favorite whipping boy: Dwight Howard.

Surely Dwight Howard, he of the two-time Defensive Player of the Year Awards, two conference finals appearances and one NBA Finals appearance, is the missing ingredient for Team USA. And surely Team USA, with whom Howard won a bronze at the 2006 World Championships, is exactly what Howard needed to reach that next step and become the league's most dominating force (not that he isn't already).

To the chagrin of Magic fans, the national media does not yet seem to be on Howard's side. There is definitely a perception about Dwight Howard in the national media especially that will not seem to go away. the latest contention is that Howard needed the reps as the best player in big games with Team USA. So being the best player on the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals the last two years is not good enough?

Ultimately the criticisms come down to Howard's demeanor on the court. A lot of national commentators complain about Howard's bubbly smile on the court and wish he had a Shaquille O'Neal-like glare as he dunked over you. It led to Sports Illustrated writing an article to preview the 2009 Playoffs with the headline: "Too Much Fun: Can the Magic's Dunk Machine Get Serious for a Moment?"

This, you could argue, was the same complaint they had about the staid expression of Tim Duncan. He is only arguably the greatest power forward in NBA history. His titles have also quieted much of the criticism.

So until Howard wins that first title, he will continue to face these criticisms. Howard gets admittedly frustrated by all the criticism thrown his way, especially since what he is good at goes largely unappreciated.

The Amway Center is set to open its doors to basketball on October 10 for a preseason game between the Magic and the Hornets. The regular season starts October 28 as Orlando takes on Washington. With the countdown on to the premier of the Magic's new building, I thought it would be good to give Orlando Arena a proper send-off and recount some of the best memories from our old home.

We are t-minus 62 days until regular season basketball in the Amway Center!

The Amway Center has officially sold out its first game, a preseason tilt on October 10 against New Orleans. That means we are getting closer and closer to the opening of the new building.

The fervor will build and build until that first game. To celebrate a beginning, I thought I would reveal what I think to be the greatest moment and greatest play in the Orlando Arena's history. I would let the video speak for itself, but it was taken off YouTube (stupid copyright restrictions). It really is amazing to watch the whole final sequence again.

Jordan showed rare struggles down the stretch as the up-and-coming Magic scored a confidence-building victory that led to the six-game series victory in the conference semifinals. It is difficult to remember the particulars of that series. There are really just two moments. The team lifting Horace Grant on to their shoulders at the United Center after Orlando eliminated Chicago.

The other?

With time ticking off the clock and Orlando trailing by one, Michael Jordan was bringing the ball up the court. The Magic elected to wait until the Bulls reached half court before fouling. Nick Anderson drew the assignment of guarding Jordan. It was not long before Jordan got past Anderson and was dribbling slowly into open court.

Anderson lurked behind and Jordan knew it. He looked over his left shoulder, then his right. He knew Anderson was behind him, but did not know where.

Then it happened.

(Eds. Note: thanks MagicFan4Life84 for finding the video!)

Jordan looked over his left shoulder and Anderson came from his right. He poked the ball free and it dribbled away into Penny Hardaway's hands.

Nick Anderson stole the ball. Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan.

ESPN is completing its late summer predictions, paneling their crew of experts and writers to put in their votes, and predictably Miami is a big favorite. Everyone is enamored with the Heat and the trio that is there. On paper, it is hard to argue that Miami will not win the East and be a favorite to win the title.

But don't think Orlando is not lurking in the background. ESPN's experts consider the Magic to be the second best team in the Eastern Conference by a healthy margin. The Heat are, as expected, the favorite garnering 71 percent of the votes in the poll. Orlando comes in second with 16 votes (17 percent) and Boston in third with 10 (11 percent).

For the title? Orlando is a distant third with only five votes. The ESPN panel overwhelmingly picked the Lakers to repeat and win their third straight title.

That will be the argument for the season. Can the battle-tested, built from the ground up, known chemistry teams -- Orlando and Los Angeles -- defeat a team hastily built in one summer? It is a question that will probably shape the future of the NBA (new collective bargaining agreement notwithstanding).

Orlando has that chemistry. The core has been together for three years now. Even the new players that were brought in during the Magic's summer of change in 2009 have been with the team before. That comfort should mean there are less hiccups then early last season. And still the team won 59 games, the same amount as the chemistry-rich 2008-09 team. So why not think, at least for the regular season, Orlando could be better?

The Magic made little tweaks aimed at shoring up weak spots last year and replacing players lost to free agency. Orlando made its splashy moves, for better or for worse, last summer. This is the team the Magic will go forward with.

And Orlando is still a very good team. But the one element that was missing was the underdog feeling. Shaquille O'Neal was wrong when he called the Magic a "front runner" two years ago while he was still with Phoenix. Orlando is not a front runner.

The team is a dogged fighter who wants to prove everyone wrong. The Magic are like Seabiscuit. You have to hold them back and have them look into the eye of their opponent before zooming past them.

That might have been the big thing that went wrong last year (besides Rashard Lewis getting sick at the absolute wrong time). Orlando got comfortable being the favorite. Against teams like Charlotte and Atlanta, that does not matter. The Magic were clearly the better team. But against equal teams -- like Boston -- Orlando quite possibly needed that extra motivation and edge to overcome them.

It is not an excuse and no one should use it as one. But we all know Dwight Howard is very sensitive to what the media says about him (or at least it appears he is with his comments to the media). He is the team's leader and he is definitely motivated by media doubting him and his team.

J.A. Adande agrees in his pick for the Magic to win the Eastern Conference: "They tried playing the 'nobody respects us' card for the past two seasons and maybe it will finally take effect now. Dwight Howard was a dark horse MVP candidate last season, but now that LeBron is in South Beach, Dwight can no longer be considered the best player in the state of Florida. Take that, plus the humiliating first three games of the Eastern Conference finals, and if Howard and the Magic don't enter 2010-11 in vengeance mode, then they never will."

There is probably not a truer statement. The Finals loss clearly was not motivating enough. Orlando may have thought it could waltz back to the Finals. The Eastern Conference Finals loss may snap the team into "vengeance mode" as Adande calls it. And he is right. If the Magic do not come out firing and ready to prove they can dominate still, and then deliver in the postseason, they may never do it.

At that point we can talk about rebuilding and bringing in Chris Paul or Carmelo Anthony or whoever. This team deserves another chance because of the so-called "vengeance" factor. If Miami wins, then we will know that strategy works, right?

Answering that question about established team chemistry is coloring everything about this season. Alfredo Berrios of ESPN DePortes says that will be Orlando's advantage in winning the title:

"I believe the Magic will play as a more cohesive unit, and have more depth than the Heat. Plus, they have Dwight Howard, a strong center who will give the Heat a lot of problems should they meet in the conference finals. If the Lakers face the Magic in the Finals, I don't think they'll have the upper hand like they did two years ago, especially after Orlando beats Miami."

Orlando is back to being the underdog. And that is perhaps exactly where the team needs to be to bond together and push through when things get tough. Something the Magic did not do last year.

In 1989, Jon Koncak signed a 6 year, $13 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Hawks and instantly assured himself a place in professional basketball history. Koncak was coming off a year where he averaged just under 5 points per game, around 6 rebs per, in just over 20 minutes a game. However, his contract made him a highly compensated professional basketball player and also a lightning rod for scrutiny from the media, fans and other players in the league. See, in 1989, Jon Koncak signed a deal paying him more per year than Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson were making. His new contract earned him a new nickname: Jon Contract.

So to honor the NBA, the collective bargaining process, and to help us get through the month of August (Please, no more coverage of Dez Bryant NOT carrying Roy Williams shoulder pads): The Real Shaq teams up with other bloguin geniuses to compile a list of the WORST contracts the NBA has had since the last lockout in 1999. And boy, let me tell you there are some good ones on here. Here's how it works: every week day in August one of the fabulous bloggers from around the Bloguin network will write about a bad contract and make their case for why it's one of the worst contracts the NBA has ever had.

If you have been following the RealShaq's series on the worst contracts of the last 10 years, you have seen some real head scratcher. Moves that make you scratch your head and say, "How was that a good idea?"

You have your Vin Bakers, Eddy Currys, Raef LaFrentzs and even a convincing argument that Kevin Garnett had a horrible deal for the NBA. I already detailed Adonal Foyle and the deal he received from Golden State.

Absent from this list is the true superstar who had a truly bad contract. Garnett deserved the offer he accepted, even though it may have ruined basketball as Mike Reynolds of TWolves Blog argues.

Magic fans are far too used to seeing Hill wearing a suit on the sideline.
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images/PicApp

Grant Hill certainly deserved the contract John Gabriel offered to him in the summer of 2000. He was one of the most dynamic players in the NBA. A media darling and advertiser's dream. He was popular, leading the league in All-Star voting a few times and even earning starter's spots when he was not playing. His stats backed everything up. He averaged 21.6 points per game and shot 47.6 percent in his first six years in the NBA with Detroit. For such a high usage player -- he was always somewhere in the upper 20%s.

The season before he was to become a free agent, with all the LeBron-like hype that came with it, he averaged a career-best 25.8 points, shot 48.9 percent from the floor and grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game. Hill was a do-everything guy.

Even in six years, he did more than enough to be considered one the Pistons' greatest players.

More than that, Hill was willing to put life and limb on the line. In his final season in Detroit, he played on a severely injured ankle in the Playoffs to try and help his team win. Hill never made it out of the first round with Detroit despite his best efforts -- and never reached the second round until this year with Phoenix.

Is this not exactly the type of player you want to offer a max contract?

Young. Dynamic. Good teammate. Willing to do anything to win. Makes his team better. Ample marketing opportunities. Supreme popularity in the post-Michael Jordan league.

Hill was the definition of a safe bet for a maximum contract.

Except for that bum ankle.

The Amway Center is set to open its doors to basketball on October 10 for a preseason game between the Magic and the Hornets. The regular season starts October 28 as Orlando takes on Washington. With the countdown on to the premier of the Magic's new building, I thought it would be good to give Orlando Arena a proper send-off and recount some of the best memories from our old home.

We are t-minus 67 days until regular season basketball in the Amway Center!

I promise this will not be the last moment that includes Michael Jordan (I think you all know which moment I am talking about). But as a bit of foreshadowing, Jordan's first trip to Orlando Arena was also not a very productive one for the player many consider to be the game's greatest.

And for all those young Magic fans, Otis Smith was not always a quiet, constantly scheming general manager. First he was a quiet, constantly scheming player. Arguably the best player on the franchise's inaugural team.

But any time Jordan came to the O-Rena, there was a different buzz about the place (well, any time he came to any arena I guess there was a buzz). But you never forget your first time. And Jordan's first time was one of the many classic games the Orlando Arena saw in its first year.

Jordan scored 52 points in that first game in Orlando. 52! How lucky could these young Magic fans be? And why the hell couldn't anyone -- I am looking at you Mark Acres and Nick Anderson -- defend Jordan that night? Watching those highlights above is like watching a high school player dominating a bunch of six-year-olds. Oh wait, that is typically what Jordan did.

But what that highlight above does not show is what happened at the end.

Jordan's last field goal put Chicago up by one with about seven seconds to play. The Magic had led most of the game (as you can gather from the highlights) and watched their lead crumble away to "His Airness" like a good little expansion team should. But Matt Guokas and Orlando had one more trick (pun intended) up their sleeves.

Otis Smith drove past Jordan and Scottie Pippen to make a layup with two seconds to play, giving Orlando a 120-119 win. Jordan missed a shot -- curious that highlight was not included above -- and the Magic got a euphoric win against one of the NBA's best playing at his best.

In fact, it was the first time Orlando had scored a game-winning basket with less than 10 seconds to play. A BIG franchise first.

Orlando improved to just 9-15 on the year but had already beaten six teams from the 1989 Playoffs, including a home win over the Lakers. Smith was not too shabby himself in this game, scoring 28 points and playing 38 minutes off the bench.

This was the first of several bad memories for Jordan inside Amway Arena.

We will be reminiscing about Orlando Arena for the rest of the summer. Have a memory you would like remembered? Tweet us with your memories @OMagicDaily, comment to this article or contact us through the Web site.

In 1989, Jon Koncak signed a 6 year, $13 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Hawks and instantly assured himself a place in professional basketball history. Koncak was coming off a year where he averaged just under 5 points per game, around 6 rebs per, in just over 20 minutes a game. However, his contract made him a highly compensated professional basketball player and also a lightning rod for scrutiny from the media, fans and other players in the league. See, in 1989, Jon Koncak signed a deal paying him more per year than Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson were making. His new contract earned him a new nickname: Jon Contract.

So to honor the NBA, the collective bargaining process, and to help us get through the month of August (Please, no more coverage of Dez Bryant NOT carrying Roy Williams shoulder pads): The Real Shaq teams up with other bloguin geniuses to compile a list of the WORST contracts the NBA has had since the last lockout in 1999. And boy, let me tell you there are some good ones on here. Here's how it works: every week day in August one of the fabulous bloggers from around the Bloguin network will write about a bad contract and make their case for why it's one of the worst contracts the NBA has ever had.

The timing on who I have selected to profile today could not have been worse timing. Let me preface this article by saying this: Adonal Foyle does not deserve the ridicule he will receive in this article. It is a business and Foyle cashed in on a business decision. With Foyle now retiring, he will have time to focus on things outside of basketball. But despite his ambitions off the court, Foyle has always loved basketball and the opportunity it has given him.

It is no coincidence that Magic fans are singing his praises after his departure despite the fact he did not play a single game last year. Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith said last summer that re-signing Foyle was the easiest decision they made during that hectic summer.

But let's go back to the summer of 2004. Orlando, feeling tired of circulating between Andrew DeClercq, Pat Burke, Steven Hunter and Juwan Howard, are once again in the market for a new center. Then-general manager Jon Weisbrod successfully completed a blockbuster trade that shipped Tracy McGrady out of Orlando (for Steve Francis, a completely different kind of headache) and drafted Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor (good decision).

But the Magic still wanted a backup center. Someone who could defend the paint, block shots and help Howard along. At a reasonable price, of course. Kelvin Cato was on the roster, but who knew what kind of production you could get out of him? And Howard was still considered a power forward.

In steps Adonal Foyle.

Dwight Howard has once again found some criticism
for his summer activities. Zumapress/PicApp

It is pretty hard for a 6-foot-11 guy to remain pretty anonymous. But of all the NBA superstars, Dwight Howard has been the less vocal. Half of that is because he was not a free agent. Half of that is because he has been busy working on his individual game. And half of that (yes, three halves!) is because Howard is working on various other side projects.

Dwight Howard has been in India this week, helping the NBA's Basketball Without Borders. He was scheduled to go to Africa before that for a Basketball Without Borders event. And Howard will travel to China to film a movie.

Through all this he has been working out with his personal trainer up to five hours a day and worked out with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to expand his post repertoire.

It is difficult to criticize Howard for doing anything wrong. He is doing what a professional athlete in his position should be doing. He is working to improve his game. He is expanding his business opportunities. And he is reaching out through charitable organizations (he also held a basketball camp in his native Atlanta and in Orlando).

While Howard is boisterous and easy-going on the court, he seems a lot more quiet off it. Unlike some other superstars, he is not about drawing attention to himself -- although I think Howard wants the attention for his actions and gets annoyed when he does not get the respect he deserves.

The criticism of Howard is long. His summer activies are no exception.

Last year many criticized Howard for spending too much time making movies and focusing on things outside of basketball. He was off filming Valentine's Day and Just Wright and working to expand his off-field portfolio. He is one of the most marketed NBA players and it is something he wants from his fame as a basketball player.

There are lots of things pulling on Howard. And it sometimes does not seem that Howard has his full attention on basketball.

Using an argument Dwight Howard would use: you did not see Dwyane Wade get criticized for appearing in the same movie Howard did. LeBron James does not get criticized for going into hiding except for random appearances at sporting events during his offseason.

I guess it is OK to criticize Howard for working with Basketball Without Borders and pursuing opportunities he wants to go after.

But Howard is an NBA superstar and certain responsibilities do come with that title.

The following is part two in a series examining the Amway Center's potential impact on Orlando. Be sure to check out part one.

Amway Center's construction has towered over Church Street Station,
but will it revitalize the once bustling downtown district?
Andrew Yowler/Orlando Magic Daily

For the last couple of years, the construction of the gleaming, brand-spanking new $380 million Amway Center arena has kept Central Floridians focused on the evolution of downtown.

With everything I have seen and heard about the incredible features of the new arena, I am pretty sure that Amway Center will definitely be one great place to watch Dwight Howard dominate. That is a hard point to argue.

But, as the building finally nears completion, a critically important question to ask is this: What will the new arena offer outside of its shiny doors?

Located much closer to the heart of downtown than the old Amway Arena, the site selection of the new Amway Center already seems to be a slam dunk (pardon the awfully cheesy pun). Whereas the old Amway Arena is indeed downtown, the new place has the potential to actually become the heartbeat of downtown Orlando.

However, not everyone initially agreed on Church Street when trying to determine where to build Orlando’s new arena years ago. Rather, some citizens fiercely lobbied instead to build the new arena around International Drive in the heart of tourist country.

One man in particular, I-Drive hotel magnate Harris Rosen, was very vocal about his opposition to the arena’s location. Rosen argued that Orange County should not use tourist tax revenue to build a venue that did not directly benefit the tourism industry.

However, many people simply saw Rosen’s efforts (failed petition and all) as an attempt to have county leaders choose to build the Magic’s new home on I-Drive, a move that would have undoubtedly benefitted Rosen’s business interests.

For a moment, try to imagine the arena on I-Drive. Nothing like driving an hour to catch a Magic game while snagging some $1 airbrushed t-shirts and a pair of Mickey Mouse ears outside the arena. The brand new “Magic Kingdom” would have been, well, pretty much in the Magic Kingdom.

Nothing against Disney or tourists whatsoever, but an arena on I-Drive would have officially cemented Orlando as being nothing more than a tourist town. While tourists do drive our economy, we have got to draw the line somewhere.

The Magic are our team. The Magic are not just one night’s worth of entertainment for a visiting family from London. The team is part of our community, and it would not have been right to make our team another part of a tourist’s vacation checklist between visits to Universal and Disney World.