Magic!

Hey hey bloggers whats up!! So the off season continues to bring all sorts of fun, and Im LOVING IT! What have I been up to that has me so excited? Im glad you asked :) This past weekend I had the privilege to secure tickets to the event "enter Legend". this was the theme of the newly built Amway Center where the Orlando magic NBA Team play. I had heard so much about it from the state of the art technology to the comfy seats to the exquisite restaurants on site.With all the hype I couldn't help but be excited. they said they did a great job and boy did the city SHOW OUT for their Magic basketball team! The stadium is 2.5 times bigger tan the old Amway Arena and has more than 3 times the bathrooms available. (I guess that was a major issue at the lat arena). It has the largest center court screen in the country (which is comparable to the Dallas Cowboys screen, in relation to the stadium of course, in Texas). It has 2 restaurants that I saw, 2 lounges to hang out at, 2 open area bar and food locations on the upper levels, and a pretty happening kids zone too. Thats not the only thing though...their practice court is connected to the stadium as a wing that connects right to the back of their locker room. News channels had been interviewing the players prior to the grand opening and they seemed REALLY authentically hype about it.

When you walk into the Amway Center you are welcomed by a gigantic lobby area with 50 foot posters of the several star players on the team. The lobby itself is 80 feet tall and fans must take escalators to the first level. I believe I remember hearing that it has 5 levels in and of itself for seating and entertainment, and every seat has a great view of the court. Even the nosebleed$5 seats that they offer for magic games have a really good view in my opinion. Needless to say the Orlando Magic has a new home and they aren't looking back for one second, except to say "I never would have imagined something this great"! they are enjoying every moment of it and I did too. Im hoping to snatch up a couple home game tickets and check out the live action in the new Center for myself. Even if they're against crappy teams sports venues are fun to attend and can leave you with great experiences. I suggest that everyone who is able to check out the arena at one point or another. Because after all, who knows who you might meet?

Football Season

Over the past 3 years I must admit that I have been slippin on the sports updates. I didnt keep up with any college or professional football or basketball teams, which kind of upset me. As much as I wanted to be up until the wee morning hours watching each football game then post-game highlights I had other stuff to do. That other stuff was better known as homework and rest. I guess you could say that not having a TV helped to contribute to this issue too. However, since I have graduated I've been getting back into the football spirit that I once had WAY back in high school when I was known for good field speed and hard hitting (Corner/Strong Safety).

A couple weeks ago I started off watching th opening NFL game featuring the Pittsburg Steelers and Tennessee Titans game. It ended up being pretty enticing with a 3 point win over the Titans. That weekend started college football season hitting hard off the back with games like Miami vs. Florida State and Boise St and Oregon to name a few. After about three full weeks of college football, I have to admit...MIAMI is steadily becoming my favorite team. Of course I always like to see the Buckeyes play at the shoehorn, Wolverines at the Big House, and The USC Trojans, but Hurricane offense led by star Quaterback Jacory Harris is taking over my interest. To be a Sophomore starting quarterback with huge numbers adding to over 500 all purpose yards is amazing. I loved how they came in to Tallahassee and fought right down to the wire to defeat the Seminoles. Since then they haven't looked back. They had some big hits in there next game (including the clean-up hit on one of the kick returns) and are looking stronger every game.

Another HUGE game was the Fresno State Boise State game last night...talk about SERIOUS offense!! There was almost 1000 yards of total offense from both teams. That was one game where each team was OFF TO THE RACES!! Ryan Matthews ended up rushing for 234 yards from the RB position, and for every score that Fresno had it seemed like Boise St's Titus Young had an answer when it came down to the kick returns. With the early lead from an interception (Oskee!) in the 1st quarter Boise jumped out and stayed out. They scored about three times before Fresno got there head in the game. Neither quarterback really stunned me, but Moore from Boise obviously knew what he was doing. He read the defense pretty well, looked very comfortable in the pocket, and was pretty good on passing with 18 of 26 completions. Colburn on the other hand was off to a rocky start when he threw his 5th interception of the SEASON (I know what your thinking, already?) and lost the momentum early in the first. He didn't look very comfortable in the backfield, he held the ball too long on pass plays (which could be attributed to the lockdown DBs on Boise's side), looked very stand offish, and just didn't get into a nice groove until the second half. Fresno's star player Ryan Mathews ran three 60+ yard touchdowns in to keep the game relatively close for a moment before Boise ran off with the game. In the end Fresno State falls to a speedy and determined Boise State 51-34. Great game though!