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VonneMarie
04-04-2005, 04:48 PM
Tony and Wilbon were discussing the Orlando Magic looking to relocate because their arena ordeal. Wilbon said the top two cities in the hunt were KC and STL. :thumb:

Wilbon said the Show Me State was ready for Basketball again.

|Zach|
04-04-2005, 04:49 PM
Niice...

Phobia
04-04-2005, 04:49 PM
Wasn't this story all the rage when the arena deal was announced?

tk13
04-04-2005, 04:51 PM
As much complaining as I see about Chiefs and Royals ticket prices, I'm still not sure if folks in KC are ready for NBA ticket prices....

eazyb81
04-04-2005, 04:52 PM
Would anybody take an NBA franchise in KC if it meant the we would lose the Royals? Personally, I don't think we can support 3 pro teams, and baseball seems to be on the brink of death in small markets such as KC, Tampa Bay, Oakland, etc.

buddha
04-04-2005, 04:56 PM
Pro basketball could thrive in both KC and St. Louis if it's run by a good organization. That wasn't the case with the Kings (at the time), nor the Hawks.

VonneMarie
04-04-2005, 04:57 PM
As much complaining as I see about Chiefs and Royals ticket prices, I'm still not sure if folks in KC are ready for NBA ticket prices....
I believe KC can. People complain about Chiefs tix prices yet they still go.

Spicy McHaggis
04-04-2005, 04:57 PM
I could definately dig on the Kansas City Magic.

tk13
04-04-2005, 05:00 PM
I believe KC can. People complain about Chiefs tix prices yet they still go.
Yeah, but that's 8 games, not 41....

VonneMarie
04-04-2005, 05:05 PM
Wasn't this story all the rage when the arena deal was announced?
They were talking about trying to get an NBA team. Until now no franchise was threatning to leave.

You guys should check out these stories on Orlando's Newspaper site.

Here's one from March.

Get Phil Jackson to save team before it moves to Kansas City
Published March 18, 2005

E-MAIL
Mike Bianchi



Win with Zen.

Orlando Magic General Manager John Weisbrod has gone the cheap route with one coaching search and failed. Now it's time to open the Amway vault and save the franchise.

Go get Phil Jackson.

At any cost.

NBA insiders say it probably will take $10 million a year to lure Jackson back into coaching. If that's the case, then that's what the Magic should offer. They paid $5 million a year for Doc Rivers, and he'd never won anything. Phil has nine rings, which means the Magic would be getting a bargain by paying him only twice Doc's salary.

And don't think the Zen Master wouldn't at least consider Orlando. Todd Musburger, Jackson's agent, confirmed Thursday that Phil was in "serious conversations" with the Magic several years ago before Orlando ended up hiring Chuck Daly. Although Musburger said Jackson wouldn't discuss any openings until after the season, he didn't rule out Orlando.

"Phil is very neutral right now," Musburger said. "If the Magic call him, I'm sure he would listen."

Then call him.

Now.

Right now.

Memo to Weisbrod: Put your ego aside, and do this for the future of the franchise. I tried to tell you before the season to go after Shaq, but -- NO! -- you had to build the team your way. Sure, it would have been a long shot to get Shaq back home to Orlando, but shouldn't Weisbrod have done everything possible -- including beg, plead and pray -- to try?

Instead, the Magic sat back while the Miami Heat stole Shaq for next to nothing. The Heat are now the front-runners to win the NBA championship; the Magic are the front-runners to move to Kansas City.

Weisbrod has done it his way, and his way isn't working so well right now. Otherwise, why would he ditch Davis after saying before the season, "Johnny will be our coach every game, regardless of what happens."? Weisbrod broke his word because Davis couldn't break his fall.

Davis is simply a convenient, inexpensive fall guy. Weisbrod either had to fire Davis or fire himself -- and, naturally, himself won. Besides, is there anything easier than axing Davis -- an unpopular choice who had a job nobody thought he deserved?

"The goal before the season was to make the playoffs," Davis said in a phone interview Thursday. " . . . But somewhere along the line, the expectation went from making the playoffs to becoming a No. 3 seed and going deep into the playoffs. It became unrealistic.

"To say I'm disappointed would be a huge understatement."

The fact is Weisbrod put Davis in an unwinnable, untenable situation. Weisbrod -- as he should -- is making deals for the future, but he unrealistically expected Davis to mold a serious playoff contender now.

Weisbrod made no secret of the fact that he wanted to put rookie Jameer Nelson at point guard and switch Steve Francis to shooting guard. The result: The Magic are now starting two rookies -- Nelson and Dwight Howard. History tells us that there hasn't been a serious playoff contender in years that had two rookies in the starting lineup.

It was also Weisbrod's decision to trade a good player (Cuttino Mobley) for damaged goods (Doug Christie). When it was learned last week that Christie would miss the remainder of the season with bone spurs, Weisbrod admitted that the trade had little to do with what happened on the court. He said he acquired Christie, in part, because Christie's contract expires next summer, which will give the Magic additional cap space to spend on a big-time free agent.

Translation: Weisbrod sacrificed immediate success for long-term stability. And if long-term success is the goal, then the Magic must go out and try to hire the only coach who will guarantee the team will be in Orlando long term: And, no, we're not talking about interim coach Chris Jent.

Even though Weisbrod hinted that Jent could be a candidate for the permanent job, he's not -- he can't be. Weisbrod absolutely cannot follow up unproven Johnny Davis with more unproven Chris Jent. You cannot fire Coach Cheap and Available and replace him with Coach Cheaper and Available.

There should be only one name on the Magic's coaching wish list:

Phil Jackson.

Jackson's agent refutes the popular notion that his client is only interested in taking over a ready-made champion. After all, the one thing Jackson never has done is mold a young team into a contender.

"I think one of the things that people forget about Phil is that, first and foremost, he is a teacher," Musburger said.

In Dwight Howard, Jackson has the perfect pupil and the future superstar to build a championship around. And think about it: If Jackson were to bring a title to Orlando, he'd finally be rid of the reputation that he's only capable of winning when he inherits the greatest players in the game (Shaq and Michael Jordan).

If Jackson is looking for the piece de resistance to a magnificent career, what better place to accomplish it than Orlando? Sure, he's won championships before, but has he ever saved a franchise? He's built winners before, but has he ever single-handedly built an arena?

With one hire, the Magic can galvanize the city and get it behind the franchise. With one hire, the Magic can send the message to politicians to loosen their grip on the tourist tax because a championship is on the way.

Make Jackson an offer he can't refuse.

If replacing Coach Johnny Davis isn't enough, tell him he can replace Mayor Buddy Dyer, too.

The campaign platform is simple:

Win with Zen.

Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sptbianchi18031805mar18,1,20841.column?coll=orl-magic&ctrack=3&cset=true

Sure-Oz
04-04-2005, 05:11 PM
That would be pretty sweet, may actually get me interested in the NBA again since MJ left.

VonneMarie
04-04-2005, 05:13 PM
Admittedly, I didn't read that whole article... but, the part I read makes sound like the Magic are a mismanaged loser of a franchise. Sounds like a good fit for KC. Royals fans are already familiar with that animal.
nlm

eazyb81
04-04-2005, 05:17 PM
Who would be a possible owner if an NBA team did move to KC? I can't see Lamar Hunt owning the team, and I want David Glass to stay as far away from the team as possible. Are there any other realistic candidates? Or would Orlando's current owner continue to be the owner, and just relocate the team to KC? If that is what would happen, he better be willing to spend some money or the team will be just as much of a failure here as it is in Orlando.

Eleazar
04-04-2005, 05:18 PM
As much as I would like to have another major sport I don't think it will succeed here. The NHL is having a hard time succeeding anywhere and the NBA looks to be on the same path, with team relocation and tv viewership down.

Just clicking around on ticketmaster I can see that there is some way to get into the upper level of a Magic game for $10, sitting amongst the rafters no doubt, but maybe a deal like that would help. It doesn't seem that you can get out of the upper level for even $30 head though.

ChiefsCountry
04-04-2005, 05:20 PM
The owner of the Magic, his son owned the KC Blades of the IHL.

tk13
04-04-2005, 05:30 PM
As much as I would like to have another major sport I don't think it will succeed here. The NHL is having a hard time succeeding anywhere and the NBA looks to be on the same path, with team relocation and tv viewership down.

Just clicking around on ticketmaster I can see that there is some way to get into the upper level of a Magic game for $10, sitting amongst the rafters no doubt, but maybe a deal like that would help. It doesn't seem that you can get out of the upper level for even $30 head though.
I think you can get in most NBA arenas for 10-20 bucks if you just want to get in, but it's pretty high up in the corners/ends usually, and I'm sure the Sprint Center is going to be built like these other modern arenas. I don't know, the only real problem with it is that it's not like football or baseball, the playing "field" or court in this case, is just much smaller (94 x 50 feet or so), it feels like you're very far away. If you want to get out of the upper deck at a Pacers game, it's 45 bucks minimum, and if you want to get down closer to the floor it's 75-100+.... and I'm sure a lot of places are more expensive than that, I know the Pacers have lowered prices a bit from when the arena was first built.

Saulbadguy
04-04-2005, 05:32 PM
People complain about Royals ticket prices? Can't a person go to a Royals game for like five bucks?
They raised the "HyVee view level" price to $7 after 2003.

VonneMarie
04-04-2005, 05:35 PM
They raised the "HyVee view level" price to $7 after 2003.
Wow... two whole dollars. :eek:

Saulbadguy
04-04-2005, 05:37 PM
What pisses me off is when you buy the cheaper seats, and the field box seats are EMPTY, they won't let you move to the better seats. I understand why they do it, it just pisses me off.