NBATV... again

by philrsquared on Apr 23, 2009 4:39 PM EDT

This has always been something I have been incredibly interested in as an insecure Magic fan who feels the team gets no respect... at least since Shaquille O'Neal left. But it has upset me even more since I left Orlando for college and now that the Magic are actually, well, good again.

The NBA does not seem to give the Magic the respect they maybe deserve. I realize this series may not have the star power or intrigue (before game one, at least) of some of the other series. But it seems a bit unfair to signal out a few series to take off basic cable. I have a feeling if Game 3 were not on Friday night it too would be relegated to NBATV.

If David Stern is serious about growing some of the brands of his smaller market teams, taking away this playoff visibility is not helping. The Magic can fix all this of course by winning and getting deeper into the postseason, but it is frustrating trying to get everyone to jump on the bandwagon when it is so hard to see.

Maybe I am just being selfish because I cannot watch the biggest games of the year without going to a sports bar outside of Orlando. But you cannot build any national respect or following without showing these games.

This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.

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According to OrlandoMagic.com

We’ve been relegated to NBATV again for Game 5!

http://www.nba.com/magic/schedule/

by malars on Apr 23, 2009 5:11 PM EDT reply actions

You're freaking kidding me?!?!

It’s not really the NBAtv ‘disrespect’ thing that bugs me. It’s the fact that I’m at a point at my current job where I’ve hit the cap on the amount of vacation hours I can carry, so I will start losing any more vacation hours I accrue if I don’t start taking them. So I decided to take a vacation day for every weekday game the Magic have for the playoffs to kill 2 birds with one stone. Since I no longer have NBAtv because League Pass expired mid-April, I have to watch a fuzzy pictured game online instead of on my crisp HD tv.

I might as well still go to work since I have a ton of projects to complete and watch the game from there.

Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek

by funny80sguy on Apr 23, 2009 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions

That's great .. live feeds, ftw.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

I comment WAY too much.

Die for my family and live for the moment/And that's the main difference between me and my opponent - Phonte of Little Brother

by erivera7 on Apr 23, 2009 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I would agree that David Stern is shooting himself in the foot by not giving a franchise like Orlando more visibility right now but clearly the franchise is lower on the totem poll in correlation to TV appearances.

.. the Magic, whenever the team has been good, has plenty of national TV appearances. Obviously not to the scale of the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Lakers but still plenty nonetheless. If you win, they will watch.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

I comment WAY too much.

Die for my family and live for the moment/And that's the main difference between me and my opponent - Phonte of Little Brother

by erivera7 on Apr 23, 2009 6:25 PM EDT reply actions

Stern’s problem is that the NBA get a lot of money from their network and cable channels, and those guys want to get their money back as much as possible – which means getting as many people watching their ads and paying subs.

The Magic are a small market team with one big player who’s seen, nationally, as more of a joker then a genuine player. We don’t rate. Teams which don’t rate play on NBA TV.

It sucks, yeah, but it’s the economic reality of a commercial entertainment activity. Money talks, and we don’t talk money.

by eltharion_doa on Apr 23, 2009 7:19 PM EDT reply actions