Please pardon the late update today. In addition to taking two exams for school, I also moved back home. I'm also have a pretty bad cold, and it's keeping me away from the computer. I'll be brief; I need another nap.
An artist's rendering of the Orlando Magic's new arena, scheduled to open in 2010.
- The biggest Magic news in quite some time: the designs for the team's new arena were revealed earlier, and they're... interesting to say the least. The Sentinel has this photo gallery to go along with this story. Particularly striking to me, apart from the HUGE glass tower on the corner of Church and Hughey, is the fact that the new arena will be more than twice the size of the current one: 800,000 square feet vs. 376,000. That's HUGE.
- John Denton's arena story is here.
- I love Stan Van Gundy's no-nonsense attitude in response to the Magic's first losing streak of the season. Van Gundy told Denton the following:
"If we’re 16-6 and have to work on their psyches after two losses then we’re not very far along," Van Gundy said following Tuesday’s workout. "If two losses in a row give us so much adversity that we have psychological problems then we have big problems. I hope we’re tougher than that."
- ESPN Insider has a free preview of this Dwight Howard scouting report. David Thorpe, a trainer who works with several NBA players and the author of this piece, calls Howard the most dominant center in the game today and has plenty of praise for him.
- Speaking of praise and Dwight Howard: Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko wrote an article for Deadspin entitled In Praise of Dwight Howard. Shoals writes that Dwight has made him appreciate the importance of big men to the NBA:
This holiday season, I'm downright thankful for Dwight Howard. Not just for the orgiastic basketball fury he's visited upon the entire league, but also for a more personal matter. See, Dwight Howard gave me the gift of life. You know those creepy statistics the radio's so fond of feeding you, about how by the time you die, you'll have spent 19 years asleep, or four stuck in traffic? Well, if you've been alive since the 21st century started, you've probably spent about three months being told how important Big Men are. And for once, I actually care that it's true.
- Scott Maxwell of the Sentinel has this feature on Adonal Foyle, highlighting the big fella's political endeavors and off-the-court activities.