orlando sports mag #21

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Editor in Chief: Alex Menendez

Executive Editor: Steve Kidd

Associate Editors: Donald Montague Tara Menendez

Photographers: Alex Menendez Steve Kidd Donald Montague John Czajkowski Steve Johnson Romeo Guzman Dion Menendez Reinhold Matay Don Juan Moore Wayne Sysock David Bermejo Sam Muniz Tim Baker

Design: Branded INK Writers: Steve Kidd Alex Menendez Andy Nicol Tara Menendez

Editorial and Business Offices: Orlando Sports Mag 1337 Quailey Street Orlando, Florida 32804

Website: www.orlandosportsmag.com

Story ideas and photo submissions are always welcome.Please contact us for advertising rates and distribution information.

email: [email protected]

All images and stories are copyright Orlando Sports Mag.

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How great does it feel to be a citizen living in the United States of America?

It seems that lately I have been feeling extremely proud to call myself an American, per-haps its the upcoming July 4th weekend, but I think its more than that.

The FIFA World Cup of soccer is in mid-swing and the boys from the U.S. showed how far they have come in recent years by winning their bracket before falling to the team from Ghana in extra time. Support for the “Yanks” has never been better with over �4 million viewers watching the game in just the U.S. alone. Where the team goes from here is anyones guess but there is no doubt, soccer in America continues to grow.

The next American football season is just around the corner and in Central Florida we have a lot to see including the Buccaneers, Jaguars, Dolphins, Predators, Tuskers, Knights and various high school teams, but be sure to check out this months story by Steve Kidd about a famous football player who has gone above and beyond, literally. Leland Melvin has played professional football in the United States and Canada and is now a full time astronaut who flies in the space shuttle for NASA. Not only is this fea-ture inspiring, but a great story about a true American hero.

Speaking of heroes, we have a fun look at the band “House of Heroes” in this months music segment. Lead singer Tim Skipper is a die hard sports fan and he tells us about his future NHL plans....

Lets also keep in mind that the British Petroleum disaster continues to spew on, destroy-ing everything in its path. Folks from Louisiana through Florida are still reeling as to how something so horrific could have actually happened in the first place, but the fact that it still rages on is uncomprehensable. Kids for generations to come will see the death and ruin that this disaster has caused, but as Americans we will do whatever it takes to get through this ordeal, that is how we were raised and how we will function from here on out, with Gods blessings, things will work out.

Try to enjoy your summer will ya?

Alex Menendez, EditorOrlando Sports Mag

Letter from the Editor

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Page 66The Orlando Magic came up two games short of re-turning to the NBA Finals, will they make it there next year with this years team?

Page 52The Orlando Predators are back and looking to win a few more games. Will this new team be up to the task?

Page 18Leland Melvin was well on his way to football star-dom before he got the best advice of his life. See how he went from here to there.

Page 6What can the United States soccer team do to further their sport here in America?

Page 18Leland Melvin was well on his way to football star-dom before he got the best advice of his life. See how he went from here to there.

Page 52The Orlando Predators are back and looking to win a few more games. Will this new team be up to the task?

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Page 66The Orlando Magic came up two games short of re-turning to the NBA Finals, will they make it there next year with this years team?

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-129 crew members put on their launch-and-entry suits before heading to the Astrovan for the 15-minute ride to Launch Pad 39A. Mission Specialist Leland Melvin, seen here, is ready for launch. Liftoff is set for 2:28 p.m. EST Nov. 16. On STS-129, the crew will deliver two Express Logistics Carriers to the International Space Station, the largest of the shuttle’s cargo carriers, containing 15 spare pieces of equipment including two gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station’s robotic arm. Atlantis will return to Earth a station crew member, Nicole Stott, who has spent more than two months aboard the orbiting laboratory. STS-129 is slated to be the final space shuttle Expedition crew rotation flight.

For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/in-dex.html.Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Summer time in florida means plenty of sunshine and waves, unless that thunder-storm starts chasing you like it did with Director David-B here.

Either way, the weather in the Sunshine State is ideal for shooting images through-out the summer.

Grab your camera and see what kind of spectacular im-ages you can capture of your favorite sports star or event.

Send it in and we’ll take a look, maybe we’ll even pub-lish it!

Thanks for checking out this issue of Orlando Sports Mag #21.

6Photo: Alex Menendez Photo: Alex Menendez

what’s next for u.s. soccer?

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Did you see the U.S. soccer match at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa? You know, the one where the goal was disallowed. Oh yeah, there were two games like that, oh well, just replay it! Oops, nevermind, there is no replay of soccer matches when FIFA is involved.

This is precisely where the controversy starts when it comes to Amerian futbol and playing against the rest of the world. The U.S. mens soccer team once again qualified in their CONCACAF world division and made it to the FIFA world cup to try their luck against the best teams in the world. Going in they knew that they had a chance to gain more exposure for their sport in America with a small chance of winning one of the three games they had to play. Big, bad, and loaded England was the favorite to win the division with Gha-na and Algeria waiting in the wings to bump the U.S..Come game time, the Americans squeaked out a 1-1 tie with England in the first match after their goalten-der misplayed a shot on goal. This draw was as good as a win in the eyes of the “Yanks” and they were happy to move on.Game two ended in a 2-2 draw as well against Alge-ria, but this was where all of the trouble started. The U.S. team scored a goal, a game win-ning goal that would have put them in the lead to win the group stage, but the linesman blew the call and the goal was negated. All the world saw how this blown call went down and head coach Bob Bradley was all over the ref about it, to no avail. The game ended to mixed boo’s and chants from the soccer fans in the stadium and the refs left the pitch without so much as an explanation on why the goal was disallowed. FIFA commented after the match that the call stands and that their referees do not answer to anyone but FIFA and that they were not going to mention the call ever again. End of story, or so we thought.

The last challenge for the Americans was the team from Algeria. Once again, the U.S. scored a goal but it was called offsides. After review on the television re-plays, it was seen as a goal that should have counted, however the refs did not see this and the call stood as called against the Americans. (Ironically, it was about this same time that the BP oil leak in the Gulf Coast got damaged by a robot that malfunctioned and broke the pipe sucking oil to a ship, the contained leak was spewing like a gusher with no end in sight. Folks in America were looking for blood.)

Then the unthinkable happened, in dramatic fashion, Landon Donovan scored what will probably be called the most important goal in U.S. soccer history. Dono-van, the USA’s all-time leading scorer, provided the dramatic goal with a clinical finish from seven yards out after a brilliant attack that pierced the Algerian team from goal line to goal line. After Tim Howard snared a looping header on his goal line, he immedi-ately surged forward and hit a streaking Donovan in the midfield with a perfect throw. Donovan then blazed forward at a blistering pace and found Jozy Altidore with a pass into the penalty area, he dribbled into the penalty area at speed and slid a square pass to Clint Dempsey. With Algerian goalkeeper Raïs M’Bohli lunging for the low cross, Dempsey got a touch that ricocheted off the goalkeeper and rolled to the center of the penalty area where Donovan stroked it home, setting off a wild celebration as almost the entire U.S. team dog-piled near the left corner flag and the stadium erupted with patriotic fervor. It was the best moment ever, so much in fact that former President Bill Clinton walked into the locker room to congratulate everyone as they were now moving on the the next round.

America and England both advanced to the knockout stage where you have to win or go home. England played against bitter rival Germany and the contover-sy continued in this match.England was losing 2-0 when the English scored a beautiful header to close the gap to within one goal. Less than a minute later England scored a beautiful goal, but officials failed to give England a goal on a ball that was shot by Frank Lampard from just outside the penalty area and hit the crossbar and bounced down, but referee Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay did not award a goal. Replays showed the ball had crossed the goal line by several feet. After landing inside the goal, the ball spun back to German keeper Manauel Neuer“It was one of the most important things in the game,” England coach Fabio Capello said. “The goal was very important. We could have played a different style.“We made some mistakes when they played the coun-terattack. The referee made bigger mistakes.”Germany coach Joachim Loew didn’t argue with Capello’s points.“What I saw on the television, this ball was behind the line,” Loew said. “It must have been given as goal.”

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Larrionda and assistant referee Mauricio Espi-nosa were not made available to comment once again, FIFA said in a statement that it “will not make any comments on decisions of the referee on the field of play.”England eventually lost and were eliminated by the Germans.

In another stadium, the Americans were playing against the only African team left in the tourna-ment, Ghana. Regulation time would end in a 1-1 tie forcing an extra 30 minutes to be played. The U.S. held tough but the team from Ghana was too fast and scored the game winning goal to eliminate the U.S. soccer team for the sec-ond time in as many meetings. Fan hysteria in the United States ended just as quickly as it had started, the Red, White and Blue were only blue.

What’s next, well head coach Bob Bradley’s contract ends this year and some are question-ing his roster choices in the past few matches. Bradley, understandably, found it difficult to consider his long-term future while the disap-pointment was so fresh. But he did say that, instinctively, part of him was already was look-ing forward to the friendly against Brazil sched-uled for Aug. 10 at the New Meadowlands Stadium.”Bob has a very distinct way of doing things and some people like it and some people don’t,” Landon Donovan said. “At the end of the day, we believe in what Bob does, whether it’s the right way or wrong way in people’s eyes doesn’t matter. We think it’s the right way and we believe it.

“I think it’s taken a long time for a lot of us to wrap our heads around exactly what Bob wanted from us, and now we’re all understand-ing why he put us through some of the things he put us through and why he challenges us the way he did. He could see the bigger picture from the beginning, while a lot of us where short sighted.”

Said Jozy Altidore, has played in Spain and England since leaving MLS: “He’s right up there with the best coaches in terms of the tactics and trying to sort teams out. I think he’s very good at that. I haven’t been in a game [with Bradley] where I haven’t been well pre-pared going into it, and I think the team would say the same thing ... in my opinion, he’s earned a lot of respect from a lot of people.”

All of that is why there can be no legitimate claim that Bradley was a failure, even though most think he made a key mistake or two dur-ing this World Cup. England’s Fabio Capello was paid $9 million per year -- 15 times what Bradley earns-- for the same result. Former World Cup winning coaches Carlos Alberto Parreira and Marcello Lippi flamed out in the first round, winning a combined one match. Sven-Göran Eriksson, a supposed big name, couldn’t qualify for the second phase with Ivory Coast. (Interestingly, Gulati revealed that he and Bradley had discussions with Capello about working with U.S. Soccer shortly before the Italian took the England job. At the time, Capello said he wanted to work somewhere without too much pressure. He chose poorly).

Players decide games, ultimately, and Bradley fared well compared to the competition. He got a lot out of a team that lacked talent at certain key positions.

FIFA too has many positions that it needs to fill. The referees and linesmen need help and instant replay or goal-line technology needs to be considered before the next world cup held in Brazil. Its not fair for these teams to have to qualify for 4 years and then have it all snatched away by a blind ref. If soccer in the United States is going to ever catch on, the game needs to redefine its “Fair Game” motto.

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House of Heroes

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OSM recently caught up with the Ohio band House of Heroes after their gig at the Plaza Theatre in Orlando.This band has created quite a following on the internet and on tour after releasing numerous albums. Lead singer Tim Skipper sat down with us to talk about both the band’s history and it’ future. This was just before the U.S. soccer team was to play in the knockout round of the World Cup....

OSM: Tell me just a little about House of Heroes and the type of music you play?

TIM: -House of Heroes was born from anoth-er band called “No Tagbacks” that we had all started in high school. That band was pretty juvenile and bratty punk rock, so once we got out of high school and start-ed playing a little more intricate, thought out rock music, we decided it was time for a name change as well. We’re just a straight up rock band with a lot of classic rock influence. Big guitars, big drums, and HUGE vocal harmonies. Someone told me the other day that we sound like the Foo Fighters meeting Queen. I don’t know how accurate that is, but I LOVE the comparison!

OSM: What does the bands name mean?

TIM: The name doesn’t really mean anything significant. We were struggling coming up with a name so we picked a date to choose a new name by, came up with 3 options and had a vote. House of Heroes won. In the book of Nehemiah in the Bible, there is a certain translation that says the “house of heroes” was where King David buried his best soldiers. I like that pretty well.

OSM: Who were some of your influences? Friends or other bands on tour with you or in the past?

TIM: We have an amazingly wide range of influences and since we make it a point to write all of the songs together instead of having one person be the songwriter, you can hear a lot of them. We love the Beatles, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana. Anything that rocks and is good. Jared (guitar/vox) and I (Tim) tend to like more

dramatic, classical type music. AJ (bass/vox) likes straight up rock n’ roll, and Colin (drums/vox) likes more electronic, beat heavy music. But we can all agree on the classics! We’ve toured with some pretty amazing bands. Silverchair, Phantom Plan-et, Relient K, Filter, MxPx, Skillet, Ludo, and Family Force 5 are some of my favorites.

OSM: How about the Americans in the World Cup. What do the results thus far mean to you?

-TIM: Oh man, I’m loving this World Cup! I played soccer when I was younger, but I sort of fell out of love with it until recently. The USA v. Algeria game just happened a couple days ago and we were on the road listening on the radio when the USA FINALLY scored in stoppage time! I was so excited that I had to pull the van over and get out and dance a bit with some of the other guys. What an amazing moment! I’ve seen that video “The World Reacts to the USA Goal” on YouTube a few times and it gives me chills. I’m pretty happy that we’re going to be home for the game against Ghana tomorrow! Gonna head down to the pub and scream my head off with some friends. It’s really awesome to feel a part of something that the entire world is a part of. I got the same feeling watch-ing Olympic hockey this year. Hockey and Football are my favorite sports, and that was by FAR the best hockey I’ve ever seen played! It was kind of a let down to go to an NHL game after that. Haha.

OSM: Is Lebron James gonna stay???

TIM: My opinion is that yes, he will stay in Cleveland. Living in Columbus, OH, I’ve been a HUGE Cavs fan for years and years, and I’m pretty bummed that they haven’t taken down a championship yet with Lebron. I think that he has a certain loyalty about him and so long as the Cavs put the right pieces in place, he’s going to stick around and finish the job. Cleveland DESPERATELY needs a championship and being from Ak-ron, he knows that just as much as anyone. I think he wants to deliver. Having said that, I’m not really up to date on the latest Lebron rumors. I’m doing a SportCenter fast for the month of June because they talk

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about it too much. But come July 1, I’m gonna be on my knees praying he signs with Cleveland.

OSM: What extreme sports do you like?

TIM: -I’m not a huge extreme sports fan. I tend to stick with Football, Hockey, Basketball, and a little Baseball (when the Reds are winning). But I will seriously watch anything to do with competition. I’ve always enjoyed the X-Games, and watching the half pipe stuff and Moto-Cross stuff, but other than that, I don’t fol-low it too much.

OSM: Any plans in the future for a “sports anthem” type song?

TIM: We don’t necessarily have any plans for it, but if the Columbus Blue Jackets ever go to the Stanley Cup Finals, you better believe I’m writing them a freakin ANTHEM!!! A few years ago, they had a competition to write the anthem for MLS teams and we were going to write one for the Columbus Crew, but we never got around to it.

OSM: Whats the website to link to you and tell me about the free download.

TIM: Our official website is http://www.thehouseofheroes.com and if you go to http://www.freehoh.com you can download a song called ‘Independence Day (for a Petty Thief)” off our upcoming album “Suburba” (Out August 3!!!). It’s a balls out riff rock song about looting houses while the 4th of July fireworks are going on. Bet you’ve never heard a song about that before!

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Option Play:Go long and I’ll hit you at the Space StationBy: Steve Kidd

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Growing up in my neighborhood on the North side of Orlando in the 60’s and 70’s was pretty much like growing up in any sleepy town. Life before video games and cable television consisted of two major ac-tivities, fishing in the nearby pond and play-ing ball on the expansive lawn in front of the Presbyterian Church on Lee road. The sport we played depended on the season. Sum-mers were spent emulating Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Killer Killebrew. We switched to Johnny Unitas, Gale Sayers and Dick But-kus right after the World Series and contin-ued until Spring Training. These guys were our heroes. For the most part, the only things that could interrupt our games were our Moms calling us home for dinner or an approaching thunderstorm. So the day that our game was interrupted by a huge fireball in the eastern sky is still fresh in my memory all these years later.

My best friend brought his transistor radio to the field and left it on during a particularly heated game of five against four football. When we heard the countdown, we called a time-out so we could look to the east over the millet field. We watched the rocket push skyward, carrying two brave astronauts to outer space in their Gemini capsule. Sud-denly Unitas and Sayers weren’t quite as impressive. Butkus was still Butkus, so of course he remained the greatest – but James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin suddenly took second and third.

All this came back to me when I was asked to interview Leland Melvin. If you don’t know the name, you should, because Melvin is the whole package – professional tight end for the Lions and the Cowboys, and a NASA Astronaut who has twice flown on the shuttle and visited the International Space Station. At first glance, Leland Melvin is a natural

denly Unitas and Sayers weren’t quite as impressive. Butkus was still Butkus, so of course he remained the greatest – but James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin suddenly took second and third.

All this came back to me when I was asked to interview Leland Melvin. If you don’t know the name, you should, because Melvin is the whole package – professional tight end for the Lions and the Cowboys, and a NASA Astronaut who has twice flown on the shuttle and visited the International Space Station. At first glance, Leland Melvin is a natural

to be worthy of our admiration. Once you talk to him and hear his story, it is appar-ent that he is, in every sense of the word, a hero.

I caught up with Mr. Melvin the day after this year’s Superbowl and less than six hours af-ter the last night launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. When I asked him what he was more impressed with, the Shuttle launch or the Saints, he replied “Who Dat?”.

Leland Melvin’s path from his high-school football days to flying in space was indirect, driven by people who saw something in Mel-vin that he didn’t see himself. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t see it in myself, I just didn’t know to look for it,” said Melvin. “Everyone took a role in raising the kids in my community. They were there to step in and correct us with guidance or a swat on the butt if neces-sary. Everyone has a role in shaping and molding the youth.”

When he was playing for Heritage High School in Lynchburg, Virginia, the University of Richmond scouted Melvin. It was home-coming, and he ran a pattern into the end zone for the winning touchdown. The per-fectly thrown ball hit his hands and bounced

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straight up and away. Suddenly, instead of being the hero of the game, he found himself walking to the sidelines, embar-rassed in front of his friends and family. As the University scout headed for his car, Melvin’s coach headed straight to him.

“My coach told me that I could catch that ball, and that we were going to run the same play again. I ran the play, and the quarterback threw the pass perfectly – and I caught it.”

The scout heard the crowd go wild, and he looked back to see what had hap-pened. He was later heard to say that if a kid could come back from being em-barrassed in front of friends and family to catch the ball, then he could certainly play for the University of Richmond.

In 1986, Melvin was an 11th round draft pick for the Detroit Lions where his rookie year was cut short by a pulled hamstring. While waiting to report to training camp the next year for the Dallas Cowboys, Melvin worked as a courier at his agent’s office to earn some extra money. It was on one of his courier runs that he ran into a friend, the husband of one of his col-lege professors. His friend suggested that Melvin work as a research assistant at the University, which eventually lead to a masters of science degree in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia in 1996.

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Football Photo: Richmond Athletics

Photo: Alex Menendez

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Who would have ever thought that there is a community in space where you are invited to a formal dinner party.

Leland’s next mission is here on earth and an important one. He’s headed to Washington, DC to work in education, getting middle school kids excited about math and science.

Photo Credits: NASA Images

A second hamstring injury made it apparent that Leland Melvin’s professional football days were over. But he had a back up plan that lead to a career at NASA. It was there that yet another friend suggested a career change from engineer to astronaut. Melvin never looked back.

Recently the University of Southern California made a verbal commitment to David Sills, a 13-year old seventh grader from Delaware, to be their quarterback in 2015. I asked Mr. Melvin for his take on a kid with that much commit-ment.

“I’d tell David what I tell anyone who has a dream, and that is to go for it! However, the as-tronaut went on to say that even a 13 year-old kid should have a backup plan, in case he suf-fers a career (yes career) ending injury before he gets to college. Pay close attention to your studies. “Everyone should have a Plan-B with options.”

“My parents were middle school teachers, and I saw what an impact they had on the lives of the kids and how that went beyond as the kids grew up and became contributing members of the community. They are now married with children making a positive impact. The African Proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” is really true.”

Peggy Whitson, the International Space Sta-tion Commander for Expedition 16 had an af-fect on Leland as well. During his mission to the ISS, Dr. Whitson invited all the members to dinner aboard the station. “…Here we were, Americans, Russians, French flying 288 miles above the earth at 17,247 MPH breaking bread together, looking back at the Earth, talking over dinner as a community.” It occurred to Leland that if we could all spend more time breaking bread together, talking to each other about the issues, that we could stop a lot of the arguing and fighting, and break down all the racism, and other “isms” we have in the world.

��Photo: Alex Menendez

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Welcome to another episode of our photo gallery. This month we feature some shots that have been resting patiently in our vault as well as a few fresh ones. Lets begin with a shot from New York City and the Red Bull air races...... Smoke ON!!

Djon Pearson

PHOTO GALLERY

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PHOTO GALLERY

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The NHRA makes their annual trip to Florida for the Gator-Nationals held at Gainesville Raceway in March. Driver Ron Capps does a burnout while preparing for his run.

Don Montague

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The National Lacrosse League started play in Orlando this year and the team did quite well, making it to the conference playoffs before losing. The action was always on, here Orlando scores a goal.

Alex Menendez

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Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald scores a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Photographer Don Juan Moore was in the perfect spot to snap this amazing image of the game action!

Don Juan Moore

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Look closely in the center of the frame and you just might see NASCAR’s newest superstar Danica Patrick in the middle of this melee. The media was out in full force for her debut at the Day-tona International Speedway. Reinhold Matay used a polecam to capture the image.

Reinhold Matay

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Tampa Bay Lighning goaltender Mike Smith makes an impressive stop against Mike Cullen of the Senators during game action in St. Pete..

Reinhold Matay

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Danica Patrick gets caught on the front stretch during her first officail race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was a disap-pointment for her fans.

Alex Menendez

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Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints put on quite a show against the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts during Super Bowl 44 in Miami. This image was captured with a 24mm Shift/Tilt lens.

Alex Menendez

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Captain Chris Myers landed this good sized tarpon while tracking fish on his day off. The Mosquito Lagoon is a great spot to fish and is probably the most beautiful area on the Central East Coast of Florida.

Steve Kidd

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Tiger Woods held his great apology to everyone in a private closed off section at the Sawgrass Marriott Convention Center in Ponte Vedra Beach. The event was totally controlled and seemed very much like a circus. Some were happy for him, but most were not.

Alex Menendez

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Former University of Miami football player Jeremy Shock-ey celebrates a touchdown during the Superbowl. The underdog Saints beat the Colts in one of the most suprising games in the history of the NFL.

Alex Menendez

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Djon Pearson and his wife Tara hung out in NYC to witness the Red Bull Air race. This event featured some of the best pilots in the world and they put on one heck of a show. Hopefully this event will work its way South in the near future!

Djon Pearson

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Bucs player Chris Hovan (L) and Falcons player Sam Baker (R) go to battle during a game at the end of the regular season. This image was shot with a 400mm f2.8 lens and a Canon 7D.

Alex Menendez

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Former Olympia HIgh school player and current NFL star Chris Johnson scores a touchdown during the Pro Bowl held in Mi-ami. This was the first Pro Bowl to be held outside of Hawaii and the first to be played before the Super Bowl.

Alex Menendez

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The Orlando Predators have returned to Orlando and are hoping to be the team that they once were. How hard will it be to return to the top and will the Arena Football League still be here in a year?

Photos: Don Montague/Alex Menendez/ David Harper

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The Orlando Predators have returned to Orlando and are hoping to be the team that they once were. How hard will it be to return to the top and will the Arena Football League still be here in a year?

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When the Arena Football League closed its doors after an 18 year run in the Orlando market, many fans were extremely upset. The Orlando Predators were one of the only professional teams in the Orlando area and it was by far the most affordable season ticket in the area, year after year. The Predators were one of the best playing football teams in the league and the repu-tation of its players was high on the list for entertain-ment and loyalty, it was a big deal to see them close shop.

Fast forward a year later and the Arena Football League is back in O-Town and the Predators are right there with them. Now keep in mind, the team is not quite the same in terms of talent and the show is not as exciting as in years past, but at least it gives folks something to do on Friday nights. The mix of rowdy fans and bone crushing hits makes the atmosphere in the Arena electric and the blaring music mixes well with the crowd that nearly sells out every game, but there stills seems to be something missing…..perhaps it’s the coaching. Former quarterback Jay Gruden still attends the games when he can and with his new duties as Head Coach of the United Football League’s Orlando Tusk-ers, he has nothing at all to do with the coaching of the Predators, unfortunately, it shows. The Preds seem to do a lot of running these days and the passing percentages are not quite up to par for this historical franchise. Don’t get me wrong, they connect every now and then, but as far as spectacular play goes, give it another year and see what happens! There are a lot of new faces around the league and everyone will take a while to get back into the swing of things and get caught up with the fast pace of this game.

Defense in the Arena Football League is virtually non-existent, so high scoring games are the norm and maybe that is what keeps these fans coming back week after week to the Amway Arena, or “The Jungle” as it has been called due to the hostile environment from the fans, harsh smoke that fills the arena during the players intro, and a Guns N’ Roses song which “welcomes” other teams to the field. The good looking Prowler dancers and free t-shirts also help draw fans and the pyrotechnics to open the game cause quite a stir for the young kids that have never attended a real indoor football game. ( Word of caution: Don’t let young kids sit in the front few rows, the players end up there quite often!)

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Get Predators photos at:www.predspictures.com

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Up to this point, the season has been tough for the Predators and they have to win every game from here on out to make it the playoffs. In past years the Predators have played in the ArenaBowl a total of seven times, more than any other current team. If you include the Pittsburgh Gladiators’ two ArenaBowl games before they moved to Tampa Bay, the Storm is the only team that has more (eight; six as the Storm). One good thing that has come about is the addition of the AFL games to the NFL network, which can only bolster the leagues presence across the country.

Public support and community outreach is also something the Preds players are famous for and they are back on track this year in getting out and supporting the people that support them. The play-ers frequently give away gifts and their own time and the fan clubs in the area are growing daily. Recent visits to the Arnold Palmer Childrens Hospital and football camps for local kids help to let people know that the AFL is back in the area.

The 2010 season will be the Predators’ 19th and final season at Amway Arena. The team will move to the Amway Cen-ter, the new arena in Orlando, for the 2011 season. A Predators game will be the final sporting event ever performed at Amway Arena. The Tampa Bay Storm can surpass that record of 19 seasons in one venue if they stay at St. Pete Times Forum until 2018. Just keep in mind that the cost of your ticket will still probably be cheaper than the $20 parking at the new stadium. See you there...

60 Photo: Alex MenendezPhotos: alex Menendez

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Photo: Alex MenendezPhoto: Alex Menendez

Professional lacrosse came to Central Florida this year with the introduction of the Orlando Titans. In the past, there have been many attempts to fi ll the Amway Arena with new ventures such as the Orlando Sharks indoor soccer team, the Orlando Solars Bears ice hockey and the Orlando Jackals roller hockey team, and all have either shut down or disbanded. Hopefully the lacrosse will stay for a while because it is drawing a crowd and the ac-tion is ferocious! The Titans undoubtedly have the best player in the game on their team and it showed again this year.After lifting his team to an East Division title with a sensational second half of the season, CASEY POWELL was named the National Lacrosse League’s �0�0 Most Valuable Player. Powell led the Titans in scoring this season with �0 points, in-cluding a career-high 44 goals in �4 regular season games. He fi nished second in the league in goals scored behind Washington’s Lewis Ratcliff (46), but his 3.14 goals per game was tops in the NLL.“It’s an incredible feeling to receive this honor,” Powell said. “I have been in this league a long time and it’s nice to be recognized as one of the top players in the league. Still, I really look at this as a team award. We had a great defense, a great goal-tender and great coaching this season and that made my job a lot easier.”“Our entire organization is thrilled for Casey,” Head Coach ED COMEAU said. “Throughout the season, Casey’s consistency was a huge plus for our team. But in the second half of the year, he really stepped it up a notch and led us to victory in some close games. It’s a well deserved honor and I am pleased that the other coaches and general manag-ers around the league who voted on this award rec-ognized how important Casey’s contributions were to our team.”

After missing two games midseason with a knee injury, Powell scored 22 goals in his fi nal seven regular season games – collecting fi ve game MVP honors. In his fi rst post-season game against Bos-ton, Powell ignited the Titans from a 7-3 defi cit with fi ve goals and a pair of assists to lead Orlando to a ��-�� come-from-behind win. He recorded hat tricks (three or more goals) in �� of the�6 games he played in this season.In addition, the NLL also announced their All-Pro Teams for �0��. Powell and goaltender MATT VINC were named to the fi rst unit, making the Titans the only team with two players named to the fi rst unit. Defenseman JOHN ORSEN and transi-tion/forward JORDAN HALL were named to the second team. Orlando led all NLL teams with four total selections. Vinc was also named NLL “Goal-tender of the Year.”Powell’s efforts led the Titans to a franchise record 11 wins in their fi rst season in Orlando. The team’s ��-5 record tied Washington for the best mark in the NLL. The team won its fi rst playoff game be-fore falling to Toronto in the semifi nals by a score of �5-�0.

6�Photo: Alex Menendez

64 Photo: Alex Menendez

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TIME TO MOVE ON

PHOTOS: DON JUAN MOORE, DON MONTAGUE, ALEX MENENDEZ

67Photo: Alex Menendez

TIME TO MOVE ON

PHOTOS: DON JUAN MOORE, DON MONTAGUE, ALEX MENENDEZ

The Orlando Magic now have the opportuni-ty to start fresh with their new arena opening this upcoming season. Lets just put the past year behind us and quit asking “ what if”? The Boston Celtics just happened to get their timing down right when it mattered most, during the Eastern Conference Finals, and there is nothing than anyone can do about it now. It’s time to move on...

Overall, the Magic had a spectacular season, one in which they won 59 regular-season games, locked up a third straight Southeast Division title and notched their first two four-game playoff sweeps ever, sending both Charlotte and Atlanta pack-ing in the early rounds. The Magic were the team to beat, until the Celtics stopped them cold in their tracks.

Still, not returning to the NBA championships like they did last year against the Los Angeles Lakers was very disheartening.`Ìt was a very good season, but it wasn’t a great season,’’ Magic guard J.J. Redick said. `Ònly one team can have a great season and we’re all very disappointed. For me, the shock hasn’t worn off. I woke up yesterday morning, looked at my clock and thought, `What time do I have to be at practice?’ It’s a little weird. I didn’t expect this group to be done playing already.’’

Dwight Howard was also dazed after the loss to the Celtics and to his nemesis Rasheed Wallace, once again. ``We didn’t expect us to be sitting here today talking about next season, but all we can do is move on,’’ Howard said. ``Last year after we lost in The Finals, I just pouted and I was upset and all I wanted to do was hide under a rock. You give it your all and that’s all that you can do.”

``The season was great and the playoffs started out good, but we just didn’t finish out the way we wanted,’’ Howard contin-ued. ``So we’ll try to come back next season and go back at it. There’s no reason to hang our heads, walk around and be all sad because we didn’t finish what we started.’’ Rasheed Wallace who was there when the Magic were pitted against the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs a few years back, played the mental aspect and got under Dwights skin once again. Perhaps in the off season, Dwight could give the big man a shout out and learn a little from the now retiring for-ward, it would be time well spent.

Magic General Manager Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy addressed the team one last time about the bitterness of not winning a title. Van Gundy, who signed on after Billy Donovan decided to return to the University of Florida just two days after taking the Magic head coaching position, said that the Magic were bitter and ticked off about not returning to the Finals with the position changes they made last year.

`Ìt’s disappointing because our goals were to win a champion-ship. We not only didn’t do that and we also didn’t get back to the Finals, so that’s a disappointment and there’s no other way around that,’’ Van Gundy said. ``There’s all kinds of good things done. Because we (didn’t win a title) doesn’t mean we weren’t successful. But the best thing that you can properly say is that our organization has come far enough that we’ve reached a level where going to Game 6 of the Conference Finals isn’t a success. We’ve gotten to the point where we’re one of a small group of teams that genuinely has the expecta-tion of trying to win a championship and deems that as the only success. You have to be No. 1 out of 30 and No. 2 just won’t do it.’’

Fans that lined the Wall Street Cantina for playoff street par-ties were obviouly upset just as they were during last years Finals loss, but the white and blue will continue to support the Magic no matter where they stack up next year.

There is no doubt that the team chemisty is there, with bench players scoring consistently even when the starters have bad outings. Most of the team was healthy for the season and the consistency of the play showed. Heck, the Magic even garnered a little deserved respect from most of the television commentators who dismissed them all of last year, even while they were playing in the Finals.

Most observers who watch basketball on a regular basis will acknowledge that Boston owned the Magic in first two games in Orlando and embarrassed them in Game 3. Miraculously Orlando fought back with gritty efforts in Games 4 and 5, but couldn’t deliver a similar effort in Game 6. Boston played harder and smarter at home and in the end, their experience beat the young Magic franchise. There will never be another NBA game in the Amway Arena, and Boston is to blame, lets see how the Magic redeem themselves next year...

`Ìt’s shocking because we didn’t play hard and that’s kind of who were were; it’s shocking because we played hard all season and we talked about that, as a group, from January on,’’ Redick said. `Ì mean that’s the reason we were good, because we prepared and we played hard, and we’ve got a lot of talent, which makes us a championship-level team. So that was shocking because that’s not who we were.’’ For shoot-ing guard Vince Carter, whom Orlando acquired last June in a draft-day trade with New Jersey, this was the most success-ful team he’s ever been a part of in 12 NBA seasons. Before this year, Carter had never been on a team that had won 50 games of gotten out of the second round of the playoffs – feats that Carter accomplished this season. No one knows for sure how much gas Vince has left in the tank, but hopefully, if he stays with Magic, he can give it one last chance to make it to the Finals.

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``I wanted so bad to hold up that championship trophy, but we’ll just have to come back next season and try it again. The expectations were to get to The Finals and having the bar set that high is a positive. In the locker room now you hear guys talking about hoping that this team gets to stay together because we all just respect one another so much. There’s just a feeling among this team that there’s unfin-ished business to be taken care of.’’

The rumor mill has been a flutter with the possible comings and goings of the Magic players. Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis are locked in place, and what about J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes and Vince Carter? Heck, Orlando would go bad if Jameer Nelson was to leave, look how bad they did without him when he was injured. There is also a rumor that Hedo Turkoglu wants back in with Orlando. Until something reallly happens, don’t believe the hype, even the stories about LeBron moving to Isleworth!

Both Redick and Barnes stressed that their first wish was to return to the Magic where they hope Orlando can make another run at the championship next season.

``I still think we have the best team, the most tal-ented team in the NBA,’’ Barnes said. ``That didn’t necessarily show in the Eastern Conference Finals, but I think we showed flashes. That being said, this is my No. 1 choice and I would definitely like to come back and try to get that ring here next year.’’

Added Redick: ``When you don’t win a champion-ship, everybody’s kind of quick to say what kind of changes you should make. But this team still has a window to win a championship. The core of our team is pretty young and can still get the job done. Tweaks, I think that’s what needs to be done, and there’s obviously got to be a greater sense of urgen-cy when we get to the conference finals.’’

I would suggest you buy your season tickets early when while there are still seats available, this Or-lando Magic team is just getting started. They will be a contender for years to come and with the NBA All-Star game coming to Orlando, this City is going to get a lot of attention.

7�Photo: Don Juan Moore

orlando sports mag #21

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