The Magic is back in a city that needs it

You could feel it.

You could feel it when you approached the arena and saw fans drinking and tailgating and scalpers shoving wads of money in their pockets.

And a rock-and-roll band played a Billy Joel song: “Only the Good Die Young.”

“We ain’t too pretty, we ain’t too proud, we might be laughing a bit too loud, but that never hurt no one.”

You could feel it in the thundering applause when the Magic walked off the court with a series-saving 108-104 victory over the Lakers.

You could feel it when the deliriously deafening crowd chanted, “Beat L.A.!” after Mickael Pietrus stole the ball from Kobe Bryant with 28 seconds left.

You could feel it every time Rafer Alston shaked and baked his way to the rim (who was that dummy who wrote the Magic should start Jameer Nelson at point guard?).

You could feel it every time Dwight Howard bulled his way inside and Rashard Lewis fired away from the outside.

After 14 dim, dank years of dwelling in pro sports darkness, you could feel the hot, hysterical glow when the bright lights finally came on in Orlando on Tuesday night.

After a decade of dysfunction and disappointment, there finally was magic in downtown.

Finals magic.

Championship magic

Orlando Magic.

Somebody needs to tell Denzel, Jack and the boys in Hollywood to put their brooms away. The Lakers aren’t sweeping, they’re sweating. The Magic have closed to within 2-1 and they’re within a missed alley-oop of being up 2-1.

This series is far from over.

Before the crowd of 17,461 poured into the old arena Tuesday night, Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins talked about what would have happened if the new arena, which kept the Magic in Orlando and is set to open next year, had not been approved by Orlando politicians.

“I don’t believe ownership would have moved the franchise,” Martins said, “but I do believe we would have sold it. And what would have happened after that is anybody’s guess.”

What would have happened is some ownership group in another city would have jumped at buying one of the best young teams and dynamic young superstars in the league. And we wouldn’t have been partying like it was 1995 in downtown Orlando on Tuesday night. Central Florida wouldn’t be enjoying the $10-million to $15-million bump in economic impact that comes from the Finals.

Don’t the arena arguments seem silly now?

Argument: A performing arts center is more important than a basketball arena to our quality of life. Seriously, do you really think the whole city would be hugging and high-fiving after a Tuesday night performance of “Mamma Mia!”?

Argument: The Magic really do nothing to promote tourism in this community. Seriously, don’t you think the Finals being televised to a billion viewers worldwide in 215 countries and in 42 languages might be pretty good exposure for Orlando?

Argument: Nobody really cares about the NBA in this football-fanatical area. Heck, even fellow Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas, the noted Magic basher and arena opponent, is on the bandwagon. He got his inky dander up earlier this week when some L.A. writer started taking potshots at O-Town. In his retaliatory column, Thomas used words like “we” and “our” when indirectly referring to the Magic.

And what about the soldier overseas who has been e-mailing Coach Stan Van Gundy to tell him he has been uplifted by the Magic?

And what about little Gina Incandela, the 7-year-old good luck charm who has belted out the national anthem and brought national awareness to the plight of autistic children?

Miraculously, the Magic are 7-0 when she sings for them.

When Gina finished with another beautiful rendition Tuesday, Sentinel colleague Brian Schmitz turned to me and said, “You know, the Finals are back in Orlando.”

Yeah, I know.

You can feel it.

Everyone’s laughing a bit too loud.

But that never hurt no one.

--

mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com