Late Magic Wands: October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

-The season has started and so Uni Watch, a favorite column of mine on ESPN.com, has its official review of the new jerseys. As I have said (before I started this blog), the uniforms are not perfect. They blend the old and the new and create some horrible hybrid that probably is fuel efficient. I think the blue jerseys look pretty sharp, but the white jerseys need some work.

-As you get to know me, you will find that I have an affinity for random bench players. As a bench warmer myself, I appreciate the hard work these guys put in for so little reward. My bench warming all stars include Andrew DeClerq, Steven Hunter, Mario Kasun and Marcin Gortat. Gortat though is working his way into the rotation after a great postseason. Keep fighting the power Marcin.

-Also in the Orlando Sentinel: the 20 greatest moments in Magic history. They are trying to make a point about the founding of the Magic, but Nick Anderson's steal No. 15? That is clearly a top five moment in team history.

-And an amazing photo gallery by the Sentinel to honor the team's 20th anniversary.

-I am an optimist. But even I think this is a little much. The Magic in the Finals? Not quite yet. But the door is open.

New Jerseys Show Magic Still Lack Identity

The Orlando Magic unveiled their new jersey design amidst much fanfare at Church Street Station downtown.

Yes the pinstripes are back. The Magic advertised the jerseys as a combination of the old and the new and that is exactly what they are. I like the black going down the side and I like the return of the pinstripes.

But as Orlando trotted out Nick Anderson, Bo Outlaw and Rashard Lewis in the previous three incarnations of the jerseys before modeling the new jerseys (which look great in blue, and we all look forward to the black alternate in two years) with Dwight Howard, it is clear there is a problem.

In 20 seasons of basketball, the Magic have had four different jersey designs. A lot has happened in the short history of the franchise. But this is a team insecure with its place in history and looking to make splashes where they matter least.

More than that, Orlando is still trying to find a way to recapture the (ahem) magic of the Shaquille O'Neal days. The return to the pinstripes definitely says that.

Shaq is arguably the reason why the Magic went away from the classy pinstripe design. It was time to move on and re-brand.

But four re-brandings in 20 years? That means the jersey changes every five years. The now old jerseys of last year lasted exactly that long, the incarnation before them made it only four.

A good jersey is good because it lasts. The Los Angeles Lakers have changed little with the basic design of their jersey in nearly 50 years in LA. The Boston Celtics have not changed their jersey at all outside of those atrocious alternate jerseys that have Red Auerbach rolling in his grave I am sure.

The Magic do not have the history of those franchises. But the team needs to settle in and find an identity on the court before trying to generate one by associating a jersey design with an imagined era.

The new jerseys are certainly an improvement over the bland ones that the team has worn the past five seasons.

But those are the jerseys we were all getting used to. Those were the jerseys that we wore when the Magic made it to the second round of the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. Those were the uniforms we saw Howard grow up in.

I guess now, all we have to do is shell out $50-plus for a new image.