Magic Wands: December 19, 2008

-Dwight Howard spreads a little joy to the Florida Hospital. A really good story and the kind of stories everyone is starving to hear by John Denton of The Florida Today.

-A fellow Orlando sports franchise is fighting for its survival. The Orlando Sentinel had a pretty thorough report of the situation Sunday. Go Predators! Save the Arena Football League! And it didn't take long for the word to get out that the Predators will not be playing this season. It is tough to come back after taking a year off. The Orlando Sentinel has the story.

-A lot of coaches have been fired so far this season (including former Magic man Reggie Theus from Sacramneto). But one thing the NBA does not have problems with that other sports leagues do is black coaches. Race should not play a role in these decisions, but many qualified coaches are not getting jobs in football. Race may or may not matter. In the hiring of new Auburn football coach Gene Chizik, outspoken NBA great Charles Barkley thinks it did. You can't argue in the record of Buffalo coach Turner Gill (who is black), but you can't argue with the connections and history the school has with Chizik either.

-The trade rumors are continuing to bound around the Magic as they look to improve for the rest of the season. We have all heard the Chucky Atkins rumors with Denver (although I haven't put them on this site). But now Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel reports Orlando might be willing to part with Duke alumnus JJ Redick to re-acquire Duke alumnus Grant Hill. That could be a good move... doubt Phoenix would go for it.

-Never too early for a mock draft from ESPN's Chad Ford!

-The economic downturn is affecting everyone. Here is how the Magic have handled it from Kyle Hightower of The Orlando Sentinel.

-Funny thing happened at the Magic game Thursday night. Rashard Lewis hit a shot in the corner. I could not see where it was from where I was sitting, but the referees ruled it a two pointer. Then one of the officials motioned to the other official with a circling motion with one of his hands (like he was telling the clock to run). The other official then motioned to the scorer's table. Next timeout, the three referees review where Lewis was on the court. It turned out it was a 3-pointer. This is a case of replay working. I was against referees reviewing the spot of a shot when it was announced because I feared it would interrupt game flow like it does in college. But this actually worked.

-The Simpsons has a rare moment of insight (at least for recent times). The blog Bend it Like Bennett tells the story.

-Dennis Hans writes a great essay on HoopsHype about Dwight Howard's shooting stroke, especially free throws. I always thought his problem was he kind of stops at the top and then shoots, losing the power from his free throw. Uniformed motion is my pet peeve on free throws. But Hans says it has more to do with how he holds his wrist and when he snaps it.