Time to reflect and enjoy the moment

This is going to be one of those columns. Everyone in the Magic blogosphere is doing it. It is the post-mortem to the season. And it is the only way to cope with losing in the NBA Finals.

But I guess I have to throw my hat into the ring. This season was the season I became a fan again.

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it bears repeating. Since I have become serious about journalism, the fan in me has slowly withered. I was always still passionate about my team. I stood up and cheered, pointed to the Fat Guy at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and cheered my ass off when I went to games.

But it was very different.

I started playing more seriously and actually learned the game. I looked at the game differently. And it changed my relationship to the Magic.

Going to college did not help. Not being able to watch the team on a consistent basis gave me an odd feeling of detachment. My first game after leaving for Northwestern was admittedly odd.

So I became more a journalist -- objective, analyzing and less optimistic -- when I watched the Magic. At the beginning of this season, I believed the goal was to get to the conference finals (or lose by seven in the second round). At the beginning of the playoffs, this would have made me happy.

As the Magic advanced, I stopped believing what my brain was telling me. I started believing my heart. I believed Orlando could give me the world.

My fandom was restored when I went to my first playoff game. Game Four against Boston. I was home for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. Sure the Magic lost in the most crushing manner possible (although I was illogically upbeat about it), but the atmosphere reminded me why it was so great to be a Magic fan. I forgot how loud the building could get when it was full of crazed Magic fans.

Enjoying this season for me can be summed up in one crazed early morning.

After coming home from work after Game Five, I jokingly e-mailed my Mom telling her tickets were too expensive for me to fly home for Game Six. I received an e-mail from her the next morning asking me if I wanted to do it, she was willing to arrange it.

It took hours of weighing the pros and cons. And then I said, "When is the next time we will be here. I'm doing it." An 8 a.m. flight later (and half a paper), I was in the O-Rena for the Magic's Eastern Conference Championship-clinching game. It is a moment I will never forget.

This was the year I became a fan again. It was the season I believed my team could do anything. It was the year I drank the Kool-Aid and enjoyed it.

I truly believe the Magic could win the title. My brain told me the Lakers would win it. My heart told me Orlando could bring it home. And for the first time in a long time, I went with my heart.

And I do not regret it.

This was a fantastic ride. And I am happy to be along with it. I am happy the city jumped on. You never know when you can get back to the Finals again (it took the franchise 14 years to make its return). That makes it hard to swallow a championship loss.

But it made this season so much sweeter. It made this the most memorable team in Magic hisotry, maybe its best. It reawakened the basketball craze. And more than anything, that is what Orlando should remember about this team.