The Blog's Temperature

I've spent a week on the road driving through Ohio and didn't think it could be more depressing. It's cold and snowy here, and it's unhappy and blue on this blog.

When I started posting on the Sentinel chat area last summer I was very negative on the organization and its total lack of preparation for this year. I'm unhappy to say that I was accurate in that assessment.

My gripe all along was the lack of professional basketball management employed by the team. That leads to a lack of vision of what the team intends to accomplish and it leads to hiring one cast-off coach after another without a plan. From Hockey Guy to Co-GM's. Brian Hill's return for no good reason -- he is such a loser without Shaq & Penny.

There are a few slivers of hope that can come from this season:

1. They lose enough to "earn" a top 5 selection. Magic history in the top 5 includes: D. Scott, Shaq, Chris Webber, Mike Miller & D. Howard. I'm tired but can only really think of Nelson & Anderson as decent picks outside of the top 5.

2. Howard makes the All-Star team which boosts his confidence and continues his growth.

3. A valuable trade -- the kind where the Magic wind up with the best player in the deal. Someone help me here and show me where in the Magic's history this has happened. (I'm tired)

4. A salary dump. -- Latest Francis rumor said the Knicks would take Francis for Hardaway. I would love this, especially if they activated Penny just to annoy Hill.

5. They actually hire a basketball president with a clue. Or how 'bout this one. Get G. Hill to retire and hire him to try and fill the Joe Dumars role on the team. Get a salary dump and someone who has a 50/50 shot of having a clue to run the team.

6. Team sold.

The playoffs seem pretty far away to dream about at the moment. They would likely need to go at least 21-15 to earn a thrashing from Detroit.

Back to the road...