NBA: New York Knicks at Orlando Magic

On our last night in Florida, I went to see the Orlando Magic host the New York Knicks. In the past the Ultimate Sports Wife and I have made a day of going to a sporting event in Orlando by combining a trip to either Disney World or Universal Studios. However, this time Nicole did not want to attend the game so I drove directly to Amway Arena.

Parking
After sitting in traffic for 30 minutes just to get off at Amelia St. (the Amway Arena exit), I did not drive towards the stadium as I have done in the past because traffic was so bad. Instead I turned right and ended up parking for free on Orange Ave. north of Concord St. The only downfall was that the walk was a few blocks to the arena.

Obtaining Tickets
When I got to the arena there were plenty of extra tickets available as the game had already started. As I did Monday night I asked a scalper for a $5 ticket and he accepted.

The Game
The game was relatively close through the first half until the Magic took a 10 point lead with three minutes left in the second quarter. The Magic held their lead throughout the second half and won the game 118-104.

One notable fan missing from the game was Tiger Woods – a Magic season ticket holder. Even though he only attends a handful of games per season, he had admitted to infidelity earlier on Wednesday and was an expected no-show.

Christmas Day Magic in Orlando

In my first Christmas Day sporting event, the Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Hornets handily 88-68. They began the game on an 8-0 run and never looked back.

Under normal circumstances I would never attend a game on Christmas Day. However, I was able to attend the game today since Nicole’s family eats a big dinner and opens presents on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is left to sitting around, relaxing and eating another big dinner. With no plans to visit with any relatives and dinner scheduled for 7 pm, I had plenty of time to make the noon tip off at Amway Arena. I left Nicole’s family’s house around 10 am and arrived at the Amway Arena parking lot at 11:30 am. I paid $10 to park and then looked to buy a ticket.

Obtaining Tickets
I expected to pay around $10 for the game. However, as I left the parking structure, two scalpers approached me immediately. The first guy wanted $60 for upper level seats. I told them I only wanted to pay $10 and the second scalper offered me an upper level ticket for $20. I balked at the price but finally agreed to pay for a couple of reasons:

First, I noticed a few fans with their fingers in the air (meaning they were looking to buy tickets as opposed to selling tickets). Ticket Buying Tip: Fans holding their fingers in the air means two things: 1) For high demand events – scalpers also do not have any tickets, so they need find an extra ticket from another fan; 2) In the case of today’s game, there is a gap between what the scalpers are charging and what fans are willing to pay. In both cases, it will be hard to find a seat for $10 or less.

Second, it was Christmas Day and I felt like giving the scalper what he wanted rather than negotiate $5 or $10 off (especially since it was already a reasonable price).

The ticket had $10 printed as the face value. However, I was sitting next to a group who must have received group pricing because after looking at a seating chart, I realized that the game day price for my seat was $22. Thus, I still paid less than what I would have at the window. Plus, with the cheapest ticket at the ticket window being $141 the ticket window was not really a viable option.

Milestones
Chris Paul failed to record a steal in the game, which snapped his NBA-record 108-consecutive-game streak with at least one steal.