This is just a hunch, but I’m guessing the biggest event in Indianapolis this weekend will be the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for basketball fans, the Pacers and Magic will have to take a back seat this time around. In fact, there are not even any hotel rooms remaining for the Magic to stay in on Friday night before their game against the Pacers Saturday.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the Magic will have to fly to Cincinnati on Friday night after their home game against the Cavs. They will stay in Cincinnati that night, and fly to Indy to face the Pacers the day of the game on Saturday. You didn’t expect Stan Van Gundy to be pleased about that, did you?
“I don’t even need to comment on it,” an annoyed Van Gundy said. “You guys can comment on it and save me my money. When you come out with the schedule in December and have a game in the Super Bowl city, lodging might be a problem.”
In the NBA’s defense, the condensed schedule from the lockout made things a bit more complicated. Still, Van Gundy is right. Somebody should have thought of that right away and known it was going to be an issue. Things are going poorly enough for the Magic at the moment. They don’t need any added distractions or complications.
“I guess we’ll try to walk through in the hotel,” Van Gundy said. “It’ll be a different situation than what we’re normally used to. Normally if people are going to play us, they don’t fly into Tampa. That’s the way it goes.”
That is, indeed, the way it goes. It may not be fair, but no sporting event in America is more important than the Super Bowl. As much as I hate the phrase, this is the epitome of a “life’s not fair” scenario.
Chest bump to I Am a GM for the story
