Memo to Shaq: Go find another 'dried-up pond' -- Politics, Orla...

There are a few things about Shaq that I like.

On the other hand...

His recent trashing of the Miami Heat was bush league, his leaving Orlando for LA was totally due to his wanting to be in Hollywood, and had nothing to do with basketball. He has an ego as big as his butt, and his thinking that the Orlando Magic would actually entertain the notion of making him GM is born of that ego.

He sees himself as Jerry West or Pat Riley in a bigger package.

What happened to him devoting his life to law enforcement after his playing days were over? What's he gonna do, run the Magic by day and do the OPD midnight shift?

Shaq - do the world a favor and after you retire find a nice mansion somewhere to lay on your bags of money, and bask in the praise that you heap upon yourself.

Orlando is done with you.

But just remember that YOU were done with them FIRST!

Tell you what, Shaq wants back...let him play a year for us and if he brings us the championship, he can have the GM job. If not then the traitor can take himself and hop-along Hill and head to LA! Who is the biggest Magic traitor...Shaq, Hill, or McGrady?

Mr Perfect wrote:

Shaq is only good for picking coconuts!

You are being generous with this one...funny but generous. If Shaq picks the coconuts, Hop along Hill can hold the bag!

First and probably only article written by Bianchi that I agree 100% with.

Has anyone noticed he burns bridges everywhere he goes? Insults Orlando on the way out, critzes the Laker organization on his way to Miami, Rips the heat and their players when he left Miami. That is Business edicate 101, do not burn bridges with those who you will deal with in the future. He has no business acumen. He would be a failure as an exec like Isaih.

A lot of the fans that now want Shaq weren't around, they don't remember the hurt, frustration and impact on the team, the fans and community when Shaq left.

Shaq left us flat, Shaq shirts unsold, standing at the altar with honeymoon plans, without so much as a glance back. He hurt us badly.

He left to provide other teams in other towns championship that could and should have been ours.

Now he wants to throw us a bone. Now in the twi-light of his career, he's willing to date an old flame he spurned and humiliated.

If my fellow fans have any pride and integrity, we'll emphatically say NO! NO WAY, NO HOW, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!

Stay loyal to the kids we've got. Let the team grow into the contender we are, without adding a washed up overweight has-been to the mix.

Shaq didn't need us when we needed him, we don't need him now. I would rather lose with the kids we've got on board than win with Shaq!

Jealous losers? What we lost was Shaq in his prime. We have no use for him without the talent and ability.

You can keep your lapdog mentality. We're not buying it.

Joker1 wrote:

You people so lame. This franchise has won how many rings. Can you say Shaq, Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Penny, H. Grant, Billups, T-Mac, Amare (we don’t want too deal with his problems) Stoudemire just name a few. You’ve had all of the Superstars or a chance to get them and what. You need all the help you can get, from anybody other than what you’ve had for the last 5,000 years. Everyone goes to another team and win, hum. Get over it you bunch of whining jealous losers. The same is going to happen with Howard and Lewis. Just shut the team down and let them go somewhere else and win, because they won’t do it here.
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Maybe we can get Shaq to wear his cop uni and direct traffic at our new Events Center while Dwight and the boys are playing in the NBA finals in a couple of years...

Joker1, you've got to be kidding me; none of those players would have left if Shaq had not pulled his,'jeckle and hyde' screw job to the Magic. The team and community trusted him once, he left and then he bashed the community for not being big enough for him. If our team is such a small-fish he must only want to come here so he can go somewhere else. Burn us once, shame on Shaq, burn us twice, shame on the community. I enjoyed nothing more than watching Shaq play when he was here and have enjoyed watching him play some place else (but only to watch him lose). Sorry Shaq, there's no room in O-town for your big ego. Magic LAEDERSHIP, bring ShaQ back and you'll never sell me a ticket again!!!!!!

Joker1 wrote:

You people so lame. This franchise has won how many rings. Can you say Shaq, Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Penny, H. Grant, Billups, T-Mac, Amare (we don’t want too deal with his problems) Stoudemire just name a few. You’ve had all of the Superstars or a chance to get them and what. You need all the help you can get, from anybody other than what you’ve had for the last 5,000 years. Everyone goes to another team and win, hum. Get over it you bunch of whining jealous losers. The same is going to happen with Howard and Lewis. Just shut the team down and let them go somewhere else and win, because they won’t do it here.
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CRJ wrote:

Bianchi, It was writers like you taking polls like this that made Shaq leave in the first place. I recall a pole questioning if Shaq was worth the money he wanted? You advised readers he was not. How did that work out for the Lakers? Can you blaim him for heading for a big sports town with writers who actually know what they are talking about. You are a Hack..... For an encore, you did the same to T-mac. Do all of us sports fans in orlando a favor; Keep your polls and your comments to yourself !

lol! Yeah, that's why Shaq & T-Mac left. Because of Mike Bianchi? That and because Shaq wanted "head for a big sports town with writers who actually know what they are talking about."

Shaq is all about the writers. I heard he really forced his way out of Miami because of a writer he liked in AZ.

First and foremost as far as Shaq is concerned IMO, he has always been one of the most clumsy and overrated players in NBA history. Sure he's put up some great numbers, but he plays like a thug, not a graceful center like Dwight, Duncan, Akeem, etc. And his free shooting woes over the years has been disgraceful. He uses his massive body size to essentially push other players out of the way and get inside points or rebounds. I'm amazed he's gotten away with so much in terms of rough play--does he payoff the refs? And like others have said, he has such an overblown ego. He needs to learn that he's not always going to get his way. And Hill was given so many breaks by the Magic organization--why should they reach out to him yet again? The current organizational direction is working well, so why change things?

Your next beverage of choice is on me, Mike. Good job.

Right on MoLubee, The Magic squad has always been about integrity and we feel hurt when one that sold himself as having that kind of value turned a back to us. Shaq did it, so did Grant - Penny was all about Penny; its and old, sad story. Dwight has integrity and values, I believe he would question the franchise and community if we welcome back Shaq. Yea, he might smile when face-to-face with Shaq Daddy, but we all do that when working with people that we really don't agree with at work. That's called business ethics, something that many of our past players (who have gone on to win championships) did not have. It was all about the almighty dollar and face time on ESPN. Dwight, hang-tight with us; your day (and your fan base) will have its day (soon) and we can all smile. ;-)

MoLubee wrote:

A lot of the fans that now want Shaq weren't around, they don't remember the hurt, frustration and impact on the team, the fans and community when Shaq left.
Shaq left us flat, Shaq shirts unsold, standing at the altar with honeymoon plans, without so much as a glance back. He hurt us badly.
He left to provide other teams in other towns championship that could and should have been ours.
Now he wants to throw us a bone. Now in the twi-light of his career, he's willing to date an old flame he spurned and humiliated.
If my fellow fans have any pride and integrity, we'll emphatically say NO! NO WAY, NO HOW, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!
Stay loyal to the kids we've got. Let the team grow into the contender we are, without adding a washed up overweight has-been to the mix.
Shaq didn't need us when we needed him, we don't need him now. I would rather lose with the kids we've got on board than win with Shaq!

hahaha awesome read.. you tell HIM..
Agreee with you 100% shaq n hill just stay way from Orlando. Both of you left orlando for your selfish reasons.
Keep on dreaming big fella.

Get over it, you sound like the fans from Boston

Mr. Bianchi,

I most definitely could not have said it better!!! Thank you for your wisdom!!

What's just amazing to me is that all of a sudden Grant Hill is playing every game for an entire season. With the exception of the appendectomy where are all the other nagging problems that kept him off the court here? It wasn't just the ankle. There was also the sports hernia fiasco. In a way, I think Hill's deal was the most destructive to the Magic. It changed the whole issue with TMac and everything else. To see him all of a sudden find "health" in Phoenix just hints at what was realy going on here.

Phill wrote:

What's just amazing to me is that all of a sudden Grant Hill is playing every game for an entire season. With the exception of the appendectomy where are all the other nagging problems that kept him off the court here? It wasn't just the ankle. There was also the sports hernia fiasco. In a way, I think Hill's deal was the most destructive to the Magic. It changed the whole issue with TMac and everything else. To see him all of a sudden find "health" in Phoenix just hints at what was realy going on here.

Funny ain't it - ON A TEAM THAT RUNS MORE!

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

Who's running off the keyboard?? What's a millionaire going down to Churchstreet got to do with most of our jobs; especially one with a big ego? The team brought Shaq to Orlando before and when he left the organization spent the next ten years looking for players that had ethics and didn't whine about playing time and trying to get coaches fired. Shaq belongs to the new breed of "ME" athletes; ME wants more money, ME wants the ball, look at ME, what have done for ME lately!!!! Solid super teams consist of more than one player, not just a 300 lb center that says "ME, ME, ME". Maybe some people don't like Mike Bianchi but the message is clear, we don't need ME athletes, we need a team that kicks other teams around and the current team is that team - soon to kick the east coast teams to the west coast and the WEST coast to the east!:-)

I love Downtown Orlando wrote:

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You are right and Bianchi is an idiot! Dont you see downtown Orlando withering away. Bringing Shaq to Orlando is a wise economic decision. All of the unknowns playing for the magic do nothing for the City. There is an intangible benefit to smart athletes being here: they go to the bars and patrons follow, they buy real estate and buyers follow. Church Street was popping when Shaq was here. He is a walking Chamber of Commerce. The City's well being is far more important than your stupid bruised ego. You and all these other idiots want these atheletes to say nothing and be like horses in a stable. Get real! This is the best investment the team can make. I hope they get rid of Otis, but this will never happen because he is a "good" team player.

word!