In today's Orlando Sentinel, Steve Francis placed a full page ad on the back page of the sports section. In the ad, Francis apologizes for the teams performance, talks about the off-season and the excitement of next year. There are mixed feelings about the intentions of the ad and why it was placed. I will let you read it before I make my comments.
Dear Magic Fans:It is with great sadness that my first season with the Magic has come to an end short of our expectations, but we have tremendous hope for the future. We overcame many hurdles this year, fought and played hard each and every game. We couldn't have done it without the support of our fans.
Magic fans, thank you for your support. We know at times you were frustrated, but still stayed with us through our injuries, player trades and during the games we struggled. Knowing that our fans are fighting with us motivates us to work even harder. We are disappointed because our season is ending short, but the organization went through a lot of changes to improve this past year and we have big plans for the future.
Our team is blessed with many young, talented players and great leadership. We plan on working extremely hard this off-season to improve so we can come back next year and achieve our post-season goals. We know what it will take to get better and we are committed to making the Magic a contender.
The excitement that I felt during our first home game agains the Milwaukee Bucks is the excitement we hope to bring every night next year. Your support means a lot to us and I am proud to be part of the Orlando Magic.
God Bless,
Steve Francis - Orlando Magic
There are those out there who believe Francis placed this ad because he is self-serving and needed to boost his ego a little. There is the opinion that the Magic asked him to place the ad. Regardless of why the ad was placed, I like the idea.
Steve Francis is a competitor. Everyone knows that by now. He plays hard every night. He may turn the ball over too often or jaw at the referees more than we would like, but he plays hard. At times, he dribbles too much time off the shot clock, but he makes the big shot and makes his teammates better players. I honestly believe that he is as frustrated with the season as you and I.
I hate to place blame in any one area for the struggles of a team, but I think the Magic made a big mistake this year with Johnny Davis. Davis was not going to be the coach of this team for the next 2 or 5 years. They knew that going into the season. I am satisfied with our record and missing the playoffs. I expected that at the beginning of the year, although it is easy to get caught up in the hype. I am, however, disappointed with the progress of the team. The team did not grow and the progress of certain players was slower than what I had expected. I lay that responsibility on the coaching staff. As wins were racking up in the beginning of the year, they forgot the focus of the season and the team struggled when the other teams caught up to them.
Steve Francis placed this ad as a good jesture to Orlando Magic Fans. I am an Orlando Magic fan. I appreciate the fact that he took the time and money to think about us. Who cares what the media thinks about it? I'm sure that some of the players care about this team and want to be here next year. I hope that the fans can come back next year in full force and give the team the support they need. Personally, I have been disappointed with the turnout and support at the games this year. I am almost ashamed to be labeled as a fan because I feel that I care more about the team than those I have seen attending the games.
Francis has taken the responsibility for the struggles of the team. It's time the fans step up and admit they put in half the effor this year. We did not give the team the support they deserved. When things went south, we disappeared. This is not New York Yankee baseball. We are not a bandwagon type of town. We don't cheer our team when they are winning and then change our hat when they lose. I may get on the team about turnovers or bad substitution patterns - but I watch every game and attend a good amount of them. Heck, I even attend games in other cities when I am on vacation.
I am not asking fans to be as dedicated as myself or others I know, but I do ask you to support this team like we have in the past. Next season, let's show the team the kind of support we did in that first game of this season. The O-rena was rocking like the days of old. Let's bring the Magic back to Orlando!
4 Comments on "Steve Francis apology"
Well personally I think that that was very smart of Steve to have come forward to admit that the team could have been better if it wasn't for the obstacles that took place. Not only should he have apologized, there were others who should have apologized also. What I liked most was the pronoun "We" not one time did he point fingers at anyone. Even though the Orlando Magic did not make it to the playoffs they are still my #1 team.
I think that Steve Francis in this ad is trying to say that even though the season end without them in the playoffs that the fans will continue to have something to look forward next season. This ad is a basically a ad of encouragement to the fans for next season.
I am a season ticket holder and was at most of their home games this season. Steve showed he was was a warrior from the very first game.even though he loses control of his game now and then he more than makes up for it.the apology was nice but unnecessary. our season went south for one major reason. if you think back to the beginning,the magic showed a wonderful exciting chemistry that belied the fact that we had all new personnel. without debating whether tracy needed to be traded, the fact is that weisbrod made an excellent move in obtaining three very good starters from houston who obviously enjoyed playing together. by having a nucleus of 3/5 of our starters familiar with one another it propelled us to a very exciting first half season. then along came doug christie. if ever a deal was awful this one was as bad as it gets and steve was understandably unhappy and the chemistry suffered. dougs defense wasn't any better than cuttinos but we lost 16 to 20 points of offense. this one blunder more than anything else ruined our season. doug never wanted to be here and it was very evident to the fans. dougs hand signals to his wife was very sweet and sort of interesting but thats all he was good for. as good as managements deals and p/u of hedo and jameer were it was undone by this awful trade. there were some other things going on such as misusing d.howard for most of the season and some uninspired coaching but this pales in comparison to this trade. anyway if anyone shoul have offered the fans an apology it was john w. not steve-o. also the team has increased their ticket prices for next season. too bad.
I just want to say that Steve Francis is the greatest man that has ever walked this earth besides Jesus and my grandfather. Never under estimate the Franchise he will always prevail regardless of obstacles.