22:45, 6th November 2008. Orlando, Amway Arena. The arena empties out. Orlando Magic 98 - 88 Philadelpiha 76ers. The court in the center is shiny. Smooth under all those squeeking sneakers. Giant figures leave the court. Sweatbands are off to be rung out. Cheerleaders bound off, with white toothed smiles across their faces. Scoreboard is flashing. Disco ball is rotating. Magic’s mascot is circulating. TV crew are out doing reviews of the game for the audience at home. Charles Barkley (NBA, Suns & Sixers legend, who also used to slam dunks on my Super Nintendo in his spare time), packs his papers court-side to leave (or at least I think it was him..).
10:45, 7th November 2008. Orlando, Amway Arena. Is this the same arena? Squeeking floor nowhere to be seen. No hoops. No mascot. No crowd to cheerlead. Instead - cases. Lots of cases. Cables hanging from points high in the arena. Catwalks *(under construction). Amp stacks waiting to be lifted. Forklifts beeping. Bags full of butterfly confetti. Roadies dressed in black (beards across their faces).
Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here
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