Magic Wands: Lockout Day 119 (vs. Pistons)
Orlando, Fla.
(0-0) vs. (0-0) 
Time/TV: 7 p.m./Who am I kidding?
Line: What Line?
Tickets: Good luck with that...
Season Series: None
Video Vault:
1) There is some hope that the lockout is nearing an end after a 15-hour meeting yesterday. The players and owners will meet again today and the 82-game schedule might actually be saved (with some adjustments).
2) It is official: Dwight Howard and the D12 Foundation will hold a charity exhibition game November 13 at UCF Arena. Howard said he invited former Magic stars Anfernee Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill. Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson said they will play and many other current players are expected to play. This will be after Dwight returns from a barnstorming world tour of NBA superstars.
3) Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel gives you this nugget to chew on: Orlando is actually a place free agents have historically wanted to play.
4) J.A. Adande of TrueHoop wonders if David Stern's illness exposed the weakness of the owners and pulled them behind in the PR battle.
5) Andrew Melnick of Howard the Dunk has five reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season.
6) Much like it is throughout the NBA, businesses near the Palace of Auburn Hills are worried about the effect of more canceled games. As one business owner put it, it is a "perfest storm of bad."
7) I enjoy the J.J. Redick diet.
8) Stan Van Gundy is trying to stay quiet during the lockout, but the Magic keep sending him out to speak! He was the Florida Tech University Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon and John Torres of Florida Today caught up with him.
9) Patrick Hayes of PistonPowered analyzes the 34th best Pistons team -- the 1956-57 Fort Wayne Pistons!
10) George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel gives no weight or meaning to these superstar exhibition games. He would rather see superstars work to get the NBA back.
11) Former Magic center John Amaechi is receiving an Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace. Amaechi works in Manchester and is being honored for his support of sports in England and for his work campaigning for gay rights. Amaechi became the first player to publicly say he was gay a few years ago. Amaechi told the Associated Press that homophobia is much more prevalent in sports than racism, a point of emphasis in FIFA's sportsmanship efforts.
