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Stuff The Magic Dragon
Stuff the Magic Dragon is the official mascot of the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His name is a play on the Peter, Paul and Mary song "Puff, the Magic Dragon", and the basketball slang term "stuff" (which means to either slam dunk or reject a slam dunk shot). Biography Stuff the Magic Dragon, described as "the tallest dragon in Orlando's history," was introduced in a giant egg on Church Street in 1989, where Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic, portrayed him for his "birth". He was "originally the Magic's #1 pick in the supplemental dragon back draft, directly out of clown college." Stuff is said to live in the Dragon's Lair at Orlando's Amway Center and has his own play area, "Stuff's Magic Castle" on the promenade level. Many think that Stuff is a copy of the Philly Phanatic, but the two mascots were made by the same company, Acme Mascots (Harrison/Erickson), which made many popular mascots including the retired Yankees mascot "Dandy", the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products. In sports, mascots are also used for merchandising. Team mascots are often related to their respective team nicknames. This is especially true when the team's nickname is something that is a living animal and/or can be made to have humanlike characteristics. For more abstract nicknames, the team may opt to have an unrelated character serve as the mascot. For example, the athletic teams of the University of Alabama are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, while their mascot is an elephant named Big Al. Team mascots may take the form of a logo, person, live animal, inanimate object, or a costumed character, and often appear at team matches and other related events, sports mascots are of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Nikola Vučević have played for the club throughout its history. , the franchise has played in the NBA playoffs 16 times in 32 seasons, and twice went to the NBA Finals, in 1995 and 2009. Orlando has been the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 in terms of winning percentage and playoff success, after the Miami Heat. Franchise history 1985–1986: Team creation In September 1985, Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt approached Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams as they met in Texas on his id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL). In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June. , NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter, Paul And Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoire included songs written by Yarrow and Stookey, early songs by Bob Dylan, and covers of other folk musicians. They were enormously successful in the early- and mid-1960s, with their debut album topping the charts for weeks, and helped popularize the folk music revival. After the death of Travers in 2009, Yarrow and Stookey continued to perform as a duo under their individual names. Mary Travers said she was influenced by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers. In the documentary ''Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy'', members of the Weavers discuss how Peter, Paul and Mary took over the torch of the social commentary of folk music in the 1960s. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Peter, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puff, The Magic Dragon
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" (or just "Puff") is a song written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary from a poem by Leonard Lipton. It was made popular by Yarrow's group in a 1962 recording released in January 1963. Lipton wrote a poem about a dragon in 1959, and when Yarrow found it, he wrote the lyrics to "Puff" based on the poem. After the song was released, Yarrow searched for Lipton to give him credit for the song. Lyrics The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" are based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, then a 19-year-old Cornell University student. Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled "The Tale of Custard the Dragon", about a "realio, trulio little pet dragon". The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon, Puff, and his playmate, Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and moves on from the imaginary adventures of childhood, leaving a disheartened Puff on his own. The song's story takes place "by the sea" in the fictional land of "Honah Lee". Lipton was fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slam Dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one or both hands.Merriam-Webster refers the ter"slam dunk"to the ter"dunk shot" which is defined as "a shot in basketball made by jumping high into the air and throwing the ball down through the basket". M-W dates "slam dunk" at 1972, and "dunk shot" as "circa 1961". It is a type of field goal that is worth two points. Such a shot was known as a "dunk shot" until the term "slam dunk" was coined by former Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn. The slam dunk is usually the highest percentage shot and a crowd-pleaser. Thus, the maneuver is often taken from the basketball game and showcased in slam dunk contests such as the NBA Slam Dunk Contest held during the annual NBA All-Star Weekend. The first incarnation of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuff The Magic Dragon
Stuff the Magic Dragon is the official mascot of the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His name is a play on the Peter, Paul and Mary song "Puff, the Magic Dragon", and the basketball slang term "stuff" (which means to either slam dunk or reject a slam dunk shot). Biography Stuff the Magic Dragon, described as "the tallest dragon in Orlando's history," was introduced in a giant egg on Church Street in 1989, where Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic, portrayed him for his "birth". He was "originally the Magic's #1 pick in the supplemental dragon back draft, directly out of clown college." Stuff is said to live in the Dragon's Lair at Orlando's Amway Center and has his own play area, "Stuff's Magic Castle" on the promenade level. Many think that Stuff is a copy of the Philly Phanatic, but the two mascots were made by the same company, Acme Mascots (Harrison/Erickson), which made many popular mascots including the retired Yankees mascot "Dandy", the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau figures released in July 2017, making it the List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 23rd-largest metropolitan area in the United States, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the third-largest metropolitan area in Florida behind Miami and Tampa, Florida, Tampa. Orlando had a population of 307,573 in the 2020 census, making it the List of United States cities by population, 67th-largest city in the United States, the fourth-largest city in Florida, and the state's largest inland city. Orlando is one of the most-visited cities in the world primarily due to tourism, major events, and convention traffic; in 2018, the city drew more than 75 million v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phillie Phanatic
The Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team. He is a large, furry, green flightless bird with an extendable tongue. He performs various routines to entertain fans during baseball games at Citizens Bank Park and makes public relation and goodwill appearances for the Phillies. The Phanatic is widely acknowledged as one of the best ballpark mascots, and one of the most recognizable mascots in North American sports. Creation During the winter after the 1977 season, Dennis Lehman, who along with the Philadelphia Phillies Promotions Director, Frank Sullivan, thought the team needed a mascot similar to the San Diego Padres, Padres' San Diego Chicken. The Phanatic was created by Harrison/Erickson of New York City (now known as Acme Mascots), which had ties with Jim Henson's Muppets. Instead of a number on the back of his jersey (clothing)#In sports, jersey, he wears a star. The character was named for the fanatical fans of the team. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amway Center
Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. Amway Center hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game and the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game. It also hosted some games of the round of 64 and round of 32 of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2014 and 2017. On January 14, 2013, the Arena Football League's Board of Directors voted to award ArenaBowl XXVI to Orlando in the summer of 2013. The arena has also hosted several local graduations, as well as professional wrestling events by the professional wrestling promotion WWE, notably the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion took a long-term residency at the Amway Center from August 21–December 7, 2020. During this residency, WWE aired its shows from a behind closed doors set called the WWE ThunderDome. The promotion reloca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youppi!
Youppi! ( or , French for Yippee!) is the official mascot for the Montreal Canadiens, and former longtime mascot of Montreal Expos. Youppi! wears an "!" instead of a jersey number. History Youppi!, a creation of Acme Mascots, Inc. (a division of Harrison/Erickson, Inc.), was commissioned by Montreal Expos vice-president Roger D. Landry. Originally leased by the baseball team in 1979, the mascot was eventually purchased by the Expos and represented them until they moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. Youppi! was designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for Jim Henson, and the designer of Miss Piggy, Statler & Waldorf and other Muppet characters. The orange, hairy giant was a popular figure at Olympic Stadium prior to the Expos' relocation to Washington, D.C. Notoriety Youppi! was the first mascot to be thrown out of a Major League Baseball game: during the 1989 Expos season, on August 23 while atop the visitors' dugout in the 11th inning, Youppi! took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Williams (basketball)
Pat Williams (born May 3, 1940) is a former American sports executive, who most recently served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the Philadelphia 76ers and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic. Early life Williams was born in 1940 in Philadelphia, the second oldest of four children and the only son. He was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, attending Tower Hill School where his father coached and taught. He became a friend of Ruly Carpenter, son of Philadelphia Phillies owner Bob "R.R.M." Carpenter, who would bring Williams to the Phillies’ dugout and clubhouse, as well as to the team's spring training in Clearwater, Florida. His interest in baseball would earn Williams a scholarship to Wake Forest University. There Williams earned a bachelor's de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
