Opening its doors after two years of construction on 29 January 1989, the Orlando Arena was home to seven sporting teams and provided space for numerous concerts and special events. It closed on 30 September 2010 after twenty-one years, eight months and two days of operation, replaced by Amway Center three-quarters of a mile to the south.

My most memorable experiences at the facility, later known as TD Waterhouse Centre, The arena in Orlando and finally Amway Arena, were the times I performed with the band and assisted with A/V equipment during three Lake Brantley High School graduation ceremonies not to mention my own graduation there. A few of those years, I also produced the program distributed to graduates and guests.

I remember the long corridors below the seating where athletes and musicians would walk from the locker and green rooms to the main floor. For events during hockey season, they covered the ice with a composite material that did little to contain the cold, much to the chagrin of anyone spending time on it.

Someone once offered me a tour of the catwalk and rafters, but they unfortunately changed employers before I could take them up on it. I did have a chance to operate the MagicVision jumbotron once though, but it was a little anticlimactic as the control room was nowhere in sight of the large display.

The final sporting event to take place at the O-Rena occurred on 24 July 2010 when the Orlando Predators hosted the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, teams in the Arena Football League. I was there tailgating with family and friends before watching the Predators trounce the Yard Dawgz, 49–21. The last event ever was held sixty-eight days later, a performance by dancers from some television show called So You Think You Can Dance.

Although officially replaced the next day by Amway Center, the demolition date for Amway Arena is yet unscheduled. A statement by Alex Martins of Orlando Magic management indicates it should occur sometime this year. Once razed, the arena's land will be redeveloped into Creative Village, a mixed-use office, residential, education, retail and entertainment zone.

People frequently ask me if I am going to watch this game or that game, referring to college football. These questions amuse me because, as you probably know, I could care less about sports. When it comes to college football, there is only one question that matters. Is it a home game? Living close to Doak Campbell Stadium, this simple fact is crucial when planning to drive anywhere on game day.

Anyway, my favorite and often accurate response—"What game?"—generally provokes a stunned expression. The friendly Publix cashier on New Year's Eve, who had been happily chatting while scanning my items, said nothing further after I responded instead with a succinct "no." Honestly, I really enjoy this little game because the amazement others express at my answers equal my own amazement over everyone else's total obsession.

I gave the standard reply when asked today about my interest in sports and plans to watch some bowl game tonight. But after a few seconds, an idle neuron fired in my brain bringing to the surface information I had apparently subconsciously obtained via NPR this morning. I quickly followed up by correctly identifying the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns as the opponents, surprising even myself.

It is no secret I am not the biggest sports fan in the world. In fact, I could really care less. Nevertheless, this fact does not preclude me from enjoying certain sporting events from time to time.

I remember with fondness attending a 1988 home game of the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York. It was a cold, snowy day at Rich Stadium, but the energy created by the fans radiated throughout. Of the nine home games played that year, the Bills won all of them including the divisional title.

Looking back now, it was a transformative time for my hometown franchise. The year saw Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Cornelius Bennett, Bruce Smith and Scott Norwood under the direction of head coach Marv Levy complete a 12 and 4 season. It was this team that would go on to a lackluster 1989 season followed by four consecutive, albeit unsuccessful trips to the Super Bowl.

I also remember my pizza arriving at the end of the first half during Super Bowl XXXVIII on 01 February 2004. I was busy setting the table and readying to eat so I did not change the channel when the half time show started. Seemingly insignificant then, I am now glad to have been witness to the flashpoint of the FCC controversy sparked by a certain wardrobe malfunction.

When it came to this year's Super Bowl, I was interested only in the outcome. Like many others, I wondered if the undefeated New England Patriots—who lost to the 1988 Bills by three—could pull off a perfect season. As you probably know, they failed to do so, losing by three to the New York Giants.

Not interested enough to seek out a place to watch the game on television, I instead went to ESPN.com and launched NFL GameCast. This nifty web-based application provides live graphical and textual data about the plays and the people making them.

As I watched the icons and lines appear on the graphic of the field, the accompanying text updated to indicate the progress of play. It would have been a rather sterile experience were it not for the nearby clapping and cheering of neighbors, obviously rooting for the underdog.

With just more than thirty seconds on the clock remaining in the fourth quarter, I heard the loudest cheering yet. One or two seconds later, the cause appeared on my screen—Eli Manning completed a successful pass to Plaxico Burress giving the Giants the winning lead.

I can partly sympathize with those New England fans now well on their way to drinking the pain away, for it was the New York Giants who went on to win by one point during the Bills' first championship outing, the closest margin of victory ever in a Super Bowl.

Postscript: Although no longer used publicly, each article written here is tagged with one or more categories. When preparing this work for publication, I discovered no such category existed for sports-related topics, lending further credibility to my "not the biggest fan" observation. As a result, the category Sports and Recreation has been added.