A complete guide to Orlando Spectator Sports 2007
Central Florida sports fans – the visitors and residents – have much to celebrate in 2007 with spectator sport as popular as the NBA's Orlando Magic (NBA), Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) football gold Knights team. Orlando is also motivated by baseball action during the preseason that the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros come to town this spring, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp from late July.
The Orlando Magic play all their home games at Amway Arena to be 17 500 (formerly as TD Waterhouse Centre) in downtown Orlando. Founded in 1989, Orlando Magic advanced to the NBA Finals during the 1994-95 season. Many stars have played basketball for the Orlando Magic over the years as Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Tracy McGrady. The current Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard list includes Grant Hill, Jameer Nelson and JJ Redick. Brian Hill is the head coach of the Orlando Magic, which compete in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The magic of the 2006-07 regular season ending 18 April 2007, against the Miami Heat. Construction on a new 20,000-seat Arena Orlando Magic in Orlando, is scheduled to begin in early 2008.
Founded in 1991, the Orlando Predators, who has captured the Arena Bowl Championship in 2000, competition in the 19-AFL team. Predators to the playoffs 15 years in a row and compete in the Southern Division of the National Conference of struggle against the likes of the Austin Wranglers, Dallas Desperados, forcing Georgia, Las Vegas Gladiators, New Voodoo Orleans and Tampa Bay Storm. The 16-game regular season includes eight games at Amway Arena (also known as "The Jungle") and extends from early February May until late Jay Gruden is the coach of the Orlando Predators, which ended the 2006 season with an AFL record 10-6 and lost to Chicago in ArenaBowl XX. Predators opened the 2007 season on March 2, 2007, against the Tampa Bay Storm.
The team at the UCF Golden Knights football competition in the U.S. against teams like East Carolina University, Marshall University, Rice University, the Southern Methodist University, Tulane University, University of Birmingham in Alabama, the University Houston, the University of Memphis, the University of Southern Mississippi, University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Tulsa. George O'Leary is the head coach Golden Knights, who finished with a 4-8 record during the 2006 season. The Golden Knights, once played their home games at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando in the center but a new stadium is currently under construction on the campus of UCF. Stadium seats 45,000 Bright House Networks is set to be completed in time for the opener Golden Knights against the Texas Longhorns September 15, 2007.
Central Florida is also the site of Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training when the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros came in February 2007. The Braves play 16 home games in a seat 7500, the state of the field at Disney's peak Wide World of Sports Complex, while the Houston Astros to competition, recently renovated Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee. Braves spring training is from 28 February-March 29, 2007, while the Astros will be here March 1 to March 31, 2007. In 2002, World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp move Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex from late July. Practices are open to the public and admission is free to the training camp of the Buccaneers.
Other spectator sports to be held in the Orlando area over the next year include the Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl, which pits the football teams junior college in the South East and Big Ten conferences at the Florida Citrus Bowl stage in the New Year's Day Silver Spurs Rodeo, the largest Middle Mississippi Rodeo, which has place at the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee on February 16-18, 2007, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club (12-18 March 2007) and Walt Disney World Resort Classic (1-4 November 2007), two golf tournaments that attract very few people in the worlds top professional golfers of the PGA.
Orlando visitors should plan ahead and tickets pre-order for those who wish to attend sporting events during their stay, according to Kyle Collins, Director of Interactive Marketing HotelsCorp.com.
»Tickets sporting events and theme park tickets can often be added to vacation packages on offer, enabling families to enjoy significant savings on your vacation in Orlando, "said Collins.
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Week 14: Austin Wranglers @ New York Dragons