The Orlando Magic’s opening game should be an entertaining affair on Wednesday night. The 7pm tip-off versus the Milwaukee Bucks will mark the beginning of the team’s 19th season in the NBA and hopefully their 10th year of making the playoffs. With Dwight Howard improving his game in the off-season by adding a mid-range jumper, the Magic clearly have a superstar to lean on. If the team can find a leader in their point guard, Jameer Nelson, it might be a season to remember.

But it won’t be just the basketball that puts people in the seats on this night.

With Wednesday being Halloween, there will surely be plenty of costumes and candy in the Amway Arena, too. Kids’ faces will be painted. A handful of adults will be wearing “This is my costume” t-shirts. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the arena staff members or even the players themselves showed up wearing something outside their normal dress code.

But the scariest costumes will be seen at halftime, when the Blue Man Group performs. It’s not entirely clear how they will adapt their show that normally includes a “splash zone” for all of the paint that comes flying off their percussion instruments, but I’m guessing there will be a very large tarp involved. Either way, the blue-faced performers will clearly be acting out this year’s theme of “Be Bold. Be Blue.”

Tickets are still available for the game, ranging in price from $10 to over $100. Figuring a ticket to the regular Blue Man Group show is about $60, it may be worth it to get a seat up-close, just in case they go all out and paint the first few rows during halftime. Then again, sitting through the second half not covered in paint seems like a more comfortable way to go, so the lesser-priced options are probably what I’d choose.

Anyway, good luck to the Magic. It should be an excellent season with some of the changes that have been made in the Eastern conference (Kevin Garnett in Boston). If you need another blog to subscribe to, the Orlando Magic Blog is a great place to discuss the team and their performance throughout the year.

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