Magic is tough to find these days.

Between the cold, hard pavement; the gray, lifeless sky and the impersonal hum of computers, cars and cell phone ringers, it would seem that magic is just about extinct.

But all is not lost. For maybe, just maybe, a little magic happened at the Bradley Center late last week.

I wasn't prepared for it. I was just enjoying what I thought was a normal halftime show during Marquette's game against Louisville Thursday, watching what seemed to be the semi-dazzling acrobatics of Bill Camp's "Famous Flying Dogs." Basically, Camp would throw Frisbees down the court, and one or more of his four dogs would run and jump to catch them.

Although my experience with magic is limited to the Lucky Charms marshmallows that change colors when you pour milk on them, I definitely sensed something about one of the smaller dogs that had stopped and squatted over the three point arc in front of me. The dog was ignoring its part in the show, but there was still something magical spreading out around it, a sort of golden aura, a kind of "dog ESP," if you will.

Actually, it was "dog PEE," as in the dog had peed on the court. I don't know if it misunderstood the meaning of "Gold Rush" or what, but the canine had decided to dance a little number called "Don't Eat the Yellow Court, No. 1"

The dog moved and the puddle was wiped up, but for some reason, I still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something magical going on. I mentally marked the spot and waited to see what would happen.

Lo and behold, Joe Chapman hit a three-point shot with 14:24 left from the exact spot where the dog had wee-weed, and Marquette had the lead for most of the rest of the half.

The Golden Eagles went on to score, by my count, a total of 13 points on plays that had originated at or near the pee spot.

Maybe Marquette went on to lose the game. But if Toto hadn't led them down the yellow brick road, so to speak, the team might have lost by 16 points instead of three.

And consider this: Steve Novak was the leading scorer in Sunday's win over DePaul. Novak was also the first Marquette player to step on the pee spot when they took the court Thursday to warm-up for the second half. Coincidence? Or is Camp's dog a fountain of good luck?

If Bill Camp is actually a urinary fairy, a "whizzard," if you will, dispatching his magical dogs to excrete their magical potion on those he deems worthy, he'll want something in return.

Hopefully a little publicity will be enough to satisfy him, and he'll allow the Golden Eagles to parlay this magic into a Cinderella-like post-season run.

As long as they don't end up playing the part of Snow Not-So-White.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 22 2005.