When the Orlando Magic's plane was rerouted from Philadelphia on Sunday night to Allentown, Pa., it made for a riveting social scene in the Eastern Pennsylvania steel town.

The detour meant the team ended up having to share a hotel with the cast of Sesame Street Live and a gothic techno band called Marilyn Manson. Instantly, a venerable summit of popular culture was hatched: Bert and Ernie, hard-core industrial rock and Shaquille O'Neal intoning, "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to . . . "

Trophy's, the hotel bar, may never experience a night quite like it again.

"Remember the bar scene from 'Star Wars' with all the animals?" Jon Koncak, the Magic's backup center, said yesterday in a telephone interview. "That's what it looked like last night. It was the twilight zone, man. A bunch of basketball players, Sesame Street and some guy with green hair dressed like the grim reaper, chain-smoking. You needed a video camera to believe it. I'm still trying to deal with it."

Yes, the blizzard of '96 created some odd circumstances the last two days as it brought the sports world to a halt and left teams stranded and searching for flights. For the second straight day, sports events scheduled along the Eastern seaboard were postponed as the storm continued to revise the professional and collegiate calendars.