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[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.dallasnew...d-medicine_.ece

Mark Cuban: Athletes will eventually be allowed to take 'personalized medicine.'
By SportsDayDFW.com.
"Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has never been shy about sharing his opinions on a wide range of topics. Friday’s Dan Patrick radio show was just the latest example of this. During his time with Patrick, Cuban touched on everything from Charlie Sheen to athletes eventually taking “personalized medicine” to his thoughts on BYU guard Jimmer Fredette.

Here are some of the highlights of Cuban’s conversation with Patrick.

On what's the next great sports idea:

“Personalized medicine. I think we’re going to get beyond what is performance enhancing and illegal. OK personalized medicine is going to be normal for everybody and we’re going to introduce it to sports to make the athletes better, but on a safe basis.”

On if he watches the NCAA Tournament as an owner or if he leaves the player evaluations up to his staff:

“Both. It’s just natural. If I’m watching Jimmer Fredette, I’m like, OK can this guy translate? Who is the kid from Arizona ? It’s like wait, did we know he was this good? We really don’t start talking about this until draft time but all of our guys are out there watching already.”

On if he thinks Jimmer Fredette can play in the NBA:

“Yeah I think he can play. I see these little nuances of Steve Nash in him but it’s really going to depend. He’s not asked to play defense and people question his foot speed but he’s going to go to those camps this summer and work on all those things. I think he’s got the mentality to get better.”

On if he is still going into business with Charlie Sheen:

“Yeah, I mean I like Charlie. There’s certainly some risks and I recognize those risks but we’re working on trying to put something together for him for HDNet. We’ve got cameras following him around and we’ll figure out how we’re going to package it and what kind of content that’s going to be.”

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http://www.latimes.c...0,4374897.story
Phil Jackson responds to Mark Cuban's suggestions.
By Mike Bresnahan.


"When Dallas owner says he wants Ron Artest to have the ball often, Lakers coach points out Cuban isn't a player and has 'nothing to do with it.' The two share a decade-long history of insults.

Just when it looked as if Phil Jackson and Mark Cuban were friends again…

The Dallas Mavericks' owner said he wanted Lakers forward Ron Artest to have the ball in his hands more often and be forced to make more decisions in the complex triangle offense.

The Lakers' coach responded with a zinger or two for Cuban.

"I know that Mark likes to prick the skin of people, but he's not a player. He just sits behind the bench with his sun-tanned face and tries to make comments like that," Jackson said Thursday. "He's got nothing to do with it. I know that he's provided a great roster that's almost as good as money can buy … but not quite."

Should be plenty of fun if the teams meet in the Western Conference semifinals.

"Anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest's hands is always a good thing," Cuban told reporters earlier Thursday. "You can tell him that I'll even take him out for ice cream. Of all the choices you have on that team, you want Ron Artest making the decisions in the triangle."

Jackson and Cuban had been civil to each other recently, putting aside their decade-long battle of insults, but that apparently ended.

Dallas guard Jason Terry also did his part to add heat to a mostly sedate Lakers-Mavericks rivalry.

"I don't think Kobe [Bryant] wants to chase me or Roddy Beaubois around that court all night," Terry said in an interview with an ESPN radio station in Dallas. "They're a little older in the backcourt. In five- or six-minute spurts we can cause some havoc out there. It's definitely an advantage for us."

Terry was given a flagrant foul two and ejected in the fourth quarter after an altercation with the Lakers' Steve Blake; Blake was also ejected, along with the Lakers' Matt Barnes and the Mavericks' Brendan Haywood.

To be continued in May?

Showtime

Lamar Odom will be a popular guy in coming weeks, crossing over to mainstream TV with his new reality show, "Khloe & Lamar."

It will somehow improve Odom's game, Jackson said.

"Lamar's doing the show now so he does have to get out there and produce," he said. "He's got to get out there and really play."

But will Odom be able to successfully juggle basketball and Hollywood?

"It's going to be great," Jackson said. "He'll balance it out after he learns how to swim."

In a different reality show last year with the Kardashian family, Odom tried to learn how to swim.

The new show debuts April 10 on the E! network.

Good citizen

Artest was one of four finalists for a citizenship award determined by pro basketball reporters.

It's true.

It was Artest's latest step in shedding an image sullied by the infamous Palace Brawl in 2004.

He has made a crusade of increasing awareness for mental health issues and raised about $600,000 by raffling off his 2010 championship ring last December. Artest donated the money to various mental health causes.

Orlando center Dwight Howard, Portland center Marcus Camby and Chicago swingman Kyle Korver are also finalists for the award, which will be announced during the playoffs and is chosen by members of the Pro Basketball Writers Assn."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nbahot.co...ether-usa-today

Phil Jackson and Mark Cuban really do need to get an apartment together.
By Reid Cherner, USA TODAY.

"With all of the silly and lousy reality shows that are foisted upon the public, you can't tell us that putting Lakers coach Phil Jackson and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the same household and letting the cameras roll wouldn't be entertaining.

One of the NBA's most enduring soap operas continued this week with Cuban trying to set the Lakers lineup and Jackson firing back with some personal taunts.

Cuban started this one by saying "anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest's hands is always a good thing. You can tell him that I'll even take him out for ice cream. Of all the choices you have on that team, you want Ron Artest making the decisions in the triangle."

Jackson's retort: "I know that Mark likes to prick the skin of people, but he's not a player. He just sits behind the bench with his sun-tanned face and tries to make comments like that. He's got nothing to do with it. I know that he's provided a great roster that's almost as good as money can buy … but not quite."

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http://thelakersnation.com/blog

Cuban Calls out Ron Artest…Again.
By Chris Manning.

"Mark Cuban wasn’t sold on Ron Artest joining the Lakers before. Cuban also watched the Lakers, with Ron playing a key role in their game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics in last year’s Finals, hoist up the championship trophy last season.

It seems Cuban believes he’s solved a way to beat the Lakers. Cuban believes Ron is lost on the offensive end and actually wants the Lakers to make Ron make decisions:

“Anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest’s hands is always a good thing,” Cuban said. “And you can tell him that I’ll even take him out for ice cream. Of all the choices you have on that team, you want Ron Artest making the decisions in the triangle.’’

Ron’s play as of lately has been key, much like Andrew Bynum, in their recent surge towards the post-season. In the biggest game of the season, with potential playoff seeding on the line, it seems Cuban is trying to play mind-games with Ron. Despite Ron’s heroics in game 7, it seems Cuban still isn’t sold on Artest… yet."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.dailynews...rce=most_viewed

LAKERS NOTEBOOK: Mavs owner Cuban picks on Artest.
By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer.


The ongoing verbal sparring between Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the Lakers continued this week, with Cuban joking that he would like to see Ron Artest playing in the post during the game between the teams Thursday at Staples Center.

"Anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest's hands is always a good thing," Cuban said. "And you can tell him that I'll even take him out for ice cream. Of all the choices you have on that team, you want Ron Artest making decisions in the triangle."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who likes to crack back at Cuban just as frequently and sarcastically, took another jab at his target when asked about Cuban's comments. Jackson said Cuban likes to "prick the skin of people, but he's not a player."

"He just sits behind the bench with his sun-tanned face and makes comments like that," Jackson continued. "He's got nothing to do with it. I know he's provided a great roster and it's almost as good as money can buy, but not quite."

Earlier this season, Cuban called Jackson "Jeanie's boy-toy" when referencing the Hall of Fame coach's relationship with girlfriend Jeanie Buss, a Lakers team executive who also is the daughter of team owner Jerry Buss.

Writers honor Artest.

Artest wasn't sure what to make of his selection by the Pro Basketball Writers' Association as a finalist for the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for "his tireless advocacy for mental health issues" this season.

other finalists, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Kyle Korver of the Chicago Bulls and Marcus Camby of the Portland Trail Blazers, also were chosen for their charitable efforts during the season.

"I'm not sure what everybody else is doing, but congratulations to everybody who got mentioned," Artest said. "I'm not sure what everybody is doing in the community, but it's cool. … I think I know the award. I'll have more to say after the game."

Artest, who rather famously thanked his psychiatrist after the Lakers' victory over Boston in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June, was praised for raffling off his championship ring to raise money for mental health awareness.

Ratliff activated

Backup forward/center Theo Ratliff was on the active roster for the first time since undergoing left knee surgery Nov. 17. He wasn't expected to play a significant role in Thursday's game, or in any of the Lakers' final eight contests.

But he could be invaluable as a practice player and a substitute if the Lakers get into foul trouble or suffer an injury. His pending return was a reason the Lakers sent rookie Derrick Caracter to Bakersfield of the D-League earlier in the week.

"It was just about patience," Ratliff said of trying to get back onto the roster. "There were some bone-on-bone issues, some different things going on in my knee. We just had to sit back and let it heal a little bit … so I could function on the floor. "There definitely were setbacks. I'm not a young cat."

Ratliff turns 38 later this month."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.fiercemob...-app/2011-04-01

Qualcomm teams with Mark Cuban for Augmented Reality.
By Jason Ankeny .

"Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is partnering with tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, to offer fans Augmented Reality-based mobile gaming experiences during the franchise's upcoming playoffs run.

Mavs supporters equipped with Android smartphones can download the new MavsAR app to access an interactive mobile hoops game featuring the team's stars Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry--the game is integrated into a special commemorative edition of the Mavs' 2011 NBA Playoffs tickets.

Qualcomm unveiled its Android-based Augmented Reality platform and accompanying software development kit at its Uplinq 2010 conference last June, promising developers the tools to build applications blurring the lines between cyberspace and its real-world counterpart.

Augmented Reality solutions enable developers to superimpose computer-generated 3D content over live camera views of the physical environment, resulting in more intuitive and immersive games, location-based solutions and related applications."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.google.co...ex=&startPage=1

Lakers-Mavs! Oh, the possibilities.
Comments By Dave McMenamin.
ESPNLosAngeles.com.

LOS ANGELES--"It's a matchup that's eluded basketball fans for a decade now and with Phil Jackson already with one foot out the door, this spring will be the last chance we'll get to see the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks in all of its circus-like glory.

They'll want to keep rolling the next time these two teams meet.
Los Angeles currently leads Dallas by 1 ½ games for the No. 2 seed in the West. If L.A. stays at the two and Dallas stays at the three, then the two teams will meet in the second round of the playoffs should they both advance.


Wouldn't that be something?


The prelude to Thursday's game was another round of barb tossing between Jackson and Dallas owner Mark Cuban.


If you aren't familiar with the dance, this mismatched pair has been dancing since way back when Shaquille O'Neal still played for the Lakers and Steve Nash still played for the Mavericks, it goes something like this.


Mark tells reporters in Dallas that he thinks when Ron Artest tries to dictate the offense for the Lakers it ends up being a good thing for the Mavs.


Then, reporters in L.A. tell Phil what Mark said the next day and Jackson comes up with the wittiest thing that comes to mind to burn Cuban.


(On Thursday it was: "I know that Mark likes to prick the skin of people. But he's not a player. He just sits behind the bench with his suntanned face and has to make comments like that. He's got nothing to do with it. I know that he's provided a great roster that's almost as good as money can buy. But not quite.")


We wouldn't have to wait a day in between responses if these two teams met for a playoff series. It would be one, giant, extended game of telephone with PJ saying something about Cubes in his pregame remarks, followed by reporters scrambling to find Cuban for a response, or vice versa.


You could cut and paste all of Jackson's and Cuban's quotes at the end of the series and put them on top of one another and create yourself a pretty contentious conversation.


Just this season alone Cuban has labeled Jackson the "boy-toy" of girlfriend Jeanie Buss in January and when the two teams met again in the middle of March, Jackson said he'd be interested in hosting a show with Charlie Sheen on Cuban's HDNet cable network. "I'd like to introduce the movies or something like that," Jackson said. "I'm all about musicals."


Maybe Phil's just jealous that Mark stole (or rather, bought) his nickname. The first of many books that Jackson has written throughout the years was titled "Maverick: More than a Game" and it detailed his playing days with the New York Knicks.


The best part about their back and forth is that it's rubbing off on their players.

"Each one has got a taste of the other team in their mouth," was how Jackson put it."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://espn.go.com/b...-loss-to-lakers
Mark Cuban, Jason Terry on loss to L.A.
Comments By ESPNDallas.com.

"Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talks about the ugly loss against the Lakers, his new TV show Shark Tank and more.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mavericks guard Jason Terry talks about shoving Lakers guard Steve Blake in the loss to Los Angeles, the rivalry with the Lakers and Matt Barnes."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.sportsgri...-mavericks-soft
by Dan Fogarty.
Chris Webber Calls Dallas Mavericks Soft, Says Dirk “Should Be Fined” For Not Helping Teammate.

TNT analyst Chris Webber called the Dallas Mavericks “soft,” and said the Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki and Brendan Haywood “should be fined” after both big men failed to participate in a pushing and shoving skirmish that resulted in four players being ejected.

The Mavericks went into the Staples Center last night just a game-and-a-half back of the Los Angeles Lakers for second place in the West, and looked to make a statement against the dominant team in their conference. Instead, they were embarrassed in Los Angeles, beaten by 28 and reminded that the Lakers may still, in fact, be their daddy.

“You play against teams, and certain teams are like children,” said Webber. “Certain teams are like the bully you don’t want to play.”

He reserved his sharpest criticism for Nowitzki and Haywood:

“Jason Terry is the only Dallas Maverick that does something. Look at Dirk Nowitzki, look at these two big guys, look at Haywood. They deserve to be fined.”

Edited by jcisco loboe'77, 03 April 2011 - 06:23 AM.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://probasketball...soft�-comment

Mark Cuban fires back at Chris Webber over “soft” comment.
Kurt Helin.
"After the Mavs were laid to waste by the Lakers last night — and after they pulled out a classic NHL maneuver and started being physical once the game was out of reach — Chris Webber went on TNT and ripped the Mavs.

He called them “soft.” We linked to it in our Morning One Liners, but here is the money quote (courtesy the Dallas Morning News):

“Jason Terry is the only Dallas Maverick that does something. Look at Dirk Nowitzki, look at these two big guys, look at Haywood. They deserve to be fined. I hate to say this, but I put the rules on me team that if were not in there, you deserve to be fined…. But what I am saying is, when your guard gets pushed and no one else on the team … the Lakers already won.”
Cuban went on ESPN Dallas radio and fired back (as transcribed by CBS Eye On Basketball):

“Chris Webber has never had an original thought. It doesn’t really matter. You know how these guys work. The last time I looked it was Jason Terry pushing and our guys responding — no one is backing down from anybody. And it’s the same nonsense talked by the same people who haven’t had an original thought in their entire lives. Look, we don’t care what Chris Webber says. It doesn’t matter what Chris Webber says. We just go out and do our thing.”
Cuban is right, calling the Mavericks soft is not original. And calling a team that prefers to shoot jump shots on the perimeter soft is not accurate. It’s not fair. But the Lakers were more physical when it mattered Thursday, and that feeds the common perception. Whatever you think of that perception. That physicality also leads to wins for the Lakers over Dallas."

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http://www.nesn.com/...ts-to-life.html


Dallas Mavericks Introduce 'Augmented Reality' Android App That 'Brings Tickets to Life.'
by Nick Coman.

"The Dallas Mavericks have gained a reputation for being one of the NBA's most high-tech franchises, but, even so, their newest innovation is still surprising -- tickets that turn into basketball games when viewed through a smart phone.

This innovation, taking effect through the "Mavs AR" app for playoff tickets, utilizes Qualcomm's and Big Play AR's "augmented reality" that superimposes interactive 3D content on top of the real world, according to NBA.com.

Basically, when you look at your Mavs playoff ticket through a smartphone camera, an interactive basketball game unfolds.

The app is currently available only for the Android operating system."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://hardballtalk....mments-section/

Mark Cuban pays a visit to the HBT comments section.
Craig Calcaterra.

"The other day Mark Cuban put up a lengthy post over at his blog about his views on the media and their access to the locker room. It’s here.

http://blogmaverick.com/2011/04/04/whats-the-role-of-media-for-sports-teams/
Whats the role of media for sports teams ?
Apr 4th 2011 7:46PM.

"I’m going to make this short and sweet. In the year 2011, I’m not sure I have a need for beat writers from ESPN.com, Yahoo, or any website for that matter to ever be in our locker room before or after a game. I think we have finally reached a point where not only can we communicate any and all factual information from our players and team directly to our fans and customers as effectively as any big sports website, but I think we have also reached a point where our interests are no longer aligned. I think those websites have become the equivalent of paparazzi rather than reporters.

Have you ever watched TMZ where they catch someone walking down the street and ask questions like “are you upset about your divorce ?” or “Who is better, Kobe or Babe Ruth”. You know the type of questions that make the recipient look at the person asking and either roll their eyes or wonder why that person is even there. Those are the type of questions asked in locker rooms today. They are asked not for some journalistic purpose, but as a traffic generating opportunity.

Do we really need to ask Dwight Howard and Deron Williams where they think they will be going in TWO YEARS ? Do we need to ask players “are you upset about the loss ?”

There is never a loss of words or lack of depth in questions asked in the locker room after a game. Which got me thinking. Why are they there ? This isnt 1983. This isnt 2000. In the year 2011,we are in a completely different media landscape. So let’s take inventory of the platforms in the locker room

Newspaper: Newspaper has to be in the room. I know this is counter intuitive to some, but it is a fact. Why ? Because there is a wealthy segment of my customer base that does not and will not go online to find out information about the Mavs. If I don’t have a PRINT beat writer and /or PRINT columnist showing up and writing about the Mavs, both sides lose. So congrats Eddie, DP and friends. You are safe to dance another weekend. If you work for the local paper and only publish online…you could still be in the bottom two.

TV: The same logic that applies to newspapers, applies to TV. They own a segment of the population that doesn’t always read the sports section, but will turn on the TV to catch up. It may be the local news broadcast for some. It may be ESPN. In any event, they get their news the old fashioned way, they find the remote. Unfortunately for the Mavs, we don’t always have someone from the local news or espn in the locker room with a camera. They pick and choose when they think they should be there to get original footage, or to just pull highlights or other shared footage and add some voice over. We like anything that gets us on TV to reach our fans for whom TV is their primary source of Mavs info. TV, you are safe to dance another week. Producers of internet video on TV network/station websites… Your fate is not yet known. You are not at the top of the food chain.

Internet Reporters: Reporters whose primary job is to write for an internet site typically fall into two categories. Paid and unpaid. Unpaid writers typically do it as a labor of love and IMHO far exceed the influence and impact of their paid counterparts. Sure there are many who just rant and rave, but enough realize that if they work hard and provide support for their writing, they may just get noticed by a big website who will pay them to write . If you can back up what you say with well thought out and in depth analysis, you know the things that some people used to call journalism, you are welcome in the locker room

The internet reporters who get paid , IMHO , are to the Mavs and any sports team, the least valuable of all media . I’m a firm believer that their interests are not only not aligned with sports teams like the Mavs, but in fact are diametrically opposed. They tend to look at the number of page views they get for any article as ‘their ratings”. More is better. Which in turn leads them to gear their work towards generating more pageviews.

Now at this point traditional wisdom might say ” well if its about the Mavs and its generating pageviews, then it must be something that Mavs fans are interested in, so it must be a good thing. Its the equivalent of one of the dumbest sayings of all time “all press is good press”. All press is not good press for a sports team.

Internet writers will tell you, transaction rumors generate the most traffic. From a sports team perspective, this is not good. Why ? Because internet writers have so little creativity and originality. Any idiot can start a rumor, at which point the writer says (and to be fair, its not just internet writers who ask, but its 99pct internet writers who publish), “I hate to ask this but the rumor is out there that you are being traded to the pismo beach panthers. Can you comment”. From that point until the trade deadline, the same question in some form is asked over and over and over again of everyone in the organization. The hope isn’t that someone will say “yes its true”. The hope is that it will elicit a comment that is headline worthy. “George Mikan said he would happily consider a trade to Pismo” And on it goes and goes and goes. The result is that the team is often negatively impacted. Players get distracted. Team personnel get distracted and spend too much time dealing with the rumors. Its a negative for any team.

Of course rumors wont go away if a writer doesn’t have access, but we can reduce the stress of a player having a mike shoved in his face and asked the same question day after day. We also don’t have to legitimize the writer by giving them access to the locker room. We are better served making them the equivalent of the random “Maryslittlesportsblog.com” written by a 13 year old.

Right behind trades ? Negative Headline Trolls. . Talking to the Mavs internet writers, you would think we were out of the playoff race and had lost 60 or more games. Every loss is a catastrophe of epic proportions. It is as if every other team in the league is winning every game. Only the Mavs lose games. Again, we can’t stop anyone from writing what they want. Nor do we expect every article to be positive. If you want to disagree 100pct of the time and you back it up with facts. More power to you. But instead we get the equivalent of “Because I said so” as the depth of analysis. As one writer told me, his opinion counts for more because he is informed And he considers himself informed because he has access to the organization. I can fix that..

I’m not saying that all questions and columns are bad. But it is much, much harder to find the good. It is rare for me to encounter an article/post on one of the sites and think to myself ” that is really good for us”. And that is from a franchise that has won 50 or more games for more than a decade. I can’t imagine how other teams feel.

So why do we let them in the door ? What value do they serve to the Mavs ? Its not like they are journalists. They are Fox News/MSNBC for sports. They may be popular, for now, but whatever benefit they served 4 or more years ago seems to have quickly disappeared.

Unlike TV and Newspaper, I have access to reach their online audience. Not only do I have access, but so does each of my players through their own twitter and facebook accounts. Why not just use twitter, Facebook fan pages, Mavs.com and or our own media platforms to communicate with online Mavs customers and fans ? How many customers and prospects could we possibly be missing by losing internet writers ? And could we just spend money to reach whatever of their audience we don’t currently cover ?

By competing with them as an information source, can we pre empt their negativity with information that does a better job of selling the Mavs ?

By leaving them out of the locker room and organization, do we reduce their ability to have a negative impact on players ?

The last few years have brought about a lot of change in how people publish and receive information . It might just be time to change how teams communicate as well

What do you think ?"





This morning I wrote a lengthy post responding to it in which I, as I am wont to do, went on about my view of the future of sports media. It’s here.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/06/mark-cuban-would-like-the-reporters-out-of-his-locker-room/

Mark Cuban would like the reporters out of his locker room.Craig Calcaterra.
Apr 6, 2011, 8:20 AM EDT.
"Mark Cuban is a basketball owner, not a baseball owner, but I’ve gone on enough in recent weeks about team and league-controlled media usurping the role of the outside press that Cuban’s little rant from the other day is still within my bailiwick. So let’s talk about it, shall we?

Cuban’s piece is long and has some interesting and valid observations, but it boils down to this: teams have their own websites and players have their own Internet outlets, so there’s no point to deal with sports media websites and “internet reporters.” Not unpaid bloggers — he likes them — but professional Internet reporters that work for big media like ESPN.com, Yahoo! and, presumably, NBC Sports.com. This, combined with the fact that the internet reporters are TMZ-style, rumor-mongering paparazzi (at least in Cuban’s mind) means that the internet reporters should not have access to locker rooms. “Their interests are not aligned with the team’s interests,” Cuban says, and thus they are useless.

He’s right about the first part. As I discussed at length last month, teams and leagues are better positioned to disseminate certain types of information. Switching to baseball, this includes that day’s lineup. The press releases. The injury report. Anything that is information in its most neutral sense and is not given much value by virtue of its source (and actually, is closer to its original source if it comes via official team channels).

If I run a media company, I don’t want my reporters tweeting that day’s lineup or merely passing along press releases. I want my people to be offering opinion and critical thinking. Tell the readers what the lineup means and what the news release means. For this, locker room access is not important or — if it comes with too many conditions from overly-controlling team personnel — even preferable.

But Cuban loses me when he starts going after straw men. It’s easy for us all to agree that people who simply make up rumors or act like TMZ reporters are useless, but who are they? Do they exist? Who at ESPN.com is simply inventing things from whole cloth? Who at Yahoo! is? Have any of them asked any players any “have you stopped beating your wife?” questions in the name of tabloid journalism? If they did, they’d be laughed out of the business or kicked out of the clubhouse by media relations people for acting like idiots. The working press — even the online press — is overwhelmingly professional when they enter the clubhouse, and Cuban’s demonization of them in this regard is fantasy.

Or misdirection. Because one of the more notable things about Cuban’s piece is that he exempts a large swath of reporters from his ire: TV and print newspaper journalists. Cuban is just fine with keeping these guys in the locker room. This despite the fact that these are guys who do the same thing that the Internet reporters do to annoy Cuban. The less-salacious things Cuban complains about, anyway, such as constantly asking players about the latest rumors swirling around even if they themselves didn’t invent the rumor. Asking players “how they felt out there today” questions and other such inanities.

Why are the newspaper and TV people exempt? Cuban is actually pretty up front about it:

Newspaper has to be in the room. I know this is counter intuitive to some, but it is a fact. Why? Because there is a wealthy segment of my customer base that does not and will not go online to find out information about the Mavs. If I don’t have a PRINT beat writer and /or PRINT columnist showing up and writing about the Mavs, both sides lose … The same logic that applies to newspapers, applies to TV.
Note use of the word “wealthy.” This isn’t about information and accuracy and professional journalistic ethics. It’s about favoring those outlets who buy advertising panels on his scoreboard and purchase broadcast rights. Outlets that actively sell tickets for him. This is about Cuban, as an owner of a profit-generating business, wanting to control the message, limit bad publicity and, in his exception for TV and newspaper people, push customers through the turnstiles.

This is all pretty chilling, in my view. Especially considering that the fans don’t view the Mavericks as solely Cuban’s private business but, rather, they view it — rightly or wrongly — as something akin to a public trust in which they have invested their lives and their tax dollars. The interests of the media don’t align with you Mr. Team Owner? What a shame. Unless and until your interests are something other than generating profits for your team, there’s a really good reason for that and you should understand why that is.

But yes, in the end it is Mark Cuban’s team and he can do what he likes. It wouldn’t particularly bother me on a practical level if he — or if the baseball owners — severely curtailed clubhouse access. I don’t need to get into the clubhouse to do my job. I’d probably lose three to five posts a day that I write based on clubhouse interviews conducted by others, but we’d manage, because most of what we traffic in is on-the-field action or news that occurs far enough off the field where clubhouse access isn’t an issue.

But I do wonder whether Cuban has thought this through all the way. Whether he’s realized that even if he cut off access to his locker room, that the “Internet writers” would still write stuff and people would still read it. And that, without the need to maintain decent enough relations with the team to ensure that their credentials are in order, the aggregate coverage of the team will likely get more critical, not less. That reporters will feel liberated to rake muck and offer opinion and rumor without checking back to an official team source for comment because, hell, if they don’t need us, we don’t need them.

There’s a Faustian bargain between the media and those they cover, both in sports and on every other beat. Allowing reporter access is annoying for those being covered but useful as well. It’s empowering for the reporter but it limits them in important ways. When you’re outside and not beholden, you can’t deliver a certain sort of coverage, but thanks to direct access from newsmakers to the public via their own Internet outlets, that kind of coverage is becoming less and less important.

What does that leave? The kind of coverage that gets a lot closer to the truth of any given matter than that which Mark Cuban wants Mavericks fans to read. And if he thinks he doesn’t like the way things are, God help him if he ever decides to give a lot of smart and curious reporters a bunch of free time and a reason to resent him."






A few minutes ago Mark Cuban, as he is wont to do, came by and wrote a long comment in the post. It’s here.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/06/mark-cuban-would-like-the-reporters-out-of-his-locker-room/
Reply
markcuban - Apr 6, 2011 at 5:19 PM
"Thanks for taking the time to consider my blog post. Of course I think you are off on a few points:
1. No chance i can control the media. Its the internet. Everyone has a platform and will write whatever they please, whether i give them access to the locker room or not. This is not an effort to control what is said about the Mavs. Thats impossible.

2. My problem is not what they write , but how they present it. In a conversation with “internet writers” this morning they all gave responses similar to yours. When I asked when they were reporting and when they were providing opinion as columnists, they agreed that there is no line between the two. They converge in everything they do. That this “was the nature of the sports media today”. To which I responded very simply that I would have no problem allowing them complete access if before every article they wrote, they simply stated wether the article was reporting or opinion or both. IMHO, most , if not all “reporters” identify themselves as such and play off the objectivity readers expect from a reporter to make their opinions appear as fact or to have a foundation of facts behind them.

The writers i spoke to were adamant that readers knew the difference between facts and their opinions. I disagreed.

Its a simple proposition. Much like full page advertisements in a newspaper say “advertisement” across the top. if they simply state whether the article is reporting or opinion, im good with whatever they write. Unfortunately, at least one of the writers in our discussion didnt feel it was necessary to do so. Although he self-identified himself as a reporter when asked what his job is, because his name and picture on his website page identified him as a columnist, that was sufficient. Readers were smart enough to know when he was reporting and when he was opining .
I disagree and that is the root of the problem.

But thats not why I responded here. What caught my attention was one of the other replies with the journalists credo. I think its important to note that what we get on the net in sports media is very often not in any way shape or form journalism.

From the post with my opinions interjected:
e here are the principles of journalism agreed upon after four years of surveys and research among academics and practitioners stemming from the Project for Excellence in Journalism:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth
Can opinion and fact be mixed together and still be journalism ? At what point does too much opinion impact the integrit of the journalism ?
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens
Would ESPN or NBC agree with that ?
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification
Where does opinion sit in this model ? Is it journalism if there is no verification ?
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover
ESPN , NBC, CBS all pay more to sports leagues for their games than any other single content source.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power
Im not quite sure where the power is. On an NFL/MLB/NBA broadcast or with the team or league
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise
Fair and needed. But what happens when they refuse to cover themselves or open themselves to criticism. Should Jalen Rose be covered as a story by ESPN ? Erin Andrews ? Where is that forum ?
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
THrough facts and in depth reporting or quick opinionated blog posts ?
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional
Does comprehensive even exist in sports reporting ?
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience
fair enough
10. Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news
fair enough

this can definitely be identified as my opinion. And its part of the equation of how I evaluate the future of media and its impact on my businesses

thats for the opportunity to reply."


Matt - Apr 6, 2011 at 5:42 PM.
"I am ecstatic that you brought point number 2 up here. This has been a long running pet peeve of mine in both sports journalism and journalism at large. Too many individuals in the profession intermix their facts with their opinions, and while most readers of the actual article may be able to discern the difference, it is further down the line where trouble really lies. If one person misreads the situation, and then quotes the opinion as fact in his/her own article on the matter, and it continues again and again, then suddenly we have the original journalists opinions being reported as fact because it takes far too many steps for the individual readers to follow the trail back and discover the misreporting.

Additionally, this is extremely prevalent during the draft/hot stove sessions in sports where one person says “hey, I wonder if a Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols deal makes sense for both sides” which then gets picked up as a headline or one liner in future reporting as an actual deal being discussed, spiraling out of control. While this is ultimately harmless, it typifies the way that things can get so easily misinterpreted when that distinction is not made obvious by the author."

Craig Calcaterra - Apr 6, 2011 at 5:44 PM.
"Mark: thanks for coming by. Criticisms aside, one of the reasons I’m a fan of yours is that you walk the walk and interact in real ways. Would that other sports owners do that. Anyway:

Question: you made a very big exception in your piece for the print media. The alpha dog in sports print media are the columnists. I don’t know the basketball guys, but in baseball I’m talking about the Bill Maddens, Joel Shermans, Phil Rogers and the like.

They routinely mix factual reporting and opinion. Indeed, they slide their reporting in almost innocuously into their columns in ways that make it hard to tell which it is. How are they OK if the Internet people aren’t? 95% of my stuff, for example, is opinion and people know it to be. When I write news, I make a big point of saying so."



"Allow me at this point to say that I love the Internet. For this exact reason.

Now, go join the party."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.cbssports...-on-many-levels

Cuban's proposed media 'takeover' wrong on many levels.
By Ken Berger.
CBSSports.com Senior Writer.



"When Mark Cuban drew swift and negative reaction with plans to re-evaluate media access to the Dallas Mavericks, it came as no surprise the billionaire owner refused to back down. Nor did it serve as a revelation that Cuban further stoked the debate with the kind of sensationalism and headline-mongering he criticized in the first place.

Cuban comparing online media to heroin addicts in a CNN interview Sunday tells you everything you need to know about his motive, which is not to further the noble pursuits of journalism, the Fourth Estate, but rather to turn media coverage of the Mavericks into an in-house, pom-pom-waving exercise and grab all the market share and page views for himself.


Mark Cuban said giving internet reporters locker-room access is akin to supplying a heroin junkie with a needle. (AP)

But the motive isn't the scary part. What should have all fans concerned about this effort to create "state"-run sports media coverage is that Cuban actually appears to be serious. And he doesn't want to be the lone wolf; he wants to be the leader in a movement that could change, for the worse, the kind of information fans get about their teams.

Under questioning from Howard Kurtz, Washington bureau chief of The Daily Beast, former Washington Post media columnist and host of CNN's "Reliable Sources," Cuban admitted Sunday he's absolutely serious about his plans to muscle independent, online reporters out of his locker room.

"I wouldn't call it muscling," Cuban said. "I think that's a little pejorative. But I'm certainly evaluating what the alternatives are, like any good business would."

But Cuban's plans go beyond that. In an email exchange after the interview aired, Cuban hinted he intends to take his vision to the other 29 NBA owners in an effort to "lead the way by example and try to set an example of best practices for my partners. It's up to them to agree or disagree."

Knowing sports teams the way I do, Cuban will be preaching to the choir. Why would owners of NBA teams, or any professional teams, want pesky, neutral, unbiased reporters scrutinizing their every move when they could have their own hand-picked homers instead?

"All those tools that other people use to create commentary and opinion, I have access to those tools as well," Cuban said. "But I have the additional benefit of having deeper access to the information because it's my company. Particularly now in this media environment, where there's so much turnover among reporters and journalists or headline mongers, however you want to define each individual person, I have great opportunities to go out and hire them as well."

There's so much wrong with this perspective, it's hard to know where to begin. Cuban's stance is more than an end-around to avoid fair media coverage of his team; a sort of, "If you can't beat 'em, hire and muzzle 'em" approach. It's more than a self-serving attempt to challenge legitimate news organizations' efforts to report news, earn profits, gain market share and create brand awareness on the sweat of his company.

It is more than delusional and dangerous. It's a direct affront to you, the sports fan, and an insult to anyone who pays the obscene prices you're paying to consume sports -- not to mention the cost incurred by those who don't consume sports or know a pick-and-roll from a double-reverse.

The most obvious flaw in Cuban's suggestion that he has the power to restrict access for independent, online media and replace them with his own reporters is, quite simply, that he does not have such power. Why? Because the Mavs, which he repeatedly referred to in the CNN interview as "my business," are not his business. Cuban is a willing partner in a cartel of 30 businesses known as the NBA, which enjoys, among other competitive advantages, partial exemption from U.S. antitrust law.

The Mavs would not exist without the NBA and Cuban's 29 partners, and wouldn't make much money without the federal exemption that allows NBA teams to pool television rights on network TV without antitrust scrutiny. Cuban has agreed to abide by anti-free market rules like this and others, such as the salary cap and revenue sharing, to enjoy the many benefits of owning a professional sports team.

While sources tell CBSSports.com that the NBA has no plans to fine Cuban over his recent anti-media rants, there is no doubt his views on media access clash with the views of the league as a whole -- and with those of Cuban's longtime nemesis, commissioner David Stern. If Cuban wanted to play by different rules -- restricting media access, spending as much as he pleased on his team, serving as his own commissioner so he would never again be fined for bashing the referees -- then he would be welcome to secede from the NBA. I invite him to take the Hornets, Bobcats and Kings/Royals with him, form his own league, and put the games on his beloved HDNet, which nobody watches. This would solve many problems, including the restoration of competitive balance to a league that has too many teams. The savings from exporting underperforming teams to Cuban's irrelevant league might even avert a lockout -- which amounts to little more than another selfish attack on your sports consumption that Cuban fully supports, by the way.

Before Cuban's fellow owners embrace his in-house media plan as a brilliant idea, they should take a look at their bread to see where it's buttered. American Airlines Center, where the Mavs play, was partly financed by a public bond sale before Cuban bought the team. But what of the other NBA teams whose playpens have been financed by bond sales, various tax schemes and other government boondoggles? If you want to exempt yourself from public media scrutiny, have at it. Just pay back the taxpayers first and figure out how to fund your own businesses.

Cuban claims he isn't trying to eliminate negative coverage, but admitted that he's motivated by something even more sinister: the realization that the interests of his business and the independent media covering it are "not necessarily aligned," he said Sunday.

Welcome to the republic, Mark. The interests of the media and the subjects they cover, whether or not they receive some level of exemption from federal law or taxpayer money to do business, have never been aligned. Nor should they be. Cuban, brilliant businessman and professional jock sniffer, has unsurprisingly adopted the athlete credo here: that the media exist only to chronicle their successes and ignore their failings.

Would Cuban's in-house journalists be free to use what he described Sunday as unfiltered access to his business to report the bad with the good? Would sports teams covering themselves reveal the mysteries behind all those suspensions for violating "team rules," or the exact nature of matters that were being "handled internally?" Would the real reasons for a player's unexpected absence from a road trip be revealed, replacing the clever excuse known as "back spasms?"

If, heaven forbid, a Lakers fan were beaten on Mavericks property the way a Giants fan (Bryan Stow, a 42-year-old father of two) was put into a coma at Dodgers Stadium last week, how would his 'CNN' –- the Cuban News Network -- cover the story?

It shouldn't, wouldn't want to and couldn't possibly do so objectively. As Cuban himself would have to admit, the publishing of negative news would not be aligned with the best interests of his business. Which raises the question of whether sports teams really want to practice journalism in the first place. Be careful what you wish for.

Journalism is a challenging endeavor. When practiced correctly, it is done without so much as the appearance of a conflict of interest. Sometimes this is achieved, and sometimes it isn't. But a sports team employing journalists to scrutinize itself, to the exclusion of outside media, would be the very definition of such a conflict. The old adage, "consider the source," would be a daily impediment to achieving credibility with the audience Cuban thinks he can so easily hijack.

And lest we forget, sports leagues and teams already are in the business of reporting on themselves, publishing glass-half-full "news" accounts on their websites and communicating with fans and customers via Twitter, Facebook and a growing menu of other social media platforms. This is their right, of course; everyone is a journalist these days. But sports teams and leagues also have long been engaged in the practice of restricting independent media access, a self-serving activity that Cuban wants to shift into the next logical gear.

Locker-room access time for reporters has only diminished, and reporters' activities have been increasingly encumbered by a ubiquitous army of media relations employees who monitor their interviews, report the contents to their superiors and cut off questioning when the topics aren't to their liking. Reporters dutifully sit in news conferences, obeying orders from the P.R. man to "wait for the microphone," so the full audio of the event can be streamed uninterrupted to the team's web site. (The exception to this rule, and praise be to him that there is one, is T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, who suffers no company lapdog easily and asks whatever he wants whenever he pleases, microphone and sensibilities be damned.)

The dwindling number of NFL teams that allow reporters to view practice routinely impose guidelines on what can and cannot be reported. The latest trend, carried out this season by at least one big-market pro sports team, is to punish columnists for unfavorable coverage by moving their seats to the upper deck. (Unofficial guidelines are to assign seats based on circulation size for newspaper reporters and readership metrics for online journalists, not personal vendettas.)

But the question of what Cuban is really after here falls under the oldest rule in sports and business: Follow the money. Cuban decries the modern online journalist as someone whose sole purpose is to pimp for headlines, page-views, and search-engine optimization. For one thing, striking the right balance between news the public wants and needs to know has always been part of the deal; news outlets merely have the technology to measure it now. Beyond that, methinks Cuban doth protest too much, since these are all potentially worthwhile activities that Cuban thinks he should be engaged in -- instead of ESPN.com, Yahoo.com, this website and others.

Cuban wants his share of the fun here, which should come as no surprise. He has an incredibly keen eye for upside. But in this case, he has failed to see the downside.

Though he at times has been unfairly cast as a lightning rod for criticism and depicted as a caricature by those who don't know him, I have tended to agree with him far more often than not. His complaints about NBA teams giving its players to FIBA for free, so they can make billions for the Olympics and broadcast networks, were dead on, for example. I've also enjoyed my frequent interactions with him, as Cuban is one of the public figures in sports who is never afraid to speak his mind or make himself available to whatever form of media coverage suits his quest for personal gain. But in this case, he's wrong. In this spasm of self-indulgence, Cuban has committed the rare blunder of completely misreading what his customer wants.

Sports fans don't just want the good news. They want all of it. When the Mavs struggle, or when a draft pick or trade doesn't pan out, they want an unfettered, clear-eyed account of why. Cuban is welcome to argue over whether that's journalism, but he does not have the right to decide who gets to practice it.

In our email exchange, Cuban insisted he has the best interests of journalism at heart. "Look at my track record," he wrote. But his recent track record of chasing disgraced funny man Charlie Sheen around to create a reality show for HDNet suggests exactly what you think it does: Cuban isn't above the very sensationalism he decries. He's an active participant who wants more of the action for himself.

So from one journalist to an aspiring one, I leave you with this, Mark: Before you try to have your cake and eat it too, beware the oldest trick in the book: the pie in the face. In this case, the joke's on you."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.google.co...A&ved=0CIwBEKgC


Mark Cuban Says Giving Internet Reporters Access to Locker Rooms Is Like Handing Needle to Heroin Junkie.
by Michael Hurley.

"If there's one thing Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will never do, it's back down from a controversial statement. Usually, he'll just press it further.

That's what he did on CNN on Sunday when he was asked about his stance against Internet reporters covering his team.

"I'm not denying them the chance to do their business," Cuban said on Reliable Sources. "They have every right and opportunity to do that. But I don't have to condone it, I don't have to support it and I don't have to enable it. You know, I don't want to hand a heroin junkie the needle, and in this particular case, giving them locker-room access is pretty much the same thing."

Cuban, who last week said Internet reporters are "the least valuable of all media," disagreed with the idea that he's "muscling" them out of the Mavericks' locker room.

"I wouldn't call it muscling. I think that's a little pejorative," he said," but I'm certainly evaluating what my alternatives are, like any good business would. ... "What I'm trying to do is figure out the best model for communicating with our consumers, our fans, our customers, our prospects, like any good business would."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://blog.al.com/b...sor_nbas_d.html

BBVA Compass to sponsor NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
By Russell Hubbard -- The Birmingham News The Birmingham News.

"Birmingham's BBVA Compass has signed a deal to sponsor the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, shown here in playoff action over the weekend.
BBVA Compass said today it has signed another major sports sponsorship deal, the third in the past 12 months, this one with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

Birmingham-based BBVA Compass has 110 branches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and is the fourth-largest bank there, based on deposit share. Financial details of the sponsorship weren't released.

The Dallas Mavericks have made the National Basketball Association playoffs for 11 straight seasons, and are owned by billionaire businessman Mark Cuban. In the past year, BBVA Compass has also signed on as the official bank of the NBA and as the title sponsor of the BBVA Compass Bowl, the post-season college football game played in Birmingham.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with the Dallas Mavericks, an organization that epitomizes innovation, provides its fans with a customer-friendly experience and is committed to improving the local communities around the Metroplex," said BBVA Compass Chief Executive Manolo Sanchez.

BBVA Compass operates 716 U.S. branches and employs about 3,000 people in Birmingham."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://billionaires....0M?q=Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban on Danny Crawford: "What I said before."
"I don't know, what did I say?" Cuban asked. So I read him his year-old quotes: "I know you guys (media) are trying to get me to say something about the crew today." "I don't believe in numbers. It's all coincidental." On whether he looks on the NBA..."





http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/04/mark-cuban-on-danny-crawford-what-i-said.html
Mark Cuban on Danny Crawford: "What I said before."
By Brad Townsend/Reporter.

"After the all day public brouhaha about referee Danny Crawford, and the Mavericks' 2-16 playoff record when he officiates, I asked Mavericks owner Mark Cuban if he wanted to re-issue the same comments he gave before Game 3 of last year's Mavericks-Spurs playoff series _ which was the last time Crawford officiated a Mavs playoff game.

"I don't know, what did I say?" Cuban asked. So I read him his year-old quotes:

"I know you guys (media) are trying to get me to say something about the crew today."

"I don't believe in numbers. It's all coincidental."

On whether he looks on the NBA website at 9 a.m. on playoff days, when the referee crews for each game are posted: "It's just when he (Crawford) shows up for the playoffs, everybody wants to know."

"Yeah, go with those," Cuban said tonight with a wide smile. "Same thing I said last year, and the year before that."

Other than that, Cuban declined to comment on tonight's crew. But this is what he said when asked whether NBA refereeing has improved since General Ron Johnson was named the NBA's senior vice president of referee operations in the summer of 2008.

"Without question, particularly among younger refs. Younger refs coming into the league now are much, much, much better prepared and better trained than they were five or six years ago or more.

"The best I can tell, from a qualitative perspective, they're better." Cuban added that he has shared that opinion with Johnson personally."




http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/does_danny_crawford_hate_mark_cuban_the_numbers_dont_lie/4586368
Does Danny Crawford Hate Mark Cuban? The Numbers Don’t Lie…

"Mark Cuban might want to watch from a suite tonight with Danny Crawford set to ref Game 2. According to this article on ESPN, the Mavericks have a 2-16 record in playoff games where Crawford is the referee. Here are some details: The Mavs have a 2-16 record in playoff games officiated by Crawford."






http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/does_danny_crawford_hate_mark_cuban_the_numbers_dont_lie/4586368
Does Danny Crawford Hate Mark Cuban? The Numbers Don’t Lie…
"Mark Cuban might want to watch from a suite tonight with Danny Crawford set to ref Game 2. According to this article on ESPN, the Mavericks have a 2-16 record in playoff games where Crawford is the referee. Here are some details:

The Mavs have a 2-16 record in playoff games officiated by Crawford, including 16 losses in the last 17 games. Dallas is 48-41 in the rest of their playoff games during the ownership tenure of Mark Cuban, who has been fined millions of dollars in the last 11 years for publicly complaining about officiating.

An NBA spokesman did not immediately reply to an email requesting comment about whether the league has reviewed the Mavericks playoff games officiated by Crawford or considered not using him in a Dallas series due to a record that is at least a statistical outlier.

Dallas has a six-game playoff losing streak in games officiated by Crawford, which began with Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Miami Heat rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter. Crawford also worked Game 6 of those Finals, when the Heat won their fourth consecutive game to claim the championship. The Heat had a 71-49 advantage in free throws in those two games.

Conspiracy theory or fact? That’s a tough call (pun intended). But looking at the record, the two games that the Mavs won since 2001 with Crawford as lead official was the first (94-91 over Utah) and a 117-101 blowout victory over the Suns back in ’06. Ex ref Tim Donaghy, he of the betting scandal that went public back in 2007, also touched on Danny Crawford’s record officiating Mavs games in his book “Personal Fouls“. Donaghy may not be the best of sources, but if you take a deeper look at the record, and the numbers don’t lie:

Mavs record in playoff games officiated by Crawford – 2-16

Mavs record against the spread in playoff games officiated by Crawford – 4-14

Mavs called for an average of 2.3 more fouls in playoff games officiated by Crawford

Mavs shoot an average of 6.8 fewer free throws in playoff games officiated by Crawford since 2001

Those are some glaring deficiencies in playoff match ups with one ref as the lead official. I’m not saying Crawford intentionally picks on the Mavs, but it is definitely something that may need to be reviewed a little deeper by the NBA. The officiating in games is already sketchy as it is, including a couple blown calls in this weekend’s playoff action (see here and here).

Tim Donaghy may have been on to something. You be the judge. I know that I wouldn’t put my money on the Mavs tonight."
Information from espnDallas.com writer Tim MacMahon was used in this post.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.sbnation....-2011#storyjump
Mark Cuban, Blazers Fans Get Into It In Mavericks' Loss.
by Tom Ziller.

"Mark Cuban was hit in the face with a projectile apparently thrown by a Portland Trail Blazers fan as the Dallas Mavericks' franchise owner watched his team lose Game 3 of its 2011 NBA Playoffs first-round series on Thursday night, reports Tim McMahon of ESPN Dallas. Cuban, as loud and boisterous a fan as there is despite his position, was allegedly jawing with Blazers fans in the loud, packed-to-the-gills Rose Garden when a local responded with a projectile.
McMahon reports that the Garden beefed up security around Cuban from that point on. Cuban doesn't regularly travel with the team in the regular season, but does make the trips during the postseason. This isn't his first showdown with fans in the NBA Playoffs; he had a regrettable exchange with the mother of Kenyon Martin during a Mavericks-Nuggets series two years ago.

Obviously, throwing anything in the crowd of a basketball game is bad form. Stop it, Portland."

[jcisco loboe'77]

(25,500)

http://mavsblog.dall...own-object.html
Mark Cuban gets hit with thrown object.
By Eddie Sefko/Reporter.

PORTLAND, Ore--"Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban said he was hit in the face with an object that was thrown from the stands during the fourth quarter of Thursday night's loss to Portland.

The incident happened with 6:56 to go in the game. During a timeout, Cuban drew the ire of Blazers' fans and it was clear that there was some dialogue going on. It's not uncommon for Cuban to interact with fans, but this was different.

"Somebody hit me in the face,'' Cuban said after the game. "Somebody threw something and it hit me.''

Cuban was not hurt and said security was doing a good job of making sure the Mavericks were not in harm's way.

Cuban declined to say anything further about getting hit by a thrown object."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.bostonher...position=recent

Mavs put ugly game behind them, regain edge.
By Kevin Sherrington/The Dallas Morning News.

DALLAS —"Update: Turns out it was Mark Cuban’s bladder that was about to run over, not his emotions, when he seemingly went AWOL with 39 seconds left up in Portland. Once home, he first explained he’d had a half-dozen too many sodas, then said he’d had his fill of officiating, too.

Cuban conceded he could probably expect a fine. We should have expected he’d change the subject.

Here’s what he should have said: This ain’t ’06. Or ’07. Or any other miserable Mavs postseason that comes to mind...."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://sports.espn.g...ce=NBAHeadlines
Mark Cuban confident in Mavs.
Comments By Jeff Caplan.
ESPNDallas.com.

DALLAS --"Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said watching his team melt down in the fourth quarter of Game 4 in Portland wasn't as painful afterward as he figured it would be, and he invited fans skeptical of the franchise's playoff history to feel free to jump off the bandwagon.

"Anybody who wants to quit on us, quit on us," Cuban said while working out on the step machine prior to Monday's Game 5 at the American Airlines Center. "We're going to keep busting our ****. We're not going to beg them. They can do what they want to do. That's why they call them fans and that's why they call everybody else talk-radio junkies."


The Mavs are one of three teams in NBA history to compile 11 consecutive seasons of 50 or more wins, but are the only one not to win multiple championships. The franchise is seeking its first title.

However, Cuban scoffed at the notion that the Mavs carry substantial "emotional baggage" from playoff failures since the 2006 NBA Finals.

Dallas had a chance to seize a 3-1 lead in its first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, but collapsed after leading by 23 points with 1:16 to go in the third quarter and lost 84-82 to tie the series.

It was an ominous defeat for a franchise that has suffered its share, including the infamous Game 3 debacle in the 2006 Finals to the Miami Heat. Less than seven minutes away from taking a 3-0 lead, Dallas coughed up a 13-point cushion and lost four consecutive games.

Back then, Dwyane Wade did the damage. Saturday night it was Portland guard Brandon Roy, who scored 18 points in the remarkable fourth quarter, including the game-winner with 39.2 seconds to play. Cuban left his seat behind the bench soon after, but he said he didn't leave out of disgust, but rather a full bladder after drinking several Diet Cokes.

"Trust me, emotions didn't have anything to do with it," Cuban said. "You can ask the lady who was feeding me Cokes."

Cuban said Saturday's flame out was just one game and that his team can rebound.

"Obviously, we hate losing any game," Cuban said. "Last I checked it was just one game. They're a good team. We're a good team. It's a seven-game series. That's why we play all the games."

Cuban referenced Game 5 last season against the San Antonio Spurs, a game the Mavs won 103-81 to close the series to 3-2 and talk focused on the Mavs taking momentum in Game 6 at San Antonio. Instead, the Spurs broke out a big lead and eventually won by 10 to eliminate the Mavs.

He then referenced Game 7 of the 2006 semifinals against the Spurs when the Mavs blew a double-digit lead and even fell behind. But, a Manu Ginobili foul on Dirk Nowitzki for a three-point play forced overtime and Dallas won the series. They would then beat Phoenix in the Western Conference finals and advance to the franchise's only NBA Finals.

"You go back to Game 7 in San Antonio, we blew a 20-point lead and they took the lead," Cuban said. "If not for a call going our way, we wouldn't have made it to the Finals. The other night, that call on Dirk, if it goes the other way it's a different game.

"That's just the way the game goes. We'll come back and we'll play hard."

Cuban was referring to a play with 2:16 remaining and the Mavs leading by six points. Nowitzki drove the lane and made a layup, but the officials ruled that Portland forward Gerald Wallace drew a charge. Wallace's feet were clearly outside the restricted area, but Cuban contends that Wallace's feet were not set.

"Once you go up, the guy can't step in front of you," Cuban said. "It's a tough call, though, so it's not a shock that somebody missed it because it's a very tough call."

Cuban said he has submitted the play to the league office to be reviewed. He joked that the typical response from the NBA in such instances was, "Neh-neh-neh-neh-neh."