June 27 | 5:35 p.m. ET
In my naive days I used to think that news stories were meant to be stories of interest. That they were uncovered topics that were being revealed to a public thirsting for information and knowledge.
Now, I'm coming to realize that there is something more to how stories are selected. I'm just not quite sure what that “something ” is.
I keep on reading commentary about how Ozzie Guillen “makes himself the story” . That “Mark Cuban made himself the story”. It reminds me of the days that everyone wanted to know what color Dennis Rodmans hair was going to be. “Dennis made himself the story”
Is this something like “The Devil made me do it ?”. Is there some invisible editor in the ether doling out assignments ? How does someone “make themselves the story ?”
Worse than being “made to cover”, it becomes a process as inevitable as a gerbil’s progress on his wheel.
Once everyone writes the story that “was made”, the inevitable follow up is for the same media that wrote the “made story”, to complain that they are covering the “made story”
Its a shame that Mark Cuban continues to make himself the story of the NBA Finals.
Its a shame we are still covering Mark Cuban, who continues to make himself a story.
Its a shame we had to spend so much time covering Mark Cuban, who made himself the story.
So I have a question for the media. If you don want a person to be “the story”, then why do you write or talk about it ?
Why not ignore me ? Why not make it policy NOT to point the camera at me. If you think I'm a publicity hound, wouldn't you be hurting me the most by ignoring me ? If I'm “making myself the story”, isn't that the at the same editorial level as Editorial for pay ? Except you are doing it for free ? Is it tabloid journalism ?
That what I don understand. If I shouldn't be the story, why are you making it the story ? Can you not come up with something better ? There are a million stories surrounding every game/series/season. How in the world can you not come up with something better ?
I'm sure Ozzie Guillen is feeling the same way right about now.
he is probably thinking to himself…. I want to be left alone. I want to do my job. I want to win another championship. You wont leave me alone, I got mad. I made a stupid comment. I really didn't meant it as anything more than a baselevel derogatory comment, but in this PC world, we have to be incredibly careful what we say, which I recognize. So I apologized. next time I will come up with a better derogatory adjective that wont freak everyone out.
Ozzie, I recommend Jagoff. Its what I'm going to use from now on. Just call the people you don like Jagoffs.
Its a word that we used to use in Pittsburgh when I was growing up. I didn't know what it meant then. Still don. But it works extremely well because no one else does either.
Ozzies choice of words was the least of his problems. His choice of words were just the trigger for the circus called ” You are now the story”
Ozzies uses the wrong word. Now the media has to ask everyone around him what they think. Then you have to ask them what he thinks about what they think. Then you have to ask them what they think about what he said about what they think , which they said when he asked about what he said in the first place.
But that not enough. they have to call the MLB PR office multiple times every day. The PR guys all stand around and go “Shoot. we have gotten so many calls about this, we have to say and do something. ” So they say that they will make Ozzie go to sensitivity training.
Then everyone has to ask not only Ozzie, but the people they asked about Ozzie and that all work with Ozzie what they think about Ozzie having to go to sensitivity training and how Ozzie will respond.
Next they are asking Ozzie what he thinks about what everyone else thinks about what he thought about the sensitivity training.
is there substance anywhere here after the first round ?
If Ozzie had said Jagoff instead of the word he chose, his intent and target would have been the same, but he would not “have made himself the story”
Personally, I still think it comes down to an ability to find stories that reveal something new and interesting. Instead there is a very distinct trend to “Star Magazineize” sports sections. Pick a personality and extend the stories as long as you can. Substance be damned.
Ozzie, you get to be Brittany Spears. I will be Bradgelina.
June 20 | 12:04 p.m. ET
I'm used to getting e-mails from fans claiming the NBA is this or that. The NBA wants a team to win based on market size. The NBA doesn't want me to win because the league doesn't like me. So and so has money on the game. The NBA makes more money when the series goes seven games.
It's all nonsense. Any prudent, rational person can easily see it. The games are not rigged. That's a complete insult to the players on the court and the incredible amount of effort they put into preparing for and playing the games. All 82 regular-season and postseason games. The NBA couldn't rig the games if it wanted to. And it doesn't want to. It's that simple.
Do I like that I have gotten more than 12,000 e-mails in the last week and probably 80 percent have questioned some level of honesty. No, I hate it. I hate it more than you will ever know because these are my customers, NBA customers, who are questioning our enterprise. That's never a good thing and each one is a business hole I have to work harder to dig us out of.
Do I wish there was better communication from the league? Yes. I don't like when my e-mail box fills up with nonsense. Yes, I wish the league would just come out and explain events that occur in a game to the public. I think it would help the perception of our game. I think it would help fans better understand not only the rules of the NBA, but also the nuances, strategies and challenges of the game. I have suggested it. Many others have suggested it.
Getting an explanation pretty much eliminates everyone's ability to question what just occurred. Some media people have suggested that the same approach that MLB takes would work well. Simply allow reporters to ask officials questions after a game. Why not?
Count me as a person who thinks transparency is a good thing in business. But this isn't my business. I'm simply one of 30 shareholders.
Two other things. Apparently the Miami Herald is reporting I screamed at the NBA commissioner after the game the other night. Didn't happen. Didn't say a word to the man. Not a single word. And that was absolutely by intention.
Apparently this “reporter” has written he has several “sources.” Well, they must be the same sources the tabloids use to find two-headed babies and aliens, because it didn't happen.
I've already blogged about and been fined for the source of my displeasure in these playoffs and there was absolutely no reason for me to say another word about it, and I won't.
Back to the same “reporter.” He references the play call that led to Wade's two free throws. Well, there is a picture being sent around showing Devin Harris’ arm on Wade's shooting arm. Beyond not knowing if the contact was more than incidental, there is one thing we do know: It occured AFTER the whistle blew. Notice Wade up in the air, more importantly notice his eyes closed and Dirk's hand nowhere near his back, and no real chance to get placed on his back, which is what triggered the whistle. This was at the end of the play. After the whistle blew.
Chalk up some more great reporting to the Miami Herald. The source of phantom comments. The source where I first learned that I owned a boat and had it docked in Miami (BTW, the story referenced above still isn't corrected. Way to stand for accuracy, folks).
To the executives of the Miami Herald.
Dear Mr., Mrs. or Ms. Publisher:
I am the easiest person in the world to get a hold of. My e-mail is everywhere. If you want to know if I have a boat BEFORE you write that I do, just ask.
If you want to know if or what I said to someone, just ask.
Going to a source. Isn't that Journalism 101 ?
You are also the reason I'm thankful for this blog. In the old days I would have had to make the rounds of media, doing my best to discredit your efforts. Now I can just write this blog, link and let your work discredit itself. Which is a whole lot more fun.
One last, last note:
I'm a competitive person. My blog is an outlet for that intensity. I don't blog about the normal things in my life that make up 99 percent of my day. I like to blog about things that get me fired up in the sport of business. The things I get fired up about. I've been accused more than once of having HID (Hyper Intensity Disorder ... OK, I just made that up, but if it were truly a disease, I would claim that I had it). Not everyone likes that.
June 19 | 3:22 p.m. ET
When I was a kid, one of my favorite comedy routines was George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words.
Words, words, words. My friends and I couldn’t get away with cursing, so we made up our own language. From the basic, like, Sugar Honey Ice Tea. to, HE double hockey sticks (for those old enough to remember when using the word “hell” was considered cursing) to more advanced words for more advanced cursing. This way we could curse in front of parents, teachers, whoever. The intent was the same, but no one knew we were cursing!
I remember thinking back then, that our culture was evolving quickly enough that some day we all would realize the ridiculousness of everyone deciding together to be offended by those seven words. Typical thinking for an 11-year-old, right?
The good news is we didn’t.
Now anyone in America can get a rise out of people by using most of Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words. I know I get a rise out of my wife. I can’t think of anything funnier than a 3-year-old cursing. I mean come on, does it really matter if we say poo-poo or (bleep)? Of course not. Unless of course you’re married and your wife tells you it matters. She doesn’t want to be the one who gets phone calls from teachers and other parents getting blamed for all the 3-year-olds in the little gym class screaming “Kiss my ass you mo fo.” Me, I couldn’t think of anything I would rather see and hear. But that’s me.
Back to the point here. I like to curse. I like to curse because I enjoy how it gets everyone in an uproar. I won’t curse in an environment where I have accepted an invitation or am a guest of someone else. I will play by their rules.
But if you come on my home turf and want something from me. It’s my rules.
Last night in the locker room after we lost in overtime to the Heat, I was asked by reporters to answer some questions. I told them I would if they asked good questions and didn’t ask the same cliched questions they had asked after other games. It was interesting how quiet everyone got.
Then someone asked, “Is this your worst loss ever?” What the (bleep) kind of question is that? Is this for a VH1 special? “Worst Losses Ever?” If it was, then maybe it was a decent question. Otherwise, how do you answer that question?
Let me think. Well, we have never been to the NBA finals before, and this is our most recent finals loss. The third in a row. So that could make it the Mavs’ worst ever. There was a baseball game I played in where I hit the ball into the gap and some guy made a diving catch to end the game instead of me driving in the winning runs and winning the tournament. I cried in the dugout after that one. There have been some tough rugby losses. Am I supposed to get this reporter a thought-out answer and catalog my past, or an answer like “this was a tough one … yadda yadda” that sounds like every other answer ever given to this type of question after a lost game.
The reality is, it would be a waste of both of our time if I gave him the “this was a tough one” answer, and a waste of my time to really think about it. Particularly given there were 10 other reporters wanting to ask questions and we had a bus to catch.
So I told the reporter to “Ask me a real (bleeping) question.”
Apparently some folks have taken exception to me cursing in my response. Well in this case, the reporter was using my time, we were in a locker room and I was trying to provide a response that had no value to me, but could only help him. If he doesn’t think enough of either of our time to invest the brainpower and minutes it takes to come up with something different than has been asked a thousand times.
(Bleep) ’em.
June 13 | 5:47 p.m. ET
I promise never to complain about the weather in Dallas again. Dang. This must be the opposite of a dry heat. I love Miami. Have a condo here. Love to visit. But I prefer not to have to swim through humidity!
Anyway, 3 hours and counting to game time. Won’t be able to blog during the game, I’m not going to bring a laptop to the arena. I will bring my new sidekick 3. Got an early edition. I love to play with new toys, and this one is off to a great start. It’s also a great way to make the time ’til tip off go faster. Otherwise I would go crazy.
You want to say that this is a huge game tonight. But why? EVERY game in the finals is huge. HUGE HUGE HUGE.
They are going to come out playing out of their minds. The crowd is going to be nuts. We have to be able to take the early barrage of punches.
GO MAVS!
June 11 | 10:28 p.m. ET
S-T-A-C-K.
Say it loud. Say it proud.
We have to play so much better, but when a guy can have such a huge impact. WOW!
Cut down the turnovers. Push the ball. Be more efficient. Keep working on D.
June 11 | 7:25 p.m. ET
Absolutely nothing new to say.. did my workout.
Did an interview with Jalen Rose for Best Damn Sports Show. An interview from the gauntlet with a few.
Big topic of conversation was my telling them that if we go seven games, that rather than selling the 1,400 or so tickets using the lottery system we have used to date. You know the one where every goes to the arena, gets a ticket, then we call out numbers and about 10,000 people are upset that their number didn't get called.
Then I get another 1,000 emails from people who tried to call or login online to buy tickets at exactly 10 a.m. and had everyone they know do the same, but couldn’t buy tickets.
Which in turn leads to another 1,000 emails about why tickets are available on eBay, stubhub, etc. for huge prices.
I hate the process as much as everyone else. If we were greedy, the Mavs would just put the tickets up for auction and take in the full value the market assigns to them.
But I’m not that smart.
Instead, we are looking at working with sponsors so that we can give away the 1,500 or so tickets that we might be able to sell for a Game 7.
We will try to find a way with our sponsors to get them to fans. Of course, with that few tickets available, 99 percent of the people who want to go won’t be lucky enough to go. But with this system, we will require the name and address of the person who receives the ticket and require them to show ID when they get to arena so they cant sell them off.
Hopefully it will work. Hopefully.
Time to jump in the shower ! I can feel the electricity from the arena already…
June 11 | 5:34 p.m. ET
Tom Petty was right. I hate the wait.
Just got to the arena.
Made sure I first got my protein. Stopped at 7-11 for my gourmet Tuna Fish Sandwich. Dentyne Ice to make sure no one else realizes I had a tuna fish sandwich and a Monster Lo Carb Drink. (Got to alternate between my faves … Kronik and Monster low carb).
Had to talk on the phone to the daughter of one of the clerks while the line backed up. The people behind me in line went from “Go Mavs” to “would you shut up already and let us buy our Big Gulps.” Hey, I can handle the pressure.
Can’t say I always ask for the ball at crunch time though. Signing an autograph for the clerk’s daughter was no problem. Seeing her come running out to my car asking me to personalize it to a name I would have to ask her to spell for me five times ... well that wouldn’t be fair to those people waiting. So I did the only logical thing. I just smiled from my car, waved goodbye and gave her the thumbs up as I pulled away.
I’m sure she thinks I’m a choker.
Back to the waiting. The things that I have to do to make time fly.
Anyone who has been to a game here knows we take great pride in trying to come up with unique videos and songs that entertain and amuse our fans/customers. Its not always easy. We have great marketing people who have come up with classics like the Star Wars Nash vs. Dirk—cut your hair. But I like coming up with some ideas as well.
Some are good. Some not. But going through all the songs you hear, running through Itunes samples, reading e-mail suggestions and just looking for clues can be fun.
One e-mailer sent in a great remake of Pinball Wizard to Free Throw Lizard. A little too long and harsh for us.
I’m trying to come up with a nice way to turn the Hokey Pokey into the ShaqaPokey. You put your elbow in, you put elbow out. You put elbow in and you smash it all about. ... Show some video from last game. But that was a bit harsh. For now.
I’m also pushing our guys to redo this song. It’s already a cheeselicious classic. Anything we can do that is a voice over of him singing the chorus surrounded by some fun Mavs lyrics. Well that chart topping entertainment!
We are working on redoing the Charlie Daniels Band - The Souths Gonna Do it Again — as the Mavs are going to do it again.
The list goes on and on.
What better way to kill the time till 7:30 p.m.
Time to get ready to work out.
June 5 | 8:45 p.m. ET
The Mavs CAN’T play Defense.
The Mavs CAN’T play a half court game.
The Mavs CAN’T get past the first round.
The Mavs CAN’T beat <fill in a team here > because <fill in an excuse here>.
Dirk CAN’T play against smaller defenders.
Dirk CAN’T take the ball to the basket.
Dirk CAN’T play defense.
Dirk CAN’T step up in the playoffs.
Stack CAN’T play a team game.
JET CAN’T be the point guard on a Finals team.
Devin Harris CAN’T get past last years playoffs to have an impact.
Gana Diop CAN’T be a player in this league.
Avery Johnson CAN’T lead this team to the Finals as a 1st year coach
Thank you. Thank you to everyone who has ever said or written about what they think the Mavs can't do. It was motivation that Avery called on early and often.
There is an old saying, Those who can, do. Those who can’t, are usually commentators telling as many people as will read, watch or listen why they think someone else who is actually trying to accomplish something, can’t.
No where is this more true than the sports world.
Hats off to the Suns for getting further than anyone ever expected.
Hats off to the Suns and the city of Phoenix for being great hosts.
A huge thank you to Mavs fans around the world. We thank you for wearing your lucky cowboy boots, lucky underwear, lucky hats, T-shirts, shorts and pants, for wearing your Mavs gear under your clothes to work and with pride to school and around town.
A huge thank you to Mavs fans who were jumping up and down, screaming, hugging everyone you could find and generally going crazy as the clock ran down last night. We heard you. We felt you. All of us on the sidelines felt the exact same way.
My heart was pounding so hard, I was almost afraid to move. I have all these little good luck idiosyncrasies (my new word), and i refused to not do them until the clock ran out. I kept on playing mind games with myself. You know… McGrady scored 13 against the Spurs in 33 seconds. Don relax. Then the ever popular…If we hit this shot, its over… Ok, maybe not. If we get this stop, its over.. Ok maybe not..
When we hit 00:00, I walked over to where the Suns owners were to thank and congratulate them, and to also make sure I had my legs underneath me. After that, I was never so happy to hug so many sweaty grown men in my entire life.
The guys who heard cant, but never believed it.
Four more wins to go.
The Heat is a great team. Shaq alone has more finals experience than our entire roster. Riley has probably coached more playoffs games than AJ has games. It wont matter. Its going to be a war. Probably no less thrilling and down to the wire as almost every other NBA playoffs series has been.
We may be the underdogs, but we believe and we don understand the word can’t.
May 28 | 12:53 p.m. ET
I get my newsalerts every morning, and click through them from my sidekick. Usually when there is an article written about me, I pretty much know its coming. Why? Because other than Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune (if they let him work there, how does anybody think the Cubs have a chance at all?), sportswriters will at least ask questions to make sure they are at least on the right path before they spew.
Add another to the Sam Smith brigade.
I recently wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog about TNT not putting the Mavs in their graphic for the conference finals website. TNT e-mailed, I told them it was all in fun. Then Michael Heistand from USA Today e-mailed me, thinking I was serious. I told him I wasn’t, that it really was in fun, and that my biggest laugh was going to come from the media person who thought it was serious.
To Michaels’ credit, he not only asked me, he asked TNT, all of which he reported in his column.
“But don’t assume it’s all that serious. Consider Cuban’s reaction to TNT’s home page after the Mavs had made the NBA’s final four — it still featured players from last year’s NBA final four. On his blog — blogmaverick.com — Cuban protested the omission while defiantly adding, “We don’t care what the national media think.”
The blog drew responses from angry fans feeling slighted by TNT. The problem, spokesman Jeff Pomeroy says, was that TNT was simply in the process of updating its home page. When he told Cuban that in an e-mail, Cuban e-mailed back: “That ruins all the fun speculation” — signing off with a smiley face.
By e-mail Thursday, Cuban says his blog shot at TNT “was tongue-in-cheek humor.”
Now compare that to Michael Heisler of the LA Times in this column. In particular:
“His team, he claims, either wins or has it stolen by referees, supervised by the bumbling league office while the national press, which hates Cuban, the Mavericks and Dallas, makes up lies.
Cuban’s May 23 blog, the day after his team eliminated the Spurs, was standard conspiracy theory, noting TNT’s website had put up a montage of players from Detroit, Miami and Phoenix, with San Antonio’s Tim Duncan where Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki should have been.
“I guess we didn’t get the memo,” wrote Cuban. “Unbelievable? Not to the Mavs family. We don’t care what the national media thinks. We don’t care what the NBA thinks. We believe!”
So Heisler wins the award for not really having a clue. This isn’t the first time he just ranted with nothing to say and used the Sam Smith approach of “if someone said it somewhere, I can use it as reference and it must be true.”
Now this isn’t to say that Heisler has never asked me questions about issues important to him. He did at one point ask me questions about the MBA degree he was seeking. So I know he knows how to reach me. I guess he only needs to source information for the things he is involved with that he thinks are important. Did you ever get that MBA, Mark?
May 23 | 1:30 p.m. ET
I have never seen or felt anything like that in my entire life. It was like watching 7 heavyweight championship fights. You know that any second either combatant can throw a haymaker and end the entire thing.
Watching our Mavs vs. Spurs was the same way. There was Duncan being the Big Fundamental. Ginobili was every bit as fantastic as someone who has won championships around the world should be. Duncan kept the rolling, Ginobili threw haymaker after haymaker. I don think any of his 3 pointers even touched the rim.
Past Mavs teams probably would have hit the canvas at least once. Even Championship series have blowouts and in the back of my mind as the series went on and the Spurs evened it up, I just hoped that we wouldn't hit the kind of pocket that the Spurs hit in game 2.
It never happened. Going into last night the mood in the locker room was surreal. No one was tense. It wasn't like the guys were even nervous. The best way I could describe it was like a pack of forwards, locked , ready to blow out a ruck in a rugby game. Its tough when you have to make something happen alone, but its a powerful feeling when you are locked and loaded and looking for contact. It sounds corny, but you could just feel it in the Mavs locker room. No one felt that the game was their responsibility. Every player in there trusted the guys on both sides of them.
They trusted their coaches. They trusted the system in place.
It showed when the game started. We came out as a team. We were confident and confidence leads to good shooting. Our shooting wasn't just good. It was unconscious. I remember thinking about Georgetown Villanova at the end of the first quarter and trying to not look up at the board that showed our shooting percentage.
When we got up 20, part of me was hoping that this was going to be like Game 2, but inside I knew better. At home, game 7, we had made our big run, and there was no way the Spurs weren't going to make theirs. They had no reason to hold anything back and Pop is such a great coach, he would counter.
He did. They did.
When they hit that 3 pointer to go ahead. All I could think about is that I wasn't ready to go to the Lune , a local Dallas bar. I had seen us come back in this situation before. I trusted that we would get our shot. I couldn't hear what they called in the huddle, so I had no idea what was coming. I expected we would go for the quick 2. Then Dirk did his thing, and all of the sudden it was tied.
Like Deja Vu all over again, we just needed 1 stop. We got it.
Overtime the Legend of Ghana Diop was born. A broken nose trying to guard TD. Watching him push gauze up his nose, Ghana didn't blink. He just went out and got a huge dunk, 2 of the biggest offensive rebounds in Mavericks history and a dunk. When Ghana got the pass and finished the dunk, all I could think of was Avery pre game saying “trust your teammates. Trust the system”
That symbolized this Mavericks team. Dirk and Avery are our leaders, but first and foremost we are a team. A very special group of guys that make me incredibly proud.
A couple shout-outs are required here.
To the Spurs fans sitting by the bench last night. They were first class. They took responsibility of quieting the jerks.
To the Spurs fans on boats in the Riverwalk dragging a floating Mark Cuban in effigy. Hysterical.
To the city of San Antonio. Contrary to what people have written and said, I think its a beautiful city with a great culture and city pride. Even if the water in the Riverwalk is muddy :)
To what looked like thousands of Mavs fans who came out to see us when we landed about 1 a.m. last night. You have no idea how much that meant to all the guys and everyone in the organization.
To all Mavs fans everywhere who I know were jumping up and down and screaming and enjoying the moment. This is YOUR TEAM.
To Mavs fans everywhere who I know were jumping up and down screaming just as loudly as we all were after the game.
May 20 | 3:04 a.m. ET
I’m pretty sure it was one of the first times the Mavs ever went down to San Antonio the first full year I owned the team. I remember hearing the whole arena booing and booing. I looked up on the board above, and there was my smiling face with some prompting of some sort and the fans were letting me have it.
I’m looking up there, and I’m listening, and it dawned on me. I’m getting booed by 18,000 people — how cool is that! I didn’t know these people. It didn’t matter what they thought or why they were booing. It worked for the home team. It got the crowd going, it made it more fun for everyone who came to the game. Someone from the Spurs came over like it was a big deal and apologized for it. I was absolutely fine with it.
Since then teams have morphed my face into who knows what. They have dressed me up or down, had me kissed by who knows what, played separated at birth, threw a cake at me, you name it, its probably happened. If it helps them create fun for their customers, I’m fine with it.
Those same teams usually also have invited me to come early and speak to groups, help them sell whatever, come take pictures and sign autographs and be a partner. All good things. All fun.
But what I really, really like is how much I’m heckled. Some cities are great and heckle with style and humor. The Clippers have four guys who put on wigs and jokingly call themselves the Mark Cuban Fan Club. They are always there when we play them and they make it fun. One year they brought a Chucky doll and put a black wig on him and all game long they kept on stabbing the Chucky doll. It was hysterical. Utah, Minnesota and Golden State are all pretty cool. They actually have people who can heckle with some wit and intellect and get laughs from the people around the bench area.
Then there are cities with zero sense of humor. No originality when it comes to heckling and often are just plain rude. Sacramento has its share of people who will let it rip and curse the hell out of me. This year in Memphis, they set up a student-like section where kids had their Griz T-Shirts and megaphones and they tried so so hard to heckle and be mean. But the harder they tried, the funnier it got to me and everyone around us and the more flustered they got. It was hysterical.
The worst? San Antonio. There isn’t even a close second. The bleacher bums have filtered down to the lower bowl and they are living up to their past.
San Antonio is the only place where I have brought my wife and she has been verbally abused. Of course she is seven months pregnant, which made her an easy target for this one drunken Spurs fan last week who called her a choice name or two. Fortunately my wife is super cool and just brushed it off. Of course one idiot shouldn’t and doesn’t taint a fan base, or a city. We both know that. It didn’t represent the city or Spurs fans. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are rudest and curse the most.
San Antonio fans by our bench will curse early, often and loud. Personally, I don’t care. My attitude at Spurs games, and really anywhere on the road, is that I would much rather have them heckle me than the players. I want to be the center of their attacks. Better me than the players. Our last game in San Antonio, every time I stood up to see the game better, the cursing and yelling would start. So I did the only smart thing. I started standing up only when the Spurs were shooting free throws at our end. It took the hecklers and yellers several free throws before they figured out what I was doing and why Tim Duncan must have been mystified why there was booing while he was at the foul line.
Which leads to the topic of rivalries. Every good rivalry has a healthy dose of animosity. There has to be booing. There has to be the fans on the edge who go a little bit overboard. There has to be the story about the pregnant wife, or that one argument your buddies got into. There has to be a least a little bit of dislike or there ain’t no rivalry.
That’s part of what makes sports fun. That we can “hate” the other team and its fans while the games are going on, but be best friends or work with them or even be married to them when the games are over.
I hate Purdue. I really do. Have ever since I went to Indiana University. To this day, if I meet someone who has Purdue on their resume, I have to say “I’m sorry” to them, or they will say “don’t hold it against me.” Of course, it doesn’t impact whether I hire them or like them or work with them. We went to rival schools. If I go to a Purdue-Indiana game, the chants and rants going both ways are going to be flying, and I will be smiling and yelling “Purdue sucks” along with everyone else. It’s just part of the fun.
I remember when Dirk called Utah a city the first year we made the playoffs. Every time he touched the ball, he got booed. When Nick Van Exel went back to Denver, he got booed. Before Game 6 in Dallas, someone asked about the fans booing Michael Finley and if I thought it was a good thing. “Absolutely,” I told them. They weren’t booing Dirk the person in Utah, or Nick the person in Denver. Mavs fans arent booing Michael Finley the person. They all booed the guy he plays on TV. Michael Finley, the Spurs player. Fin is a great guy with a great family. But getting booed is part of what makes a rivalry a rivalry. Any player will tell you, they boo the jersey.
Of course, as every self-proclaimed sports expert will tell you, if the teams aren’t competitive and the stakes for each aren’t comparable, there cant be a good rivalry. And they are right. Good teams have a lot at stake when they play, and that’s a requirement for a good, fun rivalry.
If the teams are great, and championships are at stake, the opportunity is there for a great rivalry.
A great rivalry is so intense and brings out such emotion that people who are fans of either team HAVE to watch it, for fear of being ostracized by their friends who are also fans. A great rivalry is so intense that people who don’t root for either team, or may not even be more than casual fans of that sport, will watch anyway. They know the rivalry is so intense that it’s combustible and that could lead to anything happening on the field.
But great rivalries also take personalities. Tommy Lasorda carried on the Giants Dodgers rivalries of years past. Steinbrenner will do things to assure the Yankees and Red Sox have a great rivalry.
If the Cowboys and Eagles are good this year, think there might be a heated rivalry with Terrell Owens at its center? Think the ratings might be through the roof as fans see what Owens pulls out of his jersey to incite the crowd? I promise you that they will be far higher than a regular season Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch.
That’s the problem. Great teams going at it aren’t enough to create a rivalry that generates national interest.
The NBA doesn’t have one of those rivalries right now. We used to. The Celtics and Lakers. Bulls and Knicks. McHale clotheslining Rambis. Dennis Rodman being Dennis Rodman. Jordan talking trash and being Jordan. Was there really a rivalry of national interest between the Knicks and the Heat until Jeff Van Gundy took a bite out of Alonzo’s leg ?
We need that in the NBA today. Our best rivalry is Kobe vs. Shaq. Doesn’t matter what teams they are on, as long as they are playing each other. It’s combustible. Anything can happen. Both teams could have terrible records, but it would be the marquee matchup as far as TV is concerned over Spurs-Mavs, Pistons-Spurs or any combo of teams.
I’m hoping Mavs-Spurs can be one of those great rivalries of national interest. This series has been amazing. Regardless of how it turns out, and hopefully the good guys win, I couldn’t have ever imagined there being a more competitive seven-game series. But great games aren’t enough. It’s intensity of emotion from fans on both sides that will leave a lasting impression on them. It’s taking each game result and everything and anything said relating to the game personally that will make this a rivalry in Texas. It’s all the war of the words and back and forth that will make this a rivalry of national interest.
Last week when we were there, there was a front-page article about how much better San Antonio was than Dallas. Red McCombs saying that “people live in San Antonio because they want to, but no one lives in Dallas because they want to, they live there because we have to.” The article took shots at all things Dallas, and me. I thought it was great.
When I got the chance to return volley the other night during an ESPN radio interview, I certainly and happily did. The Riverwalk river is nasty. I know it. Everyone who lives in San Antonio knows it. I said it. I just know that on crowded nights, everyone who walks that thing is afraid to death that some drunk is going to stumble by and knock them into the water. It’s that nasty. I mean come on folks. They can clean up Lake Erie, but not the Riverwalk?? Fighting words, right ?
Of course not. It’s meaningless. Unless it comes from a rival.
Why say it at all? Because San Antonio is our rival. There is nothing more fun than a great rivalry. Unless of course it’s the fun that comes from tweaking a rival. There is nothing better for the NBA than a great rivalry. Purdue is always going to suck in my book. Sorry, Boilermaker fans. So will the Spurs.
I’m going to get cursed more than I have ever been cursed before in my life when we go to play them on Monday. I’ve already gotten hundreds of emails from Spurs fans calling me things that I had never heard before. Without exception, when I say something nice back in an email, they respond nice right back as well. Like rivals do. It’s on during the game, real world after.
For the players and coaches and people who get paid by the industry, it’s a job. For the fans, it’s supposed to be fun. We all love our teams. We love the intensity of a great rivalry.
It’s not personal. It’s just that you support the wrong team.
Here's some samples:
I am a spurs fan, and I love the idea of making this the best rivalry in all of the NBA. Keep it up Cuban, lets make this the second best rivalry in the state of Texas! Behind only the A&M vs Texas rivalry!!!!! Make us hate you, and hopefully we will return the favor!
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Hey Mark,
I think you hit the nail right on the head with your blog on rivalries. Rivalries are a pretty simple equation: two good teams/players/whatever performing very well plus a strong, loyal, fan base to reward their competition.
You’ve done more to steer the NBA in the right direction than anyone working at the commissioner’s office. It’s a shame they fine you every time you say something right. While I myself have no fidelity to the Mavs (being a Lakers fan), I would love to see the Mavs develop a rivalry with the Spurs. It would be wonderful for basketball. I’m sure you’re well aware that rivalries have to grow endogenously, with the fans actually buying into it. Shaq vs. Kobe rivalry? Nope. Maybe the idiots at ESPN were buying it in Connecticut, but not in Los Angeles. But at the same time, there’s a lot the league can do to promote rivalries. I’d imagine that ever since the Mavs got good, the heckling in San Antonio grew monotonically vulgar with each passing game. This is normal! It sucks for your wife to get that kind of crap, but it’s a sign of something truly powerful about sports. More power to her for not letting those guys ruin her night.
Being a Dodgers fan, I can’t walk into AT&T Park (nee SBC, nee PacBell … maybe those yuppies will stop changing the name of their ballpark after every telecomm merger) without some middle aged investment banker giving me a hard time for sporting Dodger blue. Another example: rivalries make people go out in large numbers to watch Stanford vs. Cal in fencing. Fencing!
Make the most of this opportunity. You don’t need anyone to tell you this, as you’re already doing it, but continue to encourage the Mavs-Spurs rivalry. Throw some fire on the flames in your next radio interview. It’s all in good fun. It’s all about sport.
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As a die hard Spurs fan I enjoy reading your blog. I think so many people lose sight of the fact that basketball is simply entertainment and the outcome will have to be decided on the court. I think the I35 rivalry is a great thing. I’m tired of Kobe, Shaq & the ‘coronation’ of the NBA’s ‘new king.’ The Spurs and Mavs have been great teams for a long time and I wanted to thank you for being an owner who is outspoken about caring for his team and players. I’ll probably boo you on Monday from our corporate suite at the AT&T if I get to go, but I think you ‘get it’ more than most other owners. I also think you’ve done many positive things for the league and for Texas NBA teams. May the best team win and congrats on your new child!
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