Mark Cuban on Sports Journalism

Not sure how many of you ever check out Mark Cuban's weblog at BlogMaverick.com, but I visit frequently because he talks about alot of the different industries, and in my opinion, he makes some great points.

Now, whether you like Cuban or not, I don't care. Trash the guy, say what you want. Personally, I respect him a lot as an owner and think he's got great insight. Do I like some of the hooligans he gets involved with at the arena, bickering to the officials, etc.? No.

Anyways -- if you haven't read his latest entry, check it out: http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000227073770/

I think he's pegged the situation involving both him and Ozzie, though I don't think it's really fair to compare the two. But as far as "who makes the story," I tend to agree with him.

Other Cuban blog entries pertaining to journalism:

Why Journalism Matters --> http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000993073720/
Sportswriters: The clued and the clueless --> http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000950073715/
Letter to newspaper & magazine industries --> http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000390073713/

 

Cuban said that when he gave his pack interview on the stairmaster before Game 6. He'd been fined $250,000 -- tying a personal and league record -- earlier that day for making a complete fool of himself after Game 5. Forget his "Ask a real fuckin' question?" tough guy act with media. He ran on the court and cussed a ref at the buzzer. Sorry, that's a story he made.

Cuban bought the Mavs because he wanted to be a celebrity. He's been wildly successful. But even his best player wants him to shut the hell up now.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../mavs/stories/070106dnspomavslede.c1dd04.html 

 

Yeah, I'll concur that Cuban is full o'shit when he says he didn't create the story, like he was just sitting around minding his own business when the big, bad media hunted him down and forced him to talk to them -- or made him throw a tantrum on the court. Give me a freakin' break. There was one interview I heard where he claimed that he didn't want to deliver that post-Game 5 tirade but he was protectingt one of his players from the media vultures in the locker room. He calls radio shows and holds press conferences and shoots his mouth off and then wonders why people think he's making himself the story.

 

Cuban makes great points here.
The media has a pack mentality that serves no one. It's all about "the big quote", not about anything that's of any consequence.
That said, he knows darned well what "jagoff" means.

 

Thanks for checking in Mark.

 

I'd read Cuban's journalism entries before, and he should at least make everyone think twice. They're well-stated.

 

If you can get past his horrible grammar, there's a lot that you can take from what he has to say. For some reason, he feels that it's necessary to put a space before and after commas.

When SI did their feature on Cuban, they inserted quite a few of his rants in the magazine. They proofread and edited the hell out of them though! :'(

 

I agree, definitely. I remember someone criticizing Jeff Pearlman on a thread here about not putting the Rocker inflammatory quotes at the top of the story. They said it showed that Pearlman didn't know what he was doing. So obviously the "Quotes as Story" mentality is pretty pervasive in this business.

I think it's just overall lazy journalism. Perhaps even untrained journalism. Unable to really get to the bones of what is happening, people make quotes the story. I see it happen in sports a lot and I see it in political coverage a whole lot. It's so superficial. It drives me bonkers.

 

Who is Mark Cuban? 8)

 

Mark Cuban discovers the wheel. Blogs about it.
Jesus God. who cares what he thinks about anything?

 

If Mark Cuban had been beaten to the pass by NBA.com, MLB.com and the like, he'd just be another residential computer geek, sitting in the nosebleed seats at American Airlines Center.

 

Yeah, he's a real democrat-small-d.
Have a take and don't suck.
Welcome to the United States of Jim Rome.
Yeesh.