Mark Cuban

[ChrisLDuncan]

Now that the Cubs are being sold it's speculated that Mark Cuban (he's eluded too it on various PTI interviews) will be a top bidder for the Cubs. He's one of the, if not the most, animated owner in all of sports. How would you feel about him owing a baseball team.

[baseball_83]

If he puts as much passion into owning a baseball team as he does into owning the Mavericks, I'm all for it (except it would mean more competition for the Astros:happy: ).

I heard him talking about possibly buying his hometown Pirates a few years ago, but he said owning 2 teams would be too much. If the Mavericks win the title, maybe he'll look for a new challenge.

[Mattingly]

Does he have any kind of baseball experience at all? Is he friends with any MLB front office people? Here's his bio on nba.com:

Mark Cuban (http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/cuban_bio000329.html)
When Mark Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks on January 14, 2000, the face of the organization began to change immediately. Once again Mavericks games had a party atmosphere as Reunion Arena rocked with the return of the "Reunion Rowdies." Mavericks games became more than just ordinary NBA games - they were a total entertainment experience.

Cuban was not only successful at instilling a sense of pride and passion into Mavericks fans by presenting himself as the ultimate role model by cheering from the same seats he had in years past, but he also became the first owner in team sports to encourage fan interaction through e-mail on his personal computer. It was through this personal touch that fans throughout the Metroplex, and around the world, began to notice Cuban's energetic personality and take notice of the Mavericks. He has personally responded to thousands of emails, and several suggestions from fans have led to innovative changes such as a new three-sided shot clock, which allows line of site to the 24-second clock from anywhere in the arena.

Cuban's whatever-it-takes attitude and commitment to winning has everyone's attention. From his first introduction to the team to the end of his first season as owner, the players responded with a 31-19 record, including a 9-1 mark in April 2000. In addition to hiring special coaches for offense, defense and shooting, Cuban has promised to do everything in his power to improve the team. This goal was achieved as the club finished the 2000-01 season with a 53-29 record en route to their first playoff appearance in 11 years where they became just the sixth team in NBA history to be down 0-2 and come back to win a five-game series vs. Utah in Round 1.

Before the start of the 2001-02 season, American Airlines Center, the Mavs new home, opened and Cuban co-founded HDNet, an all high-definition television network on DIRECTV channel 199 which launched in September 2001. As with his other ventures, Cuban is revolutionizing the television industry with HDNet. He is planning to expand HDNet to include three more networks showing high-def sports, movies and entertainment by the end of 2002.

During the Mavs 2001-02 campaign, the team continued their winning ways by finishing the season with a franchise-best record of 57-25 and an NBA-best road record of 27-14, advancing to the postseason for the second-consecutive year.

Prior to his purchase of the Mavericks, Cuban co-founded Broadcast.com, the leading provider of multimedia and streaming on the Internet, in 1995, selling it to Yahoo! in July of 1999. Before Broadcast.com, Cuban co-founded MicroSolutions, a leading National Systems Integrator, in 1983, and later sold it to CompuServe.

Today, in addition to his ownership of the Mavericks, Cuban is an active investor in leading and cutting-edge technologies and continues to be a sought-after speaker.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Does he have any kind of baseball experience at all? Is he friends with any MLB front office people? Here's his bio on nba.com:





I'm sure he knows people in Baseball, I don't think he has baseball experience...however he didn't have any TV experience and HDNet is doing fine. So I'm for it, I root for the Mavs mainly because of Cubes.

[bailiff]

As much as I dislike the Cubs, if Cuban bought the Cubs, it would be the best thing to happen to them in a long time.

[KCGHOST]

I doubt he gets the Cubs (or even bids on them) and, to me, he really acts like a buffoon. But whether he is or not, the best thing for the Cubs is to be shed of the Tribune Company.

[Mattingly]

So exactly how bad has the Tribune Company been for the Cubbies? What have they done wrong that could be righted by Cuban or some other new owner?

[rockin500]

So exactly how bad has the Tribune Company been for the Cubbies? What have they done wrong that could be righted by Cuban or some other new owner?
many people think that they have a lot of money (and they did) and should spend like steinbrenner.

i never really had a problem with the tribune company running the team. sure they werent in the top 5 every year in the salary.

one problem they did have is that they didnt have a strong leader at the top of the baseball organization. McFail was the latest of the presidents of the team and he was bad on the baseball side of it, but he seemed to spend a lot of his time dealing with the media/mayors office/MLB.

for as many faults the tribune company may have, they brought wrigley out of the 1910's and did a lot of benefits to the team.

[Big_Mac]

while maybe im not a fan of some of Cuban's antics, this would be great. He gives everything he has into an organization (look at the mavs) and supports his team 100% on every level (unlike some owners who sit in their offices who only come out to announce payroll increases/decreases and at player signings *cough* Ted Rogers *cough*)

[Cubsfan97]

Hmm, Mark cuban and Lou Pinella possibly in the same dugout...has an owner ever been ejected from a game before?

[ChrisLDuncan]

while maybe im not a fan of some of Cuban's antics, this would be great. He gives everything he has into an organization (look at the mavs) and supports his team 100% on every level (unlike some owners who sit in their offices who only come out to announce payroll increases/decreases and at player signings *cough* Ted Rogers *cough*)


Yeah that is true...he's enthuasitac and fans always think teams owned by him have a chance because he always gives his teams a chance. He's excited about his team and he brings the excitment to the fans...look at how good the Mavs have been since he bought them. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team (and counting the year he closed the deal), the Mavs had a total W-L record of 644-964 (40.0%). In the six years following, the team has gone 340-152 (69.1%) (Wikipedia.org), he's expressed interest in owning the Cubs and it looks like he knows what he's doing. All I can say is Mark Cuban will enegerize this team with all he puts into his teams.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Hmm, Mark cuban and Lou Pinella possibly in the same dugout...has an owner ever been ejected from a game before?


That will be entertaining to see...also Cuban will have a field day with Bud Selig.

[Cubsfan97]

Yeah that is true...he's enthuasitac and fans always think teams owned by him have a chance because he always gives his teams a chance. He's excited about his team and he brings the excitment to the fans...look at how good the Mavs have been since he bought them. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team (and counting the year he closed the deal), the Mavs had a total W-L record of 644-964 (40.0%). In the six years following, the team has gone 340-152 (69.1%) (Wikipedia.org), he's expressed interest in owning the Cubs and it looks like he knows what he's doing. All I can say is Mark Cuban will enegerize this team with all he puts into his teams.

Yea I would be psyched if CUban bought the CUbs, however, he has shown before he is a Pirates fan...how would that effect the way he owns the CUbs, seeing as how they are in the same division. Either way, I would love for him to buy them, but its also a little chance. Crosstown owner, Jerry Reinsdorf is against Cuban for some reason, when CUban bought the Mavs, the vote of the other owners to see if he would be accepted, was 29-1...Reinsdorf was asked whether he was the one to vote aganist him...he msiled and said "GUess you'll have to find out" So should be interesting.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Yea I would be psyched if CUban bought the CUbs, however, he has shown before he is a Pirates fan...how would that effect the way he owns the CUbs, seeing as how they are in the same division. Either way, I would love for him to buy them, but its also a little chance. Crosstown owner, Jerry Reinsdorf is against Cuban for some reason, when CUban bought the Mavs, the vote of the other owners to see if he would be accepted, was 29-1...Reinsdorf was asked whether he was the one to vote aganist him...he msiled and said "GUess you'll have to find out" So should be interesting.


Yeah the reason why Reinsdorf is against him is that Cuban will get all the fans in Chicago, after a few years of Cubes Northside Southside it won't matter. ALL of Chcago will love the Cubs, that's just the effect that Cuban has on a city.

[Cubsfan97]

Wow, that really makes me want him now. Didnt think of it that way.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Yeah the fans love him in Dallas, he energized the team and the fan base...actually decent fan appreciation night stuff. He's the best owner in all of sports as far as I'm concerned.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

The one thing I have heard be said against is that he would be extremely active (think Steinbrenner x 5). I've heard a few people say that he wouldn't be able to handle the duration of a 162 game season, where there are bound to be ups and downs. Some people think he would get too active in the running of the team.

That being said, I don't think it would be a bad thing. Hopefully (if he does indeed buy them), he would keep Wrigley as traditional as possible. I think that he would understand that that's what the fans want most.

[Cubsfan97]

I disagree, I think if he were to "mentally" modernize Wrigley, make it seem more like a modern ballpark, yet still give it that old time feel fans would be open to it. I myself would be. Now, Im not talking about putting an electronic scoreborad in the outfield and painting it green...I mean what are the things that make Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park seem modern, ye they are just as old. Maybe, touch things up a bit, make the green greener like when it was first built. I know what Im saying dont make a lot of sense, but make it mentally seem like a new modern place, yet still keeping it old style so we fans realize its still the same thing. If anyone wants to translate that, go ahead. lol.

[ChrisLDuncan]

He'd keep it traditional, but I'm sure you will see some improvents when you'd go to a Wrigley Game when Cuban's in charge.

[Whitesoxnut]

Yeah the reason why Reinsdorf is against him is that Cuban will get all the fans in Chicago, after a few years of Cubes Northside Southside it won't matter. ALL of Chcago will love the Cubs, that's just the effect that Cuban has on a city.


I don't think Cuban has a personality that is going to cause Sox fans to burn our hats and jackets, flocking to Wrigley to pay homage to him. To suggest that is ridiculous. Besides, the Cubs have always had a bigger fan base and you can only fit so many at Wrigley, which is almost sold out all the time anyways.

If Cuban produces a Series winner then the Cub fans will love him, and the team more. Cub fans deserve a trophy at Wrigley because of the way they have supported the team, even thru the bad seasons and huge price increases by that wretched Tribune company.

The Cubs winning a series, or even being in one, would be pretty huge here.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

I disagree, I think if he were to "mentally" modernize Wrigley, make it seem more like a modern ballpark, yet still give it that old time feel fans would be open to it. I myself would be. Now, Im not talking about putting an electronic scoreborad in the outfield and painting it green...I mean what are the things that make Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park seem modern, ye they are just as old. Maybe, touch things up a bit, make the green greener like when it was first built. I know what Im saying dont make a lot of sense, but make it mentally seem like a new modern place, yet still keeping it old style so we fans realize its still the same thing. If anyone wants to translate that, go ahead. lol.I actually agree. What I meant was that I would hope that he wouldn't throw video screens up all over the place and blast music all game etc.. I would be all for him giving the place a fresh look (I know what you mean when you say that). I think he'd be great for the franchise. The fans definitley deserve it.

[bluezebra]

Now that the Cubs are being sold it's speculated that Mark Cuban (he's eluded too it on various PTI interviews) will be a top bidder for the Cubs. He's one of the, if not the most, animated owner in all of sports. How would you feel about him owing a baseball team.

...eluded too..

"Eluded too" means to avoid also. Try "alluded to".

I'm a LONG-TIME Cub fan, and I dread the thought that Cuban would by the team. He's not "animated", he's a nut who's been fined numerous times by the NBA.

Bob

[ChrisLDuncan]

...eluded too..

"Eluded too" means to avoid also. Try "alluded to".

I'm a LONG-TIME Cub fan, and I dread the thought that Cuban would by the team. He's not "animated", he's a nut who's been fined numerous times by the NBA.

Bob


Ahh yes, sometime spelling tends to allude ;) me, the reason why he gets fined in the NBA is because Stern is a tool...name me an owner who's community is more excited about than Cuban...he's great in Dallas. I was born there and the city loves him.

[Mattingly]

Hmm, Mark cuban and Lou Pinella possibly in the same dugout...has an owner ever been ejected from a game before?
Ejected by the umpire, or ejected by Piniella giving him the hard boot (of the steel-toed variety)?

[sturg1dj]

imagine Mark Cuban without a salary cap


right now he's so hands on its like rich guy fantasy basketball

[bluezebra]

Hmm, Mark cuban and Lou Pinella possibly in the same dugout...has an owner ever been ejected from a game before?

By rule, an owner is not permitted in the dugout during the game. I believe Ted Turner tried to be in the Braves' dugout years ago, but was not permitted to do so. But, that's not being ejected from the game. Actually, I don't think an umpire has that authority. If an owner, or someone else with the club, is doing, or saying, something worthy of removal, the Crew Chief may halt the game, and have that person removed by park security or the police.

Bob

[ChrisLDuncan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2831686

Cuban sang "take me out to the ball game"...the MLB may be more his style since Selig isn't as big of a jerk as Stern is, this way he can also spend what he wants too. Make no mistake if he owns the Cubs the City of Chicago will LOVE him

[Utility07]

I live in Chicago.

Trust me. As long as they sell beer at wrigley, they will sell out every game. The cubs will never need to put a winning team on the field. From a business standpoint, as the cubs owner, its stupid to spend money on players. People go to cubs games to get wasted, not to watch baseball.

[ShortStop]

Beware of the Chicago Cubans :reporter:

[ChrisLDuncan]

I live in Chicago.

Trust me. As long as they sell beer at wrigley, they will sell out every game. The cubs will never need to put a winning team on the field. From a business standpoint, as the cubs owner, its stupid to spend money on players. People go to cubs games to get wasted, not to watch baseball.

That same reason is the cause of half of my activities in life ;):thumbsup: