Mark Cuban is good for basketball and has been quite kind in terms of accessibility. Hey, he's even suggested FanHouse could sponsor his Mavericks in the future! But sometimes he bleats ideas and stances so unbelievably backwards you wonder how he ever got to where he's at.Take his latest screed against sports blogs, for example. He bemoans the invention of rumors, which leads so-called "real reporters" to chase down dead ends. Cuban's solution to end this vicious cycle of, um, reporting work? To have ESPN create a blacklist of blogs which have reported inaccurate information, and which shall never be taken seriously again.
I assume this all stems from a report that the Mavericks have reached out to Anderson Varejao with a contract offer, a rumor which has been blown back by a Dallas journo (and which was never taken very seriously outside of Texas, to be honest). Cuban, apparently so sick of playing defense, wants to rid us (and the corps of big-time reporters) of the rumor mill. How valiant!
Pardon us for being so interested in his product that we discuss rumors concerning it. I'm sure David Stern is just beside himself because fans have the temerity to be glued to their monitors (television and computer) from October through July.
DallasBasketball.com's Mike Fisher, who threw the cold water on the already chilly Varejao rumor, has it a bit more right (if you'll pardon his arse-don't-stink attitude considering prior incidents). Fisher argues that, in the end, publications who peddle garbage will end up in the trash heap. That's only partially true: behemoths of the field who get stuff wrong often remain behemoths. (See: the altruistic and never-wrong ESPN Cuban holds up as a gold standard.) But Fisher has it right in that no central source -- especially no one Cuban would appoint -- is pure enough call themselves the Truth Police.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rather than just criticize Cuban's suggestion, you might want to recognize that there is a problem with the quality of reporting by some bloggers, and come up with your own proposal to solve the problem. After all, one bad apple makes all bloggers lose credibility. And if people conclude that bloggers are the equivalent of the National Enquirer, it will be difficult to get rid of that image.
given that Cuban repeatedly makes unfounded accusations of conspiracy by refs in his blogs, and vents his folly about the league without evidence. his blog could be the first to go...I like this idea more and more....
that ANYONE takes a blog as truth in the first place is naive...everyone knows they are often mostly opinion machines with carefully selected evidence to support the point being asserted....what is it with Cuban now? he wants to change what is effectively the editorial pages of the web? Let's report things accurately...I get it...nice try...but here's an example...Mavs FAIL to win a ring...AGAIN! For the ummpteenth year, no matter how much "talent" the Mavs profess they have, they can't get it done once again and sit at home watching other teams not only go to conference finals, but to the ring round...It would seem that money can't buy a ring....