2021-2022 MAVS NEWS: 4th in West | WCF loss [ARCHIVED]

[Jommybone]

Always happy to receive your input, jb. 

I personally agree that I would have preferred a basketball analysis piece. However, it is very possible (and even likely) that a front-office piece will get way more views than a good X's and O's presentation. I was recently reading someone on one of the media sites lamenting that they couldn't do more articles analyzing the games because there is a much smaller audience for that than for examinations of other aspects of the operation. 

I didn't perceive anything in the article or my summary that particularly gave credence to Bob's views, other than the fact of reporting his views at all perhaps indicating that they were worth hearing. With respect to his recommendations, I thought he was pretty clear that he thought he was providing input to Rick that Rick was free to use or disregard as he saw fit. Rick may or may not have felt internal pressure to accept Bob's recommendations. He suggests that people may have perceived that he had more power than he did, because of his unique access to Cuban. Seems like there was a case of inadequate communication and lines of authority all around. Is it more complicated than that?

If McMahon had published an interview with Cuban's neighbor complaining that he won't keep his yard weeded, I would find it offensive as a non-basketball piece. However, the operation of the team organization gets to the heart of how the team functions, and I don't see it as somehow off limits. 

I am not saying that Bob, or anyone else, is right or wrong. Honestly, I'm not even sure why this article is perceived as particularly offensive jourrnalistically, since it is mostly incremental to what had already been reported. However, it seems perfectly reasonable not to like it, and I respect that feeling and even share it to a degree. 

I think where we might have a point of disagreement is the view that McMahon/ESPN have some sort of animus toward Cuban or the Mavs organization, and are using their megaphones to try to destroy them. I actually think these guys are just out there trying to make a living, like the rest of us. 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Again with the moderate, reasonable positions. You are sooooooo bad at picking fights! 

Not saying McMahon has an agenda. But I think I remember reading others argue quite credibly that he does. These days my memory stinks though. So I won’t take issue with your position on that. 

Do think the article, in its opening-day feature position, deserves an eye roll. And its authors. May not be their fault that they are writing a gossip column rather than reporting on and analyzing sports. But seems like they should own it once they’ve signed it. 

I feel the same way about sports talk radio, which now includes silly top 10s and the latest celebrity offenses to space out the 3 minutes of actual sports crammed into every hour of broadcast. Guess I’m just turning into a whiny old man.

The DMN has a piece today on Luka not hating KP so much that he intends to freeze him out of the offense. Sportscasting.com has a piece featuring Luka’s admission that he needs to control his on-court zebra complaints. Congrats to both of them for appealing to the apparently small audience interested in the actual game. Looking fw to seeing if both things (passing to KP and non complaining) show up on the court. Not looking fw to Skin’s pregame discussion of Haralabob’s interview.