Peter Gammons became the latest to endorse Mark Cuban to be the new owner of the Chicago Cubs during Sunday night's game on ESPN. Gammons followed his on air report on Sunday by bringing up many of the same points on his blog on ESPN.com on Monday...."Cuban Would Be A Great Fit to Join Cubs' Family." Most of the content is under the 'insider' section of ESPN's website, so here are a few of his points in a bullet-point format to keep from receiving a little note from the World Wide Leader. For those with the access, it is well worth the read....
- The last time a sale was made in MLB without it being "manipulated by Bud Selig" was when Arte Moreno purchased the Los Angeles Angels. Gammons called it "a transition that has been a boom to the Angels franchise and the game."
- Gammons stated there is speculation that Sam Zell will not let the Commissioner's Office "puppeteer the sale."
- Mark Cuban is "in this thing" more than Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf (Sox owner) want to "believe".
- According to Gammons, David Stern "has told those associated with the Cubs that Cuban is one of the NBA's best partners" and he is appreciated by his peers for understanding "fans and marketing."
- Gammons called Cuban "one of the creative pioneers of the world of new media" and the "buzz" he would create would help the game.
- Mentioned George Steinbrenner and Mark Cuban in the same sentence. Said Steinbrenner helped grow the game of baseball as well as the New York Yankees....and his actions will land him in the Hall of Fame.
- Gammons added the Cubs are one of three "truly national baseball teams" and said baseball should welcome owners like Cuban.
- Gammons ended by mentioning the good work Crane Kenney has done with Wrigley Field and stated if Cuban was to own the Cubs he could take the organization to the next level. Gammons finished with "this would be great for baseball and great for a city" that has already been on top of baseball for most of the summer.
....And remember, Peter Gammons is a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan and a member of Baseball's Hall of Fame.
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Your intro begs me to wonder:
How many "little notes" have you received from ESPN Neil?
I am hopeful that is is Cuban who becomes owner. I'm not a big NBA fan, but he has been a great owner there from what I've seen. (Besides...isn't a man whose last name starts with CUB be destined to be the owner of the Cubs??)
A great point is Arte Moreno of the Angels. He came into Anaheim and was a hit with the fans. First thing he did was lower the price on tickets, beer and food saying it was crazy to charge that much for a baseball game. He won over the fans and they returned which in turn he rewarded them with a championship caliber team.
I think the Cubs would be best served with Cuban as our owner. Imagine him yelling at the homeplate umpire from his seat behind the Cubs dugout....lol
Good God you guys, just because he's the rich uncle that showers you with gifts, doesn't make him good for baseball, or the Cubs. Anybody who believes 9/11 was an inside job is a nut case, and Cuban is just that. A left wing classless nut job with no clue about baseball or it's rich history and traditions. Having the owner of a team sit behind home plate and yelling at the umps? If I were one of his players, I would be mortified. The Cubs are already doing well, their fan base is huge & growing, and their payroll is high. They don't need an infusion of lunacy.
The appeal of Cuban is that you know what you are going to get. You're gonna get an owner that is passionate about winning and willing to spend money. The other potential owners are an unknown, and they might be the type of ownership that decides to reel in the payroll and focus more on profit. I don't wish to have an owner who is too visible during a game, but to say he knows nothing about baseball and its traditions is a bit short sighted. Is it because he's a basketball owner?
i am not a huge cuban fan at all. with that said i hope he or someone like him purchases the team. u know he is going to try to win no matter the cost. if we wind up with an ownership group like the one the cards have we are screwed. they know bush will sell itself and as long as they have a star to draw fans (albert) and make it look as though they are trying to win all they will do is sit back and count their money. i want an owner eager to win......
With other owners, we don't know if they ever successfully operated a big-league level sport franchise. With Cuban, there's a track record. I want a winning team, not a disappointing season after seasons of mediocracy.
By the way, anyone follow any Olympic baseball? Our top prospect, Chris Robinson, is one of the 2 catchers for Team Canada. And our club probably traded Donaldson cuz we have Chris coming to shine. I'm excited to see him perform on an international arena...
Gary....I did a little checking into your concerns. You could be wrong. Cuban is quoted in something called "Mother Jones" as saying that he doesn't believe the story line of "Loose Change" at all. In another post he is reported as saying something like, "If you allow propaganda to lurk in the shadows, it festers. If you bring propaganda (Loose Change) out of the shadows, it can be confronted and brought to judgment." He is also charged by a web propagandist/critic with gaining the distribution rights so that he can confront U-Tube over posters who upload snippets from the movie. Apparently, U-Tube then axes all references from their site. That, the critic says, is Cuban's sinister plot.
All of the above posturing is way above my media control and distortion understanding pay grade, but it is a different view than yours. I don't know Mark Cuban, but I have followed his press trail since he first brought I.U. basketball and other progamming to the internet. I've seen no evidence that his wings can be judged right or left. He is often like a kid in a toy store with his enthusiasm, and he often shows irreverance for those in power and authority. But he is not malicious about it and doesn't carry a grudge. From what I think I know, I like him.
Completely unrelated to this thread...but the Cubs really need to start taking care of business right now and build a lead up in the division before September. Of the last 19 games, 12 are against either the Cards or Brewers if I added correctly. Throw a Mets series in as well and include the Astros playing spoiler and watch out. Of course, all we need to do is beat the contenders at that point but I don't want to be white knuckling my couch the last few days. :)
OTHER Gary here LOL - responding to Gary as far as Cuban's backing of the film here's an interesting read.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jragland/stories/DN-ragland_28met.ART0.State.Edition2.447e560.html
For those who want the 10 cent recap, there's only one paragraph you need to really grasp - a direct quote from Cuban.
""I don't believe the movie. Not at all," Mr. Cuban explained. "But I do believe that lies in the shadows are far more dangerous than lies you can confront and refute. There probably will be a movie that responds to this one, and we would be more than happy to distribute it as well, for the very same reason.""
This movie started as a fictional documentary... but somehow got over a million views on the internet and started a movement of people that actually gave it credibility and started a conspiracy movement.
Given the quote - you can perhaps call him a nutcase for his logic... but NOT for his belief that 9/11 was an inside job. Personally I think it's a novel approach to confronting the absurd. I HOPE the fact that he's backing and promoting the film means that it will include a quote similar to the pone above - either in the movie itself or (even better) in the promotional materials.
...and this discussion is a perfect example of why I hope that...
...because for example - when people hear a news item - sometimes they react vehemently to the idea without doing the leg work to determine if the viewpoint they are reading or buying into actually has any credibility.
Sorry for calling you out a little on your post Gary - but it took me 2 minutes on Google to find that quote from Cuban... which I'm certain isn't the only one floating around out there.
...and that's the last I'm going to say about it - I'm much more excited about the Cubs play right now :-) But I'm hopeful of Cuban buying the Cubs as well and I just wanted to get the "not a nutcase" viewpoint out there :-)
Great post. Who would have thunk that Mark would be the leader of the pack and rack up so many endorsements. He is going to be the next owner of the Cubs. http://www.cubanandthecubs.com
I always thought of Cuban distributing that movie as a brilliant business maneuver rather than a nutjob move. He gave money to a movie that would produce revenue, and it ultimately returned a lot more of his investment. And his distribution of a counter-point movie would be a sound business decision, too, since the same nutjobs who bought the original will be the counter-movie just to say that they've seen both sides.
Nutjobs are people with money, too, afterall. And any guy who is smart enough to milk them for money strikes me as a pretty smart guy who knows what all the people like and what all the different types of people want...that's the kind of guy I want running my baseball team.
GaryJ and a little JimK,
Why do you assume that I did not do any research on the guy or that I had not read those comments of his that you posted? What? We can't read the same things and draw 2 different conclusions? Well, let me get in lock step right now.
Sorry, I am more of an "actions speak louder than words" kind of a guy.
OK, I'll take your perspective. He's just a smart opportunist that took advantage of emotional people fawning over an emotional subject. Of course, he would never take advantage of Cub fans, the most emotional sports fans in the US. Would he?
Gary....I don't think you want to get in lock step with me. I'm 71 with a gimpy knee that only looks effective when I'm telling younger women to consider that the sweetest music comes from an old violin. (Yes, I know that you were being sarcastic.)
I just returned from the AAA game between those two laggard teams the Columbus Clippers (Wash. Nationals) and the Indianapolis Indidans (Pirates), and checked here to see what happened to the Cubs game. (Indians won here 2-0.)
Re. Cuban, I don't even think he's a smart opportunist--if the report that he wasn't committed to making a CD of the movie actually resulted in no C.D. Apparently, you don't make money with these botique movies without a C.D. And, it's pretty hard to see much more than break even if you invest $1.3 billion or more in the Cubs and related assets. You may just be a fun loving jock sniffer, using your so-called house money to not only become a CCO poster but own the team as well.
Neil, I know that Cuban reads his emails from time-to-time and that he has a published address. I suggest you try to reach him and invite his participation when he thinks the timing is O.K. If you prefer that I try, I might be able to string together a couple I.U. connections and get Mark's attention.
Matt...for content violations, no.
JimK....Thank you for the offer and if you would like to try that would be great.
Jimk,
Thanks for taking your time to clarify what, in the end, really happened to Loose Change. What about Redacted? That got to the theaters(but thankfully flopped). Then in an even sleazier move, he tried to deflect any heat he might take for backing those movies, by starting the Fallen Patriot Fund just for show. Cuban is the polar opposite of a Gary Sinise, who embodies what real dedication to a cause is all about.
Cuban has all that money, but the Penguin and Pirates' ownership would not sell to him. Why? Maybe it's because he has been fined 13 times by the NBA for his outrageous and childish antics? I'll concede the guy knows basketball, but he's no Jerry Reinsdorf. Cuban would be an embarrassment to the team and the city to which he has no previous affiliation or dedication to.
I really didn't have anything against you JimK, I was a little annoyed with GaryJ's comment (paraphrasing) that "if I had taken 2 minutes to look it up" I would have read what Cuban had said about the movie, and drawn the same conclusion he had. Like all I was doing was parroting something I had heard.
I have been rooting for Cuban to be the owner of the Cubs since I first heard he was interested. I sat and thought about it this morning and one thing worries me about Cuban being the owner of the Cubs.
He has been the owner of the Mavs for some time now. He has been closely involved and been a distraction at times. He is a great personality and would really bring more attention to the Cubs. Where I am worried is that in all the time he has owned the Mavs, he has paid for players he wants and put together great teams. What he hasn't done is win it all.
Then again, maybe the owner of the basketball team that can't win it all, owning the baseball team that hasn't won it all in 100 years is a recipe for success.
Sorry for not responding to your responding to my responding (oy vey) earlier Gary.
I can see your point about his lack of ties to Chicago and his antics in the NBA and all of that stuff. I didn't respond to that.
I responded specifically to "Anybody who believes 9/11 was an inside job is a nut case, and Cuban is just that".
And my "2 minutes" of research was to give a link to show that he simply does not believe it.
Whether you take it as a matter of him making a quick buck off the conspiracy crowd (and considering the amount it stands to make vs the amount he spends on backing it - it's not really that significant - especially to someone of his bank account)... or you take his comments at face value about bringing something like this out of the shadows so the non-conspiracy crowd can rip it to shreads... whatever view you take on his motives though, it appears he's not doing what he's doing to promote the (as it's supporters call it) "the 9/11 truth movement".
Didn't mean to tick you off though - I was just trying to cut off any "Cuban is a 9/11 nutjob" talk before it got started. Jim seems to have done a better job at it than I did anyway :-)
On a side note to the group... if you want to see some real nutcases, go ahead and google "loose change" and read some of the conspiracy theory sites. Wow - some of THOSE folks are just downright scary.
...and they don't seem to like Cuban very much LOL