To blog or not to blog

Basketball, Major Sports

Posted by Little SK, March 13, 2008 - 12:01 am

On Monday, Mark Cuban, the owner of my beloved Mavericks, banned bloggers from the Dallas locker room (ironic considering Cuban regularly blogs on his own site, and has been a champion of new media for most of his business career). The stated reason is that if Dallas Morning News blogger Tim MacMahon is given locker room access it would only be fair to offer any random blogger the same access. This, says Cuban, is impossible and in the interest of equal treatment, MacMahon has been banned from the locker room.

Could this be personal against MacMahon? I read his posts on the Mavs and Cowboy blogs regularly, and he’s a legit reporter who doesn’t pull punches despite whatever access he may have. He’s fair, thoughtful and entertaining which is exactly what a sportswriter should be. Some conspiracy theorists contend a critical post he wrote after Jason Kidd was held out of the last play against San Antonio led to this ban, but I’m skeptical. Criticism of that move gives MacMahon something in common with just about everyone in the basketball watching universe. Plus, by all accounts, he will retain the other privileges that a normal credentialed newspaper writer gets, which makes this decision all the more curious.

There’s substantial gray area about the role of blogs when it comes to covering sports, or even news in general. What makes a blogger a blogger? MacMahon is a “real” journalist who happens to write on a blog that is run by the newspaper he works for. He’s clearly not a blogger in the same vein as your humble commentators here at DeepSlant or the super-fans at MavsMoneyball. What is the definition of a blog anyway? If MacMahon posted daily Mavs news and other insider info on a DMN site called, “Daily Mavs News” would he still be a blogger? Does the fact that he includes the occasional opinion disqualify him from going into the locker room? Should all regular columnists be banned then too? Should MacMahon be faulted for the DMN and other traditional newspapers trying to adjust to the digital world?

Cuban’s ban reeks of an old school Al Davis-controlling-owner type move, and it is very out of character for a guy who made his name by ruffling feathers, challenging authority, spearheading change and promoting access for all fans. After all, he represents every die hard fans’ dream of one day striking it rich and buying their favorite team. And even though Cuban makes some fair points on his site about the decision, he ultimately comes off as bitter at the Morning News for having something called a “blog” on its site. I consider TrueHoop to be the gold standard for basketball blogging, and Henry Abbott (dubbed the “Blog Father” by one of my other favorites, JE Skeets) took serious umbrage with Cuban’s decision. I’m inclined to agree with the Blog Father.

I love Mark Cuban, I’m one of his biggest fans and most ardent defenders. He’s not afraid to do whatever it takes to be successful, and under his leadership the Mavs became, and remain, relevant (not an easy thing to do in Cowboy country). He’s got an impressive resume as a movie producer, and his own blog is always full of interesting and thought provoking posts about any and all topics under the sun. His latest decision, however, is misguided. Cuban claims to be acting in the interest of fairness, but in fairness to all us fans, we need a guy like MacMahon in the locker room.

Update: The Society of Professional Journalists has filed a protest with the Commish, David Stern. This story may just be getting started.

Photo credit: Kat Wade/The Chronicle

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