Mark Cuban is authentic

Before we talk more about insights and sports ads, let’s go back to the subject of authenticity in sports. Which brings me to Mark Cuban.

Sure, he’s way out there. And he’s crazy controversial. But he has enough money to not care what anyone thinks about him, and let’s hear it for someone who stands up for what he cares about, right or wrong, good or bad.

He has fire and passion and cares about doing sports right, and to me, that’s authentic. You probably don’t like AJ Pierzynski unless you’re a White Sox fan, and I can guarantee you don’t like Bill Laimbeer unless you’re a Pistons fan, but you can’t deny that they bring/brought something valuable to their teams. A no-BS, do what it takes attitude. Often annoying, and easy to hate. But always entertaining, and most important, a crucial spark to an inspired performance.

I’m not saying this from a sports marketer’s pov, more from a sports fan’s perspective from afar. I don’t know enough about Cuban to talk about him like an expert. What I’ve seen is this: he’s a rabid sports fan, he’s insanely competitive (and sometimes just insane), and he speaks his mind. Not a real good combination for corporate America, which probably explains why he’s ranting on sidelines and not pitching toothpaste.

You may know that Cuban was in the news again recently with the whole Josh Howard/National anthem incident:

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/09/16/josh-howard-isnt-about-celebrating-the-star-spangled-banner/

As he always does, Cuban steadfastly stood behind his player on his blog (“Try being in a position of always having to be “on” and checking for cameras, because if you let down your guard, any soundbite, even one as short as 11 seconds, can turn into headline news across the country, no matter what the context. “) But interestingly, he removed the posting on the subject, then added a new posting accompanied by hundreds of vitriolic emails he received during the controversy.

http://blogmaverick.com/2008/09/19/i-made-my-point/

Did he back down? Quite the contrary. He was making a point about free speech.

I’m not a fan of, or a hater of, Mark Cuban. The fact that he means well may mean nothing to you because you just may think he’s an ass. And that may be true. But sometimes his kind pops up in sports (Hello, Ty Cobb?). It doesn’t make him any less authentic. Perhaps it makes him even more authentic.

Does that mean he would be the right guy to buy my beloved Cubbies? That’s another story. He’d certainly give it his all. Would that be such a bad thing