I was reluctant to write this blog because Mark Cuban does in fact have a family with kids and a lovely wife.  I did not want it to be spun into something it was not.  I was persuaded by a friend to write this blog after he saw the picture (he wanted to post the story to a sport’s blog).  I did not realized how big deadspin.com was until now…over 15,000 views. I had the real story up but because of negative comments I have decided to take it down.  That is not what my blog is about. I hope you enjoy the pictures.  Yes, We hung out with Mark Cuban and yes, I had shots and drank with Mark Cuban. No, I am not in the picture where the girls are hanging all over him.  I am the girl wearing jeans and a business coat in the second picture.  I didn’t know who he was nor did I care;  I was there to have fun.  There was a misunderstanding that night and thus I avoided him like the plague when he tried to talk to me.  Tao was a great club and Mark Cuban is I am sure a friendly guy.  That is all I have to say now.  My blog is for fun, travel, inspiration and not for sports gossip.  If you want to read about Mark Cuban’s escapades I have links to other stories at the end of my blog; these are the one’s my friend provided to persuade me. Hope everyone has a good night.

~Morgan

http://thehowevafiles.blogspot.com/2009/09/cuban-is-gem.html http://www.terezowens.com/twitter-fine-25000-dollars/ http://deadspin.com/171824/mark-cuban-would-like-to-remind-you-who-in-fact-he-is

Bryan Danielson - Nigel McGuinness se despiden de la ECW Arena (11 septiembre 2009) / twitter.com/ROHonHDNet

Por Mathi Kobain

¿Bryan Danielson podría debutar en RAW el 7 de diciembre?
No hay ninguna fuente, pero la suposición se basa en las siguientes conjeturas

1. El pasado lunes, ROH transmitió la última pelea de Danielson grabada para HDNet, (un tremendo luchón contra Roderick Strong que termino con victoria para el mesías de las Backbreaker), con esto las participaciones independientes de Danielson terminaron: Su única pelea en Dragon Gate USA ya se mostró por PPV mientras que Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Chikara Pro y Ring of Honor ya han sacado a la venta los DVD de las últimas apariciones del American Dragon (aunque Glory by Honor esta en pre-venta)
2. Normalmente, via Twitter o Facebook ROH pregunta a sus fans “¿Quién vendrá al show de ROH en Toronto?, Quién vendrá al show de ROH en Philadephia?, ¿Quién vendrá a las grabaciones, etc…?”
3. Pero ahora lo que ROH acaba de preguntar en su Facebook es: “¿Quienes irán a ver RAW en Dallas? (El dueño de HDNet, Mark Cuban será invitado especial esa noche)
   
4. ¿Pero porque ROH está tan interesado en lo que hace el dueño de HDNet?, ¿podría haber algo más?, ¿Sera una pista de ROH de que Bryan Danielson tendrá su debut el 7 de Diciembre en Dallas, Texas, apadrinado por Cuban?

Source: eWrestlingNews.com
From comedians to politicians to musical performers to professional athletes, Monday Night Raw’s weekly guest hosts are some of past and present’s finest entertainers. The WWE Universe, therefore, can expect this trend to continue as more and more of the most popular celebrities are hopping aboard to serve as Raw special host.

Nov. 23, 2009: Jesse Ventura
This week, WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura will take the reins from Hershey, Pa., on a special Thanksgiving three-hour presentation of Raw. The illustrious Superstar’s role comes just more than one week before the debut of Ventura’s new truTV series, Conspiracy Theory, which airs on Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. ET.

Nov. 30, 2009: Verne Troyer
Best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers comedy series, Verne Troyer will serve as guest host on Nov. 30 from Baltimore. One of the shortest yet largely recognizable men in the world, the actor has more than 15 years of television experience.

Dec. 7, 2009: Mark Cuban
Instead of humoring the NBA Universe with his infinite antics and making authoritative basketball decisions for one night, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will spend time delegating responsibility to WWE Superstars when he hosts Raw on Dec. 7 from Dallas.

Dec. 14, 2009: Dennis Miller
Comedian and radio talk show host Dennis Miller, meanwhile, will serve as the host of the 2009 Slammy Awards during a special three-hour presentation of Raw on Dec. 14 from Corpus Christi, Texas. The five-time Emmy award-winning comic is renowned for his improvisations and acerbic humor about pop culture and politics.

Be sure to tune in every Monday night when the biggest stars from all over the world take over as Raw’s special guest host.

Watched the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs last night on ESPN and was able to catch the end of the Blazers-Pistons game on Fox Detroit live from Portland; this after doing some advance scouting at Lansing Community College (The Stars played the Mott Bears) two tough teams that we have to play against twice this year.

Dirk Nowitzki went off for 41 points last night in leading the Mavs to a 99-94 overtime win. (Dirk dropped 11 of the Mavs 15 points in the extra session)  The one area that caught my eye after reading the boxscore was in 44 minutes of burn, Dirk didn’t record a single assist.  Maybe it was because Jason Terry and Jason Kidd shot a combined 5-25. Upon further review, when you can score like that, who needs to share the ball.  Dirk likes to catch the ball on the high post, face up to the basket and score on his man.  At times he will take the ball to the basket and finish with either hand. I’ve never been a big Nowitzki fan in the past but after watching him the past few nights, I’m starting to warm up to him.  It boggles my mind as to why the Spurs didn’t double team him more often? Make someone else beat you.  If the Mavs only had a decent center, they would make a run at the Western conference championship.

(Courtesy of NBA.Com)

Dallas only turned the ball over five times in the game; as opposed to Richard Jefferson of the Spurs who committed five himself.  Spurs coach Greg Popovich was calling for more ball movement and people movement in the huddle.  That makes sense.  You get the defense moving and possibly breaking down.

Is the Mavs shooting coach on vacation? They shot 3-17 from distance last night. Time to get some extra shots up…

ESPN’s Mark Jackson made a good point during the telecast, ‘You’re the fastest player on the floor, act like it.” Not really sure who is was talking about though.  Speaking of Action Jackson, the former Loughlin Lion CHSAA all-star, seems out of place without his buddy Jeff Van Gundy.

I noticed Monte Mathis behind Mavs bench, clipboard in hand.  Mathis used to be a college assistant and one day we were sitting together at the Nike camp watching high school players go through drills in Indy. While Herb Livsey (NBA scout and basketball trainer) was lecturing the kids on footwork, Monte was a bit too loud for Herb, who proceeded to yell at us…Sorry Herb.

This has nothing to do with the game but why must ESPN show Mark Cuban after every single play? Does he really make a difference? He’s got some entourage huh? Does he get his t-shirts at baby Gap?

Brandon Roy had a great comment last night after Portland’s win over Detroit.  He was asked about his team, “Our defense is better, we’re making the effort on defense.”

Interesting question asked during Pistons telecast on Fox last night during game about Blazers center Greg Oden’s future. 12% of Pistons fans said he is going to the Hall of Fame. Huh?

Pistons assistant coach Darryl Walker was a good defensive player in his day-Quick hands, got down in a stance and was a tough son-of-a-bitch. Did you know he was one of Hubie Brown’s favorite players in New York when Hubie was the coach?

Memo to NBA Marketing people; If there happen to be open seats courtside, and by half-time those ‘rich’ folks have not arrived, teams should send their interns up (or even Dance squads) top and bring down the real fans to fill them at half-time. Can you imagine how a father of two kids would feel sitting way up top in the nose bleed seats to be asked to come down to courtside and get a close up look of their favorite players? Which takes me back to the 80’s when I would buy a ticket at Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks for $4 only to sneak way down to courtside and listen to Hubie Brown coach his team. “POWER RIGHT, POWER RIGHT!”, was the usual call coming from the Knicks bench.

For what it’s worth, Lebron James WOULD make a very good NFL player despite what Jeremy Shockey thinks/says…James has strength, speed and most of all, courage.  If Antonio Gates can be a success in the NFL after playing college basketball, James would be all-pro.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

La unida móbil donde se produce ROH por HDNET (10 septiembre 2009) / twitter.com/ROHonHDNet

WWE.com, publicó un nuevo artículo contrario a lo acostumbrado, pues en lugar de guardar el anuncio para crear expectativa, ahora detalla quienes serán los próximos anfitriones de los shows Monday Night RAW. A continuación están los nombres confirmados, donde destaca el nombre de Mark Cuban, por la razón mencionada

• Nov. 23, 2009: Jesse Ventura (Ex-Luchador miembro del Salón de la Fama)
• Nov. 30, 2009: Verne Troyer (Mini Me)
• Dec. 7, 2009: Mark Cuban (Uno de los dueños de HDNet, la cadena que transmite ROH)
• Dec. 14, 2009: Dennis Miller (Comediante)

Previously on Braindumped: Here

Interesting updates from Techcrunch:
How Murdoch Can Really Hurt Google And Shift The Balance Of Power In Search

If other media companies joined Murdoch Google could actually find itself in a very difficult position, where Bing had content that Google didn’t. If you knew that Wall Street Journal and, say, New York TImes content was only in Bing search results, mainstream search users would suddenly have a big reason to go to Bing.

This would shift the balance of power away from search engines and to the content sites – if they could pull it off. Bidding wars over rights to index content would conceivably break out between Google and Microsoft, just as bidding wars have broken out in the past over the right to serve search ads into third party publishing sites.

If Murdoch is going to go through with this de-indexing Mexican standoff thing, he might as well do it the right way and drive the fear of God into Google. As a spectator, I’ll enjoy watching the fireworks.

Of course there’s another sideshow going on here as well – the renegotiation of the MySpace search deal with Google that ends next year. That deal brings in $300 million a year to News Corp., and it’s clear Google is done paying that much money.

From BoingBoing:

So here’s what I think it going on. Murdoch has no intention of shutting down search-engine traffic to his sites, but he’s still having lurid fantasies inspired by the momentary insanity that caused Google to pay him for the exclusive right to index MySpace (thus momentarily rendering MySpace a visionary business-move instead of a ten-minutes-behind-the-curve cash-dump).

So what he’s hoping is that a second-tier search engine like Bing or Ask (or, better yet, some search tool you’ve never heard of that just got $50MM in venture capital) will give him half a year’s operating budget in exchange for a competitive advantage over Google.

My favorite update from Mark Cuban:

1. Best Case: They opt out and see an increase in revenues and commitment to their sites because people choose to go directly to their sites. For those sites behind a paywall, they generate more revenue than when the site was free. Other sites notice their success and copy Newscorp, choosing to opt out of the Google index. The opt out choice turns out to be the better business move for any and all sites looking to increase revenues. Google’s position as the leading search engine is called into question. The Search business becomes competitive again. Content companies now understand how to best monetize their content efforts.

Far fetched ? Maybe. But not totally inconceivable.

2. Worst Case: They opt out of Google’s Index. Their traffic drops 99pct. No one buys their pay offerings. They all feel like idiots. Then the last idiot left in the office gets out the text editor and changes the robots.txt file or completely deletes it. They turn off the paywalls. Make the content free again. Life as they knew it before they opted out and started charging for content returns to normal as quickly as Google can reindex the Newscorp sites.

P.S. – I would updated my previous post but I don’t know how to ensure that updated posts rise to the top of my blog

Here’s a first look at Rupert Murdoch’s plan to make news invisible to internet search engines.

Dallas Mavericks owner and media conglomerate himself, Mark Cuban, examines Murdoch’s plan in 2 parts, which you  can find at Blog Maverick.

Cuban brings to light an interesting conundrum. Imagine, free content disappearing! Content we’ve assumed would be available for free, forever. Free newspaper articles, columns, etc.

Should this content be available for free, regardless? Well. It’s hard for me to say it shouldn’t be blocked. As newspapers are going belly up at an alarming rate, it can be easy to put some blame on the fact that everything we need is a google search away.

Cuban’s commentary is more on the effect it would have on google as a resource, as well as facebook and twitter. I agree, I think as far as getting info immediately, people go to facebook or twitter to get that information in real time.

Considering Murdoch’s wide ranging corporate tentacles, the switch to pay content could be huge and wide ranging. I guess time will tell if that’s the direction things could go in. I don’t think we’ll see it immediately, anyway.

I know I wanted to go on a blogging hiatus and I’m going to…just don’t get me started on Notre Dame and Charlie Weis. But I seriously might consider going after Tom Coughlin. And all of New York media including the God awful Mike and Mike (stop sucking off the Jets and the Eagles). How does every prominent newspaper go after a defense that caused 2 interceptions and a fumble? They stepped up this week and gave up 14 points in 58 minutes of play. It was Tom Coughlin’s decision to go from a 1st and 5 to a 2nd and 2 on the botched field goal drive.
That’s the key of the game. Right there. The Giants drew a penalty and Coughlin elected to decline the penalty and take the yardage they gained (+3 yards) rather than the penalty (+5 yards and stll 1st down). He was basically saying that my team can’t go 3 yards in 1 play. Well, he was right. Because they ran the ball twice and was stuffed by the San Diego defense twice to make it 4th down and then an abortion of an attempt for a field goal occurred. Not an aborted attempt. Lawrence Tynes shat babies on the field. It was pathetic. It was a bad snap but Feagles got it down and Tynes elected to not kick the fucking ball.

So now it’s Chargers ball going the other way. When if they take that penalty, they run on first down and can open the playbook from there. Instead, they limited themselves to all of their run plays and San Diego stacked the box with 8 fellas.

Not to mention after Terrell Thomas returns an interception (a DEFENSIVE play, for all you New York writers who have lost touch with the game) to the Chargers 4 yard line. Then of course, one of the Giants 9 penalties (a sign of a poorly coached program) for 105 yards occurred. Tom Coughlin’s fucking SON IN LAW got a holding penalty and brings them back. With 2:36 left on the clock, Coughlin decides to run the ball twice and throw a conservative pass. NO SHOT AT THE ENDZONE?!? Right now, the Chargers had 2 timeouts, so I understand it. But why wouldn’t you tell Eli (the highest paid QB in the league…whom you don’t trust enough to NOT turn the ball over) if there is nothing available, eat the sack? That would give you the opportunity to burn the timeouts if there is nothing wide open. Or how about a screen pass to Hakeem Nicks which probably has gained them at least 10 yards a play? What about a dump pass to Boss who has held everything that was every thrown at him when he has been getting helmet to helmet collisions? HOW ABOUT ANYTHING IN THE FUCKING WORLD BUT JACOBS UP THE MIDDLE?!?

Brandon Jacobs has been averaging less than 4 yards a carry. 3.9 yards still is a first down every 4 attempts and therefor doesn’t consist of a bad average but I would suggest going with a play that averages a little more than 3.9 yards an attempt. Plus, he was already stuffed on that first drive that I was talking about. He’s running timid. Like he got his bell rung. I don’t understand. He hits the hole and dances around. He used to just blow through it and break arm tackles. Now he gets “tripped up” by his “shoe strings”, something I thought I’d never hear from a 6′4”, 270 pounder that runs lightning fast. He hasn’t even surpassed 100 yards a game this season. Ugh.

You have a QB worth $106 million and you can’t even trust him enough to not throw an interception in the endzone to the leading WR in the country? Or how about a big play threat like Mario Manningham or Hakeem Nicks? What about a physical anomaly like Ramses Barden? Or a guy who has held onto balls through 2 helmet to helmet collisions like Kevin Boss? I’m just saying, Tom Coughlin, if Plaxico Burress was there you would’ve thrown him a fade… If Shockey was there you would have thrown something his way… You have the fucking weapons, use them. And learn how to manage a game of when my billion dollar a year comes through (Mark Cuban, call me I need an investor), I’m going to buy the Giants and make myself the coach.

Recently, John MaCain introduced a bill to congress that would effectively allow Internet service providers to slow down or block Internet content or applications of their choosing. The Internet Freedom Act would allow the big Internet providing companies, such as Time Warner and Comcast, to charge for the amount of bandwidth that individuals use. MaCain believes that by the government interfering with the Internet, it will stifle growth and take jobs away from people. Granted, having the government involved with business is not always a good idea, but aren’t there government regulations on how food is handled and other such areas that I am drawing a blank on.

But in this instance, the government wants stop ISP providers from slowing down or blocking content that put a strain on the network or charging different rates to users. Is that a bad thing? Why would the consumer be upset about having the government step in a stop ISP providers from tiering their services. The FCC is actually trying to protect the Internet!

If it does come down to where companies start tiering there services, then in my opinion, those companies are doomed to fail. New smaller companies will pop up and start offering cheaper services for what the Internet was like when it was free and open to all. So let the ISP companies try to do their worst, because John MaCain might actually be in right in the fact that other companies will come in a steal those dissatisfied customers.

PC Magazine recently had an article about the 5 biggest hopes for Net Neutrality. In order for all of this wonderful Web 2.o stuff to work, the Internet needs to remain free and open to any type of users that are out there. Whether you just use the net for checking the email, skying friends all over the globe or big time gamers that download tons of content the Internet is there for us all. Who knows, one day you may want to start having Skype conversations in class, but you can’t because you can not afford the rates from the ISP providers.

Now I am no expert on this issues, but I have started looking into it and want to know more about what is going to happen down the road. It’s wise to know both sides of the argument and make the best decision there. I kind of feel the MaCain is just trying to throw a curve ball to Obama and mess up his agenda (Gotta love the two party system, but that is a whole other issue). Mark Cuban offers a strange insight on Net Neutrality saying that is will actually benifit comcast, but I can’t follow his analogy of a busy street without the cops to NN. The Internet as we know it may not be around as long as we think. What can we do to make sure there is a change for the positive? How can we help? Cheers!

By Steven Booth

The Yankees just proved it’s them and everyone else. the Phillies never really stood a chance unless they had a couple of Cliff Lee clones hanging around. Pedro Martinez is a great comeback story, but starting in Yankee Stadium with the series on the line?  Charlie Manuel didn’t have a choice. Martinez was his most effective starter besides Lee (A.J. Happ?), and it is more of a statement of the Yankees dominance than anythiong the Phillies did or didn’t do.

They spent the money wisely this year and calmly went about their business of dominating the baseball season. No one had a chance- not the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, or the Angels. The Cardinals would’ve been interesting, but they laid down against the Dodgers, who in turn laid down against the Phillies. Barring significant injuries or decline, the Yanks should win again next year. Teams tend to do funny things in seven and five game series, but anything less than a repeat for the Yankees would be a disappointment.

Meanwhile, back to the Dodgers. Frank McCourt got a little win when a judge agreed with him that he did not have to reinstate Jamie McCourt as CEO. Of course it isn’t that big. The team’s true ownership hasn’t been decided yet, and after all is said and done, there very well may not be anyone named Mc Court in the team’s ownership. If for some reason a very bored Mark Cuban is reading this, please take note.

John Lackey filed for free agency. I’m sure Ned Colletti knows this, so hopefully the owners do too, and are willing to spend a l;ittle cash to bring him over. He is the  solid, durable horse they were missing in the postseason. Lackey would take some of the pressure off Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw to be the aces. It seems the Dodgers dropped the ball on getting Cliff Lee, let’s hope the owners don’t let their public cluster%$#* overtake their aggressiveness in the offseason.

You might say that the Yankees are still sleeping off their championship party hangovers, but other teams are moving. The White Sox bagged Mark Teahen, the Braves signed Tim Hudson to a three-year deal, and the Angels locked up Bobby Abreu for a few more years. While the Yankees are sleeping everyone else should be awake.

BTW, I always thought Tim Lincecum looked like a burner. If he throws like that, so what….

Hi, My name is Jamie Artkin and I want to be a (paid) Mad Man.

We are seeing an increasing amount of money being poured into social media with respect to professional sport leagues. With the cost of a ticket being what it is, the interaction that an organization has with a fan has changed in the last 5-10 years. Teams shifted from trying to get people into the building to multiple revenue stream systems: luxury boxes, restaurants, private suites.

The average fan has been priced out, but the teams still want them to be loyal, i.e. they still want their money, just without their presence in the building. No one will come out and say it directly, but its what they all are thinking.

At this point, the economics of sport are probably not going to change a whole lot, so the strategy has to be to maximize the experience that a fan can have from the comfort of his own home rooting for his favorite team.

1a. Teams need to expand the fan experience online.

Yes, networks and teams alike are experimenting to a certain degree to find the perfect medium of interaction with fans before, during and after games online. Owners like Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks however are pushing the envelope  to give Mavs fans more access and information than any other team in the league. He established the Mavericks social media site: friends.mavs.com, interacts with fans via twitter, @mcuban and also runs a successful blog: Blog Maverick.

What is the purpose of all this? I mean, he is a billionaire and the owner of a professional basketball team. Why is he putting himself within such easy reach of Dallas Mavericks fans? From the beginning of his ownership he has always wanted to maintain his sense of being a fan. He has wanted to provide an experience to his fans that he would find enjoyable and engaging.

Teams are going to see the success of the Mavericks social media effort and should follow suit.

1b. Networks need to expand the fan experience online.

It drives me crazy to see networks and sponsors go half way when trying to promote their brand or product. NBC and TNT have done a good job of transitioning its viewers from television to the internet by offering multiple camera angles and live chats, but there is so much more that can be done.

During the World Series, Fox has the ‘Direct TV Mobile Cam’ which follows a player who has just hit a home run as he rounds third base and heads home. Now I realize that Fox cannot stay with that camera for very long after a player has just crossed home because the next batter is at the plate, but why not take the rest of that action online? Offer instant analysis from a ‘hitting guru’, or during the playoffs have a great home run hitter like Albert Pujols for instance, give his insight about the pitch, the swing and the homerun.

How about one step further, after the analysis from Pujols cut right to the dugout and get the thoughts from the player himself. This is already done between innnings with managers, why not talk to the player after he has taken a seat in the dugout?

Its little things like this, simple really, that will take a fan experience to a whole new level. And lets not limit this to just Major League Baseball. How about talking to a hockey player on the bench right after he has scored a goal, or a quarterback after he throws a touchdown? Yes, these guys are in the middle of the game, but lets be honest, those first few minutes when catching your breath, these guys are talking to their teammates about what just happened on the field.

2. Consumers as content generators.

A phrase that has been used over and over by the likes of Mark Cuban and Washington Capitals owner, Ted Leonsis, the concept is tied to the average consumer creating content and being a champion of your brand. The problem as I see it is this: Owners realize that the economics of sport has caused the average fan to be priced out of the building, but in the same breath, economics is all about incentives. These average fans that the owners are relying on to be content generaters suddenly have no incentive to do so.

I like to call this ‘The Economics of Being a Fan’.

For example, the next generation of sports writers, the young men and women who are say 16-25, for the sake of this argument are interested in Hockey, Basketball, Football and Soccer. Because human nature is predisposed to taking the path of least resistance, is a writer who will have great access to attend games and get additional content going to feed off of that and become the next great Soccer writer, or are they going to be content sitting on their couch and writing about the Toronto Maple Leafs with no idea or image in their head of what it is like ot be in the building?

So yes, it is a great idea to to want to have your consumers as content generators, but if they cannot afford to see your product, where is the incentive for them to engage in your social media efforts?

How far sport has come in the last even five years is astounding. HD picture, multiple camera views, in game sounds, coaches being interviewed during breaks in a game. The industry has come so far, but there is still so much they can still do.

Owners like Mark Cuban and Ted Leonsis continue to push the envelope to make the fan experience that much better, that much sooner. All the while trying to balance the economics of owning a team with the economics of being a fan.

Don’t forget to follow me on twitter, @jamieartkin

Vince Young got only vote of confidence that matters | tennessean.com | The Tennessean.

Bud Adams begins to do a bad impression of Daniel Snyder and Mark Cuban.

You may not see Bud acting out in public, but there is no doubt that he is the man in charge.  This shows me that Jeff Fisher is probably on his way out.

What will come next-will Bud call the plays?

LOL

Mark Cuban is a fan – just like I am. He is an owner and as a fan, he makes bad public relations moves.. this time, he’s dead on.

MAN…. go somewhere with that… I am not a KOBE fan, (well, maybe a little) and if Artest thinks a haircut is going to make for a cohesive team… he better meditate –

……….. IT’S KOBE’S TEAM, Artest better fall in line or Khole Odom will have him dealt with!

Mark Cuban has a nice read over at Blog Maverick that combines a bunch of different ideas we talk about a lot here at NewTeeVee: live entertainment, social TV and participatory media. It’s well worth checking out if you’re interested in any of those topics.

The story focuses around sports TV ratings (they’re up), and in the piece he talks about the participation value of content as it relates to that content’s shelf-life. The longer the shelf-life, Cuban posits, the lower the participation value. He writes:

At the top of the scale are games/shows/movies/events that potential viewers have predicted to have high participation value. These are events that we look forward to not only watching or attending, but that we plan in advance how we are going to extend our participation. We may plan on tweeting about it or posting a facebook update because we know our friends are there and we are bragging to each other, while at the same time showing off to friends who cant be there. Think going to the opening of Cowboys stadium, or going to a concert or opening night of a movie, or watching the big game.

As we’ve written, hobbies like fantasy sports have helped spur interest in football. Fans are no longer interested in just the home game, they are interested in every game, and checking stats throughout the week. That fantasy fever is spreading beyond sports and into other entertainment arenas. Cuban’s piece also reinforces how viewing no longer ends with the screen in front of you on the couch. Our experience extends as we Tweet or Facebook about what we are watching.

Live entertainment is certainly a catalyst for these types of participation as viewer attention is focused on the same thing at the same time and at the same place. The participation may drop off as you move away from live entertainment, but fan communities around shows like Lost, and Star Wars have shown that there are social and participatory opportunities for more on-demand content as well.

Moving countries throws a lot of habits out of the window. Some I’m more than happy to lose and have replaced them with much healthier ones like walking 4 miles a day (the dogs like it too). My magazine habit is tricky as air freight on some of my favourite titles means that they cost as much as NZ$20 per issue. That sure makes you think, do I really want this? Or, should I subscribe (only one title has made it over that fence so far – Vanity Fair).

As a side issue, international subscription for magazines is a really poor experience. Conde Nast and other really need to examine that experience as it’s far from optimal. The focus is on local subscribers, which while I understand, completely drives me nuts as I’m in New Zealand not New Jersey (thank goodness).

However, what has changed most is my TV viewing habits. In the UK, I used a PVR extensively, so much so that I didn’t know when programmes were originally broadcast. I simply would scan papers, sites etc to find out about new shows, try one, if I liked it then record the series. That way, in typical PVR fashion, I would watch what I wanted when I wanted. Of course, for advertisers I was a nightmare, flicking straight over the ads. Heck, I even learned how to time my fast forward so I could jump from the start of the ad break to the end. Interestingly I would be exposed to the show’s sponsors but would miss all the 30-second slots in-between.

Moving to New Zealand stripped me of that equipment – it’s available but I’m still sorting out other ’stuff’. So, I was back in the analogue world of scheduling etc. Choices of programmes and channels aside, I tried, really tried to get back to the ‘old’ way of watching a programme when a channel had decided to schedule it but after only 8 weeks it’s all broken down and I’ve given up on TV and stick to web (and not TVNZ’s on demand service – it’s impossible to use) and DVDs.

I simply can’t go back (bit like flying business class on a plane). I’ll get TiVO or (spits on ground) Sky and go back to PVR viewing. That freedom of choice and timing is too damn good to give up, and it’s not to skip ads. I perfectly understand their purpose but as mentioned it seems pointless when you don’t have to so that model will have to change to capture my eyeballs.

That said, there will always be those scheduled events – sports and other live events – that will draw me back to analog TV but those are few and far between. Especially in New Zealand, where Sky’s locked them down even more tightly than in the UK. Way to go sports bodies – figured out why participation and attendances are dropping yet?

And those ‘watercooler’ moments aren’t gone but now tend to be focused on what I called passion points where you are really excited about something televisual but they tend to be more about series as a whole rather than the latest micro event in Coronation Street et all.

Is this a common thing, of course not yet. Adoption of these technologies is growing but by no means universal but that simply frees up conversation time for more meaningful things for now

Mark Cuban has covered the business side of things for PVRs vs Internet video on his blog and good reading it makes too.

20. J.E. Skeets: @jeskeets

- Skeets runs the Yahoo Sports NBA blog Ball Don’t Lie, a great source of NBA stories and articles. Some hip-hop stuff on his Twitter too.

19. Stephon Marbury: @StarburyMarbury

- I know he doesn’t play in the League anymore, but this is worth it for the unintentional comedy alone. Seems like it is mostly responses to Starbury haters, but he drops some definite pearls of wisdom too.

18. Rick Kamla: @NBATVRick

- From NBA TV, Kamla delivers the passion for hoops, both real-life and fantasy. I rank him as the #1 source for fantasy basketball analysis.

17. Dwyane Wade: @dwadeofficial

- “Flash” is a perennial MVP candidate and a potential FA after the season. He updates regularly and it should be an interesting read as the the season progresses.

16. Henry Abbott: @TrueHoop

- Henry runs ESPN’s TrueHoop Blog and he is on top of everything related to the NBA. He is a Kobe hater and a Blazers homer, so be wary, but his daily NBA links are can’t miss.

15. Blake Griffin: @blakegriffin

- The consensus lock for ROY, the #1 pick will have a huge impact on the Clips. Follow Blake for the rookie perspective.

14. Kenny Smith: @TheJetOnTNT

- Would love to be able to say Charles Barkley was representing the TNT family on Twitter, but the Jet will have to do. Should be some good comedy on here during TNT broadcasts, and would love to hear him Tweet on Sir Charles wanting to be a GM.

13. Dwight Howard: @DwightHoward

- Superman 2.0 has over 1 million followers and has sent almost 7,000 tweets, showing that blocked shots and rebounds aren’t the only categories where he puts up huge numbers.

12. Marc Stein: @STEIN_LINE_HQ

Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash’s favourite reporter, Steiny-Mo offers insider info on the Mavs and all things NBA, as well as a little Manchester City soccer for those interested.

11. Chris Paul: @Oneandonlycp3

- The league’s best point guard and a Jordan Brand athlete. Two good reasons to follow him right there. Does some contests and updates regularly.

10. Baron Davis: @Baron_Davis

- B-Dizzle was looking good when I saw him in Vancouver for Nash’s charity soccer game, and all indications are that he is going to have a rebound year for the much-improved Clippers. He is also quite the character, so check his feed for random B Davis productions and general tomfoolery.

9. Chad Ford: @chadfordinsider

- ESPN NBA Mock Draft master dishes some good insider knowledge.

8. Lamar Odom: @RealLamarOdom

- Lamar might not have made this list a month ago, but with his new found popularity amongst the TMZ crowd, his feed should be a good source of gossip. He also has a bird’s eye view into the Lake Show and it will be interesting to see his tweets about old friend and new Laker Ron Artest.

7. Kevin Durant: @KevinDurant35

2009-10 has been anointed as the year of KD, so follow him now so you can see the rise of an NBA superstar through the prism that is Twitter. Too bad he plays for the Zombie Sonics. And if you haven’t watched “Sonicsgate”, please do yourself a favour and watch it for free here.

6. Daryl Morey: @dmorey

- Morey, or “Dork Elvis”, is the only NBA GM who has a Twitter account, and he is quite active on it. Worth following for the insider access to a team from an executive POV, and that doesn’t even consider the fact that DM is a stats guru who loves himself some bball metrics. For basketball nerds only.

5. Mark Cuban: @mcuban

- Pro sports most out-spoken owner is a Twitter fanatic, posting his thoughts on the Mavs, the NBA, HDNet, UFC and his blog. You never know what he is going to say next, and most of the time it is really thought-provoking stuff. Like him or not, his Twitter feed is one of the best out there.

4. Steve Nash: @the_real_nash

Captain Canada and 2-time MVP Steve Nash has quite a web presence, from his vids with Baron Davis and Vitamin Water, his movie production (ESPN 30 for 30) and his various philanthropic endeavors, he is everywhere. Well, you can get a concentrated dose of all things Nasty Nash from his Twitter feed.

3. Shaquille O’Neal: @THE_REAL_SHAQ

- The man who put Twitter on the map. Enough said.

2. Ron Artest: @96TruwarierQB

- The craziest man in the NBA also has one of the craziest Twitter feeds (go figure). He is on Twitter a lot, doing everything from sharing hip-hop tracks to announcing milkshake giveaways. I think he is on his 3rd Twitter profile by now, so make sure you keep up-to-date on the account he is currently using. But much like Ocho Cinco in the NFL, this is one athlete who everyone on Twitter should follow.

1. Bill Simmons: @sportsguy33

- Say what you want about his Boston bias but the Sports Guy is THE source for all things basketball. He drops knowledge like a broken bookshelf at the Library of Congress and his articles are always good for some laugh-out-loud moments. He’s been all over Twitter lately, so expect lots of couch-side and court-side tweets throughout the season. And go buy his new book.

UPDATE: For more insight into NBA players and Twitter, check out this amazingly detailed article on the most popular players/teams on Twitter. Stats a plenty.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is taking a stand and speaking out for a moderated steroid use policy. When speaking at a forum at the University of Pittsburg he told a group of university students that he is in favor of supervised steroid use for athletes. Now, how do you supervise something as unpredictable as steroids, specific steroids react to the human body differently than others, and the purpose of exiling steroids all together is because you don’t want to force anyone who doesn’t want to use steroids to begin using them because of the competitive disadvantage.

While speaking Cuban made a suggestion “that athletes could use steroids to recover from injuries as long as a doctor is supervising the programme and it could be insured there were no long-term harmful side effects.” OK Mr. Cuban just two things wrong with this suggestion, one even if athletes were allowed to us steroids to recover from injuries faster, they would come back stronger and better than before, therefore causing a competitive disadvantage. And two, once an athlete is on steroids their body becomes more dependent and more susceptible to break down so their really is no way to insure that their will be no long term side effects. I see what he’s trying to do and where he’s going with this, but there is no way you can regulate something that not everyone is using because it creates to much controversy. The next thing you know you’ll have guys faking injuries so that they can get steroids “legally” and then you get those owners who will do anything to win and now they have a say in who gets steroids. It would just be too much for the league to regulate and the risk outweigh the reward.