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Too Much Free Time

by Mike Masnick

Fri, Jun 24th 2011 5:36am




Filed Under:
dallas mavericks, legal filings, mark cuban, ross perot jr.

Companies:
world champion dallas mavericks


Greatest Legal Filing Ever? Mark Cuban Files Photo Of Mavs Championship In Response To Charges He Mismanaged The Team

from the slam-dunk dept

In what may be one of the best legal filings I've ever seen, it appears that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban couldn't resist filing a somewhat snarky motion for summary judgment in a case brought against him last year by (5% owner) Ross Perot Jr., claiming that Cuban had mismanaged the basketball team, and that it had caused the club to "lose substantial investment value." Obviously, if you pay attention at all to the NBA, you would know that the Mavericks recently beat the Miami Heat to win the Championship. The filing makes sure that's clear, by always referring to the team as "the World Champion Dallas Mavericks." The key page of the filing is page two. I've got the whole thing embedded below, but here's the key part:

When asked about the use of "the World Champion Dallas Mavericks" eight times in the four page filing, Cuban's lawyer explained: "We put that in there eight times because nine was too many, and seven wasn't enough." This case seems like a slam dunk.

31 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Dear Mark....

    icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 5:51am

    Really? You couldn't beat out Tom Ricketts to buy my Cubs? Maybe you could now, now that the value for the team has been thrown into so much doubt? Maybe you need a helmeted mascot?

    Love,

    Dark Helmet

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    icon
    Chris ODonnell (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:04am

    I think the issue with the Cubs is that the other owners were working together to make sure Cuban didn't win. The last thing the old boys club wanted was somebody like Cuban coming in and screwing with the status quo.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    icon
    E. Zachary Knight (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:10am

    That was pretty clever. I like his moxy.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Thank you, Mike, for NOTHING,

    identicon
    Jason, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:15am

    ...nothing could have been better with my morning coffee. Thank you.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:21am

    He proves only that even a blind mouse occassionally finds the cheese.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:24am

    Someone has never seen Slap Shot...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    Best lawyer response ever

    identicon
    Glen, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:28am

    And I mean EVER!!!! I can't think of a better way to start the day.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  

    Re:

    icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:32am

    "I think the issue with the Cubs is that the other owners were working together to make sure Cuban didn't win."

    That's absolutely what happened. Hell, the NBA didn't even want him, short-sighted gits that they are....

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    WGAF

    identicon
    darryl, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:35am

    From the "who gives a flying F#cK Dept" !!

    That's what it should be under !!!!

    Quiet news week Mike ?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    Re: WGAF

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 6:51am

    I know, it's so lame you couldn't even be bothered to comment on it.

    Oh wait.....

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  

    Re: WGAF

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:02am

    You must be a Lebronz Jamez fan.

    But other than that, i agree with you.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    Questions

    icon
    The Infamous Joe (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:03am

    Is that picture now in the public domain? Did he secure the rights to use it?

    These are the questions that go through my mind now, thanks to you, Mike. I hope you're happy.

    Stupid copyright system...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    Re:

    identicon
    ds, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:06am

    this

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  

    Re: WGAF

    identicon
    darrylz, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:19am

    Damnit Masnick, this is fun and good!! I hate fun and good!!! Give me more twisted sad pathetic, damnit!@!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  

    Re: Dear Mark....

    identicon
    Brian, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:24am

    I'm hoping and praying he will buy the Dodgers.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  

    Re:

    icon
    harbingerofdoom (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:42am

    you dont win a championship by being lucky.
    especially in a playoff series where each round has a 'best of' where you have to win multiple games.

    the closest thing to that is the lakers getting lucky enough to have the refs choak on their whistles every time shaq stepped over the line on a freethrow (which was pretty much damn near every free throw he took when he was with the lakers). but still.... you dont get to the playoffs without being a solid organization from player to office personnel. end of story.

    you may not like cuban (hell, i dont care for him much myself) but you dont build a team that goes to the playoffs as many times as they have since he bought them by being lucky.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  

    Re: Re: Dear Mark....

    icon
    FormerAC (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:48am

    Dream on ...

    Mark Cuban would buy the Cubs or Dodgers in a heartbeat. Baseball has said no. Baseball thinks Mr. Cuban would be bad for the league.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  

    Re: Best lawyer response ever

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 7:57am

    Nah, the one in Arkell v. Pressdram is still the best one.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  

    Re: WGAF

    icon
    Trails (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 8:52am

    Dear Darryl,

    Go the F**ck to Sleep.

    - Trails

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  20.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 9:02am

    My thought is that the team is a business and Perot is an investor who's primary goal may be to make money not earn trophies. Cuban may be happy with the Mav's making less money or appreciating less value in exchange for the trophy.

    While on-court success is great it doesn't preclude mismanagement from a business perspective. Of course this doesn't make the filing any less funny for the rest of us:)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  21.  

    Silly question

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 9:15am

    What is the objective of a basketball team?

    Should it be to win the championship as shown on page 2 of the filing?

    Or does Mr Perot Jr/Hillwood Investment, the plaintiff, believe it should be to maximize profits in order to preserve investment value of the business...


    Side note: I never knew that the Mavericks Management was so "Radical"...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  22.  

    Re:

    icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 9:34am

    "My thought is that the team is a business and Perot is an investor who's primary goal may be to make money not earn trophies."

    Then he's an idiot. The vast majority of sports franchises are not profitable. Setting aside the NFL for a moment, because they're a completely different animal, something like 21 of the 30 NBA teams lost money every time they played a game this past season. It's for this reason that the owners are asking the players to take a 30-40% bath on their salaries starting next year, which is why there will be no NBA basketball next season.

    Baseball is in a slightly less dyer, but similar, situation, with MLB taking ownership of some teams, all kinds of teams in huge trouble (like the Mets, thanks to Madoff).

    And don't even get me started on Hockey. That's a league BEGGING for contraction...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  23.  

    Re:

    icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 10:01am

    My thought is that the team is a business and Perot is an investor who's primary goal may be to make money not earn trophies. Cuban may be happy with the Mav's making less money or appreciating less value in exchange for the trophy.

    Do you realize how much trophies actually help a team make money? It increases their draw, it increases the rate the team can charge sponsors. It can increase ticket prices while more fans want to go.

    Trophies are a good way to make money.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  24.  

    Re: WGAF

    icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 10:02am

    From the "who gives a flying F#cK Dept" !!

    That's what it should be under !!!!

    That's why it's currently the second most popular story today. Clearly, no one cares.

    Quiet news week Mike ?


    Nope. The exact opposite. Why do you ask?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  25.  

    Re: Re: WGAF

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 11:39am

    The second most popular story today?! ZOMG! What, a couple dozen views then?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  26.  

    “World Champion”?

    identicon
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 11:52am

    Which other countries did they beat, then?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  27.  

    Re: “World Champion”?

    identicon
    Stephen, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 12:15pm

    Canada!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  28.  

    Re: Re: Re: WGAF

    icon
    The eejit (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 1:24pm

    I've already looked a thousand times. Sorry, Mike!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  29.  

    Re: Re:

    identicon
    Jeff Rife, Jun 24th, 2011 @ 1:40pm

    The San Francisco Giants are a classic example of this.

    After winning the World Series last year, their average attendance is up 11% (37,499 to 41,711).

    The Texas Rangers are doing even better (up 20%) having lost to the Giants.

    Both of these are far better than the average, which is down a bit this year.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  30.  

    Re: Re: Re: WGAF

    icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), Jun 24th, 2011 @ 1:48pm

    The second most popular story today?! ZOMG! What, a couple dozen views then?


    Yes. You found me out. This blog is not at all popular. No one reads it at all.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  31.  

    Re: Re: “World Champion”?

    icon
    Jay (profile), Jun 25th, 2011 @ 6:08am

    You do NOT want Canada to lose...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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