Mark Cuban: The Lesson Of Happy Gilmore and Pro Sports Marketing in the 21st Century

190Octane

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Jun 28, 2002
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But how can you have any sort of emotion or suspense in a sport without the possibility of the opponents killing each other?

Think of what's going through the batter's mind...

The NASCAR driver's mind...

The quarterback's mind...

The striker's mind...

Nope, can't have any suspense or excitement in sports without the possibility of a fight. Heck, once they took fighting out of basketball, nobody watched. Ditto with soccer, err, football...

I understand completely, that's why I'm all about hard hits and passionate fights. I'm not all about someone like Boogard running around with no skill. I'm a big fan of tough guys with skill who will stand up for their teammates... I'm not a fan of a goon running around cheapshotting people and fighting scripted fights with no purpose.

I know that people are going to come in and say that the scripted fights have a purpose of firing up the team and that is crap. An Ivanans-Boogard fight might please fans of hockey fights but does that really swing momentum in a game? Real momentum swingers are when guys like Mark Bell or Jerome Iginla or Chris Kunitz or someone along those lines drops the mitts to get his team fired up.

That aspect of Iginla's games is why he's one of my favorite players when he's not playing the Ducks and I hate him when the Ducks are playing him.
 

GSC2k2*

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I understand completely, that's why I'm all about hard hits and passionate fights. I'm not all about someone like Boogard running around with no skill. I'm a big fan of tough guys with skill who will stand up for their teammates... I'm not a fan of a goon running around cheapshotting people and fighting scripted fights with no purpose.

I know that people are going to come in and say that the scripted fights have a purpose of firing up the team and that is crap. An Ivanans-Boogard fight might please fans of hockey fights but does that really swing momentum in a game? Real momentum swingers are when guys like Mark Bell or Jerome Iginla or Chris Kunitz or someone along those lines drops the mitts to get his team fired up.

That aspect of Iginla's games is why he's one of my favorite players when he's not playing the Ducks and I hate him when the Ducks are playing him.
Man, did you ever apparently miss the boat on Timmy's sarcasm.
 

Timmy

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Feb 2, 2005
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Man, did you ever apparently miss the boat on Timmy's sarcasm.

Hey, I resent that.

I watch car racing for the crashes, not to see who wins.

I watch baseball for benchclearing brawls after hit batters, not for the home runs, pitching duels, and managers' strategies.

I watch soccer for the head-butts, and I've remained faithful to the NFL, hoping for a repeat of The Theisman Incident.

Basketball is made much more exciting by the prospect of player/fan interaction, and hockey is made much more exciting by the prospect of someone who can't take a clean body check deciding to pummel his opponent.

My team's actually scoring more goals than their opponent takes a backseat to how many of the opposing players wind up with stitches, and Bettman has taken that aspect out of the game. :(
 

grego

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Jan 12, 2005
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Saskatchewan
Cuban's idea may get more new fans, but it would piss off the old fans.


I like the fact that hockey players have some class, and they don't act like a bunch of losers. Do we want to lose the recognition that hockey players are some of the nicest guys and they don't have attitude? Is that a good thing.

NBA and some of those leagues have almost become the WWE but the main difference is the outcome of the match isn't known for sure.

Keep the NHL classy and don't worry about staying trendy to these silly fads that the media wants in a league to give it some press.
 

StevenintheATL

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Jun 12, 2004
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Mark does bring up some very good points. While there are "personalities" in the NHL, the width and breadth of said personalities is pretty much contained within the various hockey forums as the folks on those forums are the ones that tend to remember the incidents (Like Kovalchuk's (in)famous pointing at Crosby). In quite a few NHL cities, a teams' star player(s) could walk through a crowded mall and not even have someone recognize them; meanwhile a star player from the local MLB, NFL, or NBA team does. The NHL is still searching for the new face of the league, the problem is there are too many players out there that could lay claim to the title.

Like the old story goes, "I went to a hockey game and a fight broke out...." Fighting is the general reputation hockey got because of the donnybrooks of the 1970s. Look at how the crowd stands up when two players drop the gloves and go toe to toe. This is our version of Roman gladiator battles. People love to watch fights. Just as some folks watch car races for the crashes.

While I would love to see the league get more "personality", I sure don't want it to turn into a "thug league", which is a reputation the NBA is getting because of the almost annual bench clearing brawls.
 

geezette

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Jun 9, 2006
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30 yrs in the minors
Mark Cuban is right about the behaviors in the NBA and NFL generating publicity. However, shooting someone's grandmother also generates publicity. It's just not something we care to have happening
Lets keep Hockey players in a community as good citizens and maybe role models instead of show off jerks.

Also, the NHL is not at death's door. There are quite a few teams making money. and there are fewer teams losing than in past years.
One of the worst things in hockey in the 70's were the obligatory bench clearig brawls. There might be a real fight going on, but everyone had to come off the bench and grab a partner for the ten minute waltz. Also, someone scored a goal and the bench cleared for the high fives, hugs, and pats. That took a few minutes as well. So if you had 2 fights and a 6 goal night, the game would drag on forever.
There, did I cover all the topics this evolved into. Oh yes, geezers, Mr. post-40. I could be your momma.
 

Dolemite

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Cuban is a smart guy but I don't think he understands hockey.

Yes he does. You just don't understand marketing just like the NHL doesn't. The funny thing is that Theo Fleury said pretty much the same thing in an interview with TSN.

Cuban couldn't be more on the mark with his blog. The problem is that the NHL is old. Old ideas, old marketing, old attitudes about promoting the game.
 

Dolemite

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I'm not all about someone like Boogard running around with no skill. I'm a big fan of tough guys with skill who will stand up for their teammates... I'm not a fan of a goon running around cheapshotting people and fighting scripted fights with no purpose.


That's not what Cuban is saying. I'm willing to bet you haven't seen a game with contests between two combustible players battling during a game.
 

Pepper

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Aug 30, 2004
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I understand completely, that's why I'm all about hard hits and passionate fights. I'm not all about someone like Boogard running around with no skill. I'm a big fan of tough guys with skill who will stand up for their teammates... I'm not a fan of a goon running around cheapshotting people and fighting scripted fights with no purpose.

So who are these goons who run around cheapshotting people??

I know that people are going to come in and say that the scripted fights have a purpose of firing up the team and that is crap.

It's crap to you only because you don't understand it.

An Ivanans-Boogard fight might please fans of hockey fights but does that really swing momentum in a game? Real momentum swingers are when guys like Mark Bell or Jerome Iginla or Chris Kunitz or someone along those lines drops the mitts to get his team fired up.

Well if Boogard is running around and one of your guys challenge the toughest player in the league, it does send a message and it does fire up the bench. Not everytime but very often.
 

190Octane

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So who are these goons who run around cheapshotting people??

It's crap to you only because you don't understand it.

Well if Boogard is running around and one of your guys challenge the toughest player in the league, it does send a message and it does fire up the bench. Not everytime but very often.

No, I understand fighting's place in the game perfectly well. It's my opinion that hockey players should actually be able to play the game of hockey besides just dropping the gloves. Take a guy like Probert for example... he actually scored more than 15 goals in season 4 times.

I understand dropping the gloves to turn the tide of a game but guys like Boogaard and Ivanans dropping the gloves doesn't really do much of one thing or the other. The fights that get the benches going are guys who don't drop every game or every other game, not two enforcers dropping just to keep each other in the league.
 

Dolemite

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No, I understand fighting's place in the game perfectly well. It's my opinion that hockey players should actually be able to play the game of hockey besides just dropping the gloves. Take a guy like Probert for example... he actually scored more than 15 goals in season 4 times.

I understand dropping the gloves to turn the tide of a game but guys like Boogaard and Ivanans dropping the gloves doesn't really do much of one thing or the other. The fights that get the benches going are guys who don't drop every game or every other game, not two enforcers dropping just to keep each other in the league.

Read Cubans comments again. You are making the wrong conclusions about his comments.
 

Timmy

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I personally think that in post-game interviews, players aren't thanking God or Jesus enough for their victories, which makes them appear extremely selfish.

A lot more thanks to the Folks Above might just connect with some segments of the viewing public, as it has done with other sports.
 

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