Mark Cuban wins Court Battle, Rd. 1

Months ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban avoided a loss of $750,000 from stocks, but selling about 600,000 shares, or a 6.3% stake in the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against Cuban for insider trading. Today, Cuban is free of the litigation, for now.

On Friday, a federal judge granted a dismissal of the civil lawsuit against Cuban for insider trading in SEC v. Cuban, 08-cv-2050, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas). The company involved was an Internet search engine company known as "Mamma.com, Inc.". Cuban's lawyers argued on his behalf that Cuban wasn't legally an "insider" of the company.

It's still possible the SEC could refile this case, so stay tuned for more madness from the Blogger Maverick, Cuban...

Read more about Cuban's victory in court here at Bloomberg.com.

Mark Cuban's Blog Apology to K-Mart

During Game 3 Saturday between the Mavericks and Nuggets, always feisty and loud-mouthed GM/fan Mark Cuban took his ranting to a whole nother level. A questionable call occurred towards the end of the contest in which Cuban went off on the officials, a camerman, and of course the opposite team. On his way out, Mark Cuban also said something to Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin's mother Lydia Moore who was seated up in the stands. According to the guys on TNT, Cuban basically told K-Mart's mom that her son was a "punk & a thug". Mama K-Mart smiled at him as she was still beaming from the Nuggets' victory, but Kenyon Martin was obviously unhappy with the comments directed towards his mother. TNT analyst Charles Barkley noted that Cuban was wrong in what he said because you just don't direct comments at player's family members.

During Game 4, the Mavs pulled off a two point win, but Kenyon Martin decided to yell a few comments of his own at Mark Cuban which include some choice expletives. It was also reported that during the game, Carmelo Anthony's girlfriend was harassed by fans to the point she had to leave her seat.

A day later since the Cuban-Moore incident has continuously been televised and debated, Mark Cuban has issued a public apology on his blog. Cuban says:

So at this point I would like to apologize to you and your mom KMart for my comment. I should have not said anything and I was wrong. Hopefully you will accept the apology and we can move on.

When the series comes back to Dallas, your family, and the family of other Nuggets players are welcome to stay in my suite, with my family. Its amazing how tempers mellow when real people talk to each other and realize that its still just a game.

If that isn’t acceptable, I’m happy to provide a suite, free of charge to them as well and place whatever security is needed to make them feel comfortable.

Cuban goes on to discuss alternate arrangements, security details and more of the heartfelt apology here. The Mavs managed to stay alive in the series with their Game 4 win in Dallas, but following the game Kenyon Martin decided to prove to Cuban and everyone else he's not a punk or thug. There was reportedly amicable discussion between Martin's family members and a senior executive from the Mavs after the game. In case you're waiting for Round 3 of Cuban vs. K-Mart, Cuban wisely has an excuse to not be present at Game 5 as he'll be receiving a prestigious digital media award.

More about this story at NBAFanhouse.com

Mark Cuban Insider Trading Charges Filed

In breaking news Monday, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been charged by the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) with Insider Trading. According to the charges, the internet entrepreneur was privy to knowledge that a private offering of a search engine company, Mamma.com (now Copernic), was going to decrease the value of his 600,000 shares. Cuban then sold off his stake in the company, saving the Maverick owner $750,000.

From SEC's Official Press Release:

The complaint alleges that Cuban violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Commission's complaint seeks to permanently enjoin Cuban from future violations of the federal securities laws, disgorgement (with prejudgment interest), and a financial penalty.

From Wired.com:

"As we allege in the complaint, Mamma.com entrusted Mr. Cuban with nonpublic information after he promised to keep the information confidential. Less than four hours later, Mr. Cuban betrayed that trust by placing an order to sell all of his shares," said Scott W. Friestad, deputy director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement."It is fundamentally unfair for someone to use access to nonpublic information to improperly gain an edge on the market."

Cuban, who is involved in a number of ventures and is currently trying to buy the Chicago Cubs baseball team, is also the majority partner of sharesleuth.com, an independent web-based reporting site aimed at exposing securities fraud and corporate chicanery.

Cuban gave the following very brief statement in his blog entry called "The SEC" over at Blogmaverick.com:

I wish I could say more, but I will have to leave it to this, and let the judicial process do its job.

See SEC official press release here.

Cuban Calls 2007-08 Best Season

Maverick owner and blogger extraordinaire, Mark Cuban, has pronounced the 2007-08 NBA season as the best NBA season ever. Cuban cites the following:

This season, at least in the Western Conference, no one is going to ask the question of whether the regular season is important. For the remainder of this season, EVERY game is important. Every team will have their up and down streaks simply because its going to be hard to play playoff quality basketball for 40 games. Back to back games in the West are going to be brutal.

Cuban also mentions that in the West there are 10 teams just 7 games apart in terms of rankings. A 5 or 6 game losing streak could possibly send a Western team out of playoff contention. So he just might have a good point there, although Cuban loves to hype the league and his team.

On another note, the Celtics continue to stay perfect against West teams by beating Cuban's very own Dallas Mavs. The game came down to the final minute in Boston, with Rajon Rondo hitting a huge scoop shot, and Jason Terry being unable to hit a shot on the other end. Celts win 96-90 and show that they can compete with the West. And KG wasn't even in the lineup. Imagine that.

The NBA Gets Busy!

It's becoming a very busy time now as the NBA preseason has swung into full gear. A few teames are competing against foreign opponents or in foreign territory. Andrea Bargnani scored 23 points, but the Raptors fell to Real Madrid, 104-103 last night. Zach Randolph finished with 15 points to help the Knicks defeat Maccabi, 112-85, Thursday in a game with the game's proceeds going straight to disadvantaged children in Israel. Yao Ming scored 21 points and had eight rebounds to help the Houston Rockets beat Euroleague champion Panathinaikos of Greece 107-70 in an exhibition game Thursday night.

The Celtics also are looking good (as many expected), with a 92-81 win over KG's previous team, the Timberwolves in London, England. Ray Allen was lead scorer with 28 points while Paul Pierce just had 11 and Kevin Garnett just 9. Both KG and Pierce played 2 more minutes than Allen. And people questioned Ray's ankles, criticizing the Celtics for taking this talent. Then again it is preseson so expect the big 3 to all become scoring machines. View the NBA preseason standings here.

Also going on is ABC's hit show, "Dancing with the Stars" where NBA Dallas Mavs owner, Mark Cuban, is amongst the contestants. Cuban avoidedelimination on the latest episode. More than he can say for his Mavericks in the playoffs last year, but it's a whole new season coming up! The NBA season begins in just 18 days!

The World of NBA Tycoon, Mark Cuban

The Canadian Press has an interesting write up on Mark Cuban, discussing how the billionaire has the money to do anything he wants these days, allowing him to "live the life" so to speak.

From canadianpress.google.com:

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said this week after announcing his latest venture, HDNet Fights, a marriage between his high-definition satellite TV network and the growing world of mixed martial arts.

"I like to do things that are unique and different and once-in-a-lifetime chances. And when I get to tie them all together, that's the ultimate solution."

Just his luck, plenty of those "ultimate solutions" have come along lately.

Starting a week from Monday, Cuban will be part of the new season of "Dancing With The Stars." He's doing it even though he had hip replacement surgery earlier this summer. (Dang rugby injuries.)

Read the full article on Mark Cuban here.

The article also discusses how Cuban has racked up more than a million dollars in various NBA fines. Cuban is definitely living the life, but you'd have to wonder if he still can use his power, money and influence to finally bring Dallas that NBA title they had been so close to just 2 years ago.

Dallas Stars Advertising Humor

A bit of an NHL tie-in to the whole Tim Donaghy NBA referee scandal here. The Dallas Stars decided to use some advertising on a billboard (above) involving the NBA's latest problem.

From dallasnews.com:

"If you've seen the billboard near American Airlines Center, you might think the Stars should be sent to the penalty box for slashing another sport when it's down.

Or you could soak in the message – "The only thing our refs shave is the ice" – and do what Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did.

Laugh.

"I think it's hysterical," Cuban said. "Good for them. It's a fun ad."

NBA commissioner David Stern isn't laughing. But then, how many Stars home games was he going to attend anyway? "

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They often say controversy creates cash. In this case, Dallas Stars are looking for more fans to show up for their games. However, something to ponder- who's to say how many other professional refs may have ever been involved in "fixing" games or point spreads?

Check out the full article from Dallas News.