Mark Cuban looks like a genius right now. His Dallas Mavericks secured a playoff spot, and will begin defense of their title next weekend. I find it humerus that Dallas won this year in spite of Cuban, not because of him....but he will still get all of the credit. The eccentric Mavs owner made a bold decision to blow up the championship unit from a year ago, refusing to re-sign several key pieces like center Tyson Chandler in an attempt to get higher profile players in the future. The not so subtle move sent shock waves throughout the Metroplex last December, as MFFL's (Mavs Fans For Life) cried foul that Cuban would throw away a legitimate chance to defend their first ever championship. I am also sure that aging superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd were not amused that their short window for continued success was not being closed by father time, but from inside the house.
I give ALL of the credit to the Mavericks players and coaching staff for pulling together amidst a season full of distractions. Hopefully Cuban will be humble enough to know that he is extremely fortunate to be in this situation, and won't make the same mistakes that a fellow Dallas owner made during the Cowboys rise in the 90's.......
After back to back titles in 92 and 93, Dallas Cowboy owner and general manager Jerry Jones started smelling himself (that's new school for becoming cocky by the way). And who could blame him at the time? He made the controversial move to first...fire legendary head coach Tom Landry. Then he engineered a blockbuster trade to send star running back Herschel Walker to Minnesota for (an unheard of) five players and six draft pics. Those pics ultimately laid the foundation for the Cowboys return to glory. Landry was replaced by Jimmy Johnson, and Walker was replaced by a guy named Emmitt Smith. Jerry had the magic touch...don't believe me? Just ask him.
Jones became so arrogant that he let a phenomenal coach in Jimmy Johnson go, stating that "anyone" could win with the talent he provided. That controversial move also sent shock waves through the Metroplex. Jerry, like Cuban, looked like a genius when Barry Switzer took basically the same team to another title in 95. That was a gift and a curse for the Cowboys, as Jones' out of control ego has lead to one questionable riverboat gamble after another since. The Cowboys have not sniffed an nfc championship game, let alone Super Bowl since either. I always wondered what would have happened if the Steelers won that Super Bowl in 95. Would Jerry Jones have been humbled enough to hire a general manager? We'll never know. As for Cuban, his team also bailed him out this time, let's see if he handles it any better than Jones. Follow @plcolter
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