The Pennsylvania native has been in town since 1982 and has embraced the city with all his heart, and talent, since. Not many were surprised when the NBA Championship Dallas Mavericks owner stepped for a city-in-need-of-an-annual-parade and scored another three-pointer for us.
After all, he did the same thing for the City of Dallas AFTER his own basketball team won the national championship, which, as most know, brought millions of dollars in revenue to said city even BEFORE they won.
No money for a parade? What kind of “championship city” are you?” the nation/world would have asked Mayor Mike Rawlings and the rest of the Dallas City Council.
“A broke one,” the ashamed citizens of Dallas would have had to respond to a stunned, but not surprised, world.
But no, St. Mark, Patron Saint of All Things Fun in Dallas (as I have officially renamed him) saved the day. Again.
How does it feel to be granted that title, I asked Cuban during an e-mail conversation this week?
“I’m good with it,” he replied with a :).
Though he turned down the honor of being Grand Marshall, he may show up for the festivities. But he can’t stay for the after party on Lower Greenville (ironically hosted by the past sponsor of the actual parade, the Dallas Observer, who pulled their funding to throw their own party at the end of the parade route). He’s got a MAVS game that night with the Spurs!
You go, Mark! Your quick response to my inquiries and kind spirit in addressing my questions was impressive. But your obvious love for the city and its traditions was apparent.
“What suggestions would you give the leaders of the City of Dallas on how they can better run their “company?” I asked.
“Running a city is a completely different animal. I’m not qualified to comment,” he answered honestly.
“Are you involved in any plans to help generate funds to pay for next year’s parade, so you don’t have to?” was my next question.
“Not at this point,” he admitted.
The former Lakewood resident (he lived on Bob-O-Link in the 80s) said he loved the area. But when I asked if he ever thought of running for a political office he quickly responded: “Yep. And then my wife woke me up from the nightmare I was having :).”
OK. So he had brought his family into it. Now I had to make it personal, too. He knew I owned the White Rock Lake Weekly, so, as a fellow business owner and lover of the TV show “Shark Tank,” which he appears on, I had to ask: “Some believe ‘real newspapers’ are a dying breed. Do you?”
“No,” he wrote. “I think their [big city newspapers'] legacy costs have gotten them in trouble, but a well-run, cost-contained [community] newspaper like WRLW can thrive!”
Bless you, Saint Mark! If you don’t pick up your free keg from Parkit Market on Saturday, March 17, as Tony Todora has pledged to you, I hereby offer to personally deliver it to your doorstep.
Happy St. Mark’s, I mean St. Patrick’s, Day! And thank you!
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