clevestinks
07-19-2005, 03:38 AM
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban watches the Pirates play the Astros last night at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.
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Everybody in PNC Park last night was desperately seeking Mark Cuban. Not just the television cameras: KDKA, WPGH, WTAE with Andrew Stockey, WPXI with a rare ballpark appearance by John Fedko and Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. Lots of fans also were searching for the billionaire boy owner in the crowd of 17,590, which his Dallas Mavericks attract on an off night, of which they have few.
There was the guy with the rubber Baseball Head mask and the "Vote 4 Cuban" banner on the left-field rotunda. There were the Section 140 folks with the white-cardboard sign pleading "Mr. Cuban, Please Buy Our Bucs!," and small print wishing, "On Sale Now." And there were the fellas from the Homer City High baseball team standing in the last row of a right-field section with "Let's Go Bucs!" painted on their chests and "Where's Cuban" on their backs.
Alas, the South Hills savior didn't buy the team last night, nor might he anytime in the near future. His weekend-long mantra maintained that he would come to the fiscal rescue only if the club was in danger of moving or being sold. Neither of those are in the offing, Pirates managing general partner Kevin McClatchy stated. Thus, for Cuban and his entourage of old Mt. Lebanon High School buddies, last night was simply an evening to take in a ballgame, shake a few hands, sign some autographs and leave before the top of the ninth of a 11-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
The question that remained for most of the night, though: Where's Cuban, exactly?
He told reporters in Chicago that he would be in the center-field seats, causing quite a ruckus near Section 140 at game's start last night, with cameras hovering and folks sure he was coming. Then somebody thought they saw him on the Adecco Deck.
What was this, Where's Waldo?
Finally, he was cited: the security-heightened Home Plate Club. There sat Cuban, alongside old buds Todd Reidbord, Stu Chaban, Steve Rosen and the gang, in the same Section 17 where McClatchy sits.
When Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and the Post-Gazette separately requested to interview him, Cuban uttered something rare and different for him: He declined to comment.
Should we be worried? Is this a good thing? Would we move? It would be nice to have an owner with some cash. But don`t move our Bucs.
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban watches the Pirates play the Astros last night at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everybody in PNC Park last night was desperately seeking Mark Cuban. Not just the television cameras: KDKA, WPGH, WTAE with Andrew Stockey, WPXI with a rare ballpark appearance by John Fedko and Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. Lots of fans also were searching for the billionaire boy owner in the crowd of 17,590, which his Dallas Mavericks attract on an off night, of which they have few.
There was the guy with the rubber Baseball Head mask and the "Vote 4 Cuban" banner on the left-field rotunda. There were the Section 140 folks with the white-cardboard sign pleading "Mr. Cuban, Please Buy Our Bucs!," and small print wishing, "On Sale Now." And there were the fellas from the Homer City High baseball team standing in the last row of a right-field section with "Let's Go Bucs!" painted on their chests and "Where's Cuban" on their backs.
Alas, the South Hills savior didn't buy the team last night, nor might he anytime in the near future. His weekend-long mantra maintained that he would come to the fiscal rescue only if the club was in danger of moving or being sold. Neither of those are in the offing, Pirates managing general partner Kevin McClatchy stated. Thus, for Cuban and his entourage of old Mt. Lebanon High School buddies, last night was simply an evening to take in a ballgame, shake a few hands, sign some autographs and leave before the top of the ninth of a 11-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
The question that remained for most of the night, though: Where's Cuban, exactly?
He told reporters in Chicago that he would be in the center-field seats, causing quite a ruckus near Section 140 at game's start last night, with cameras hovering and folks sure he was coming. Then somebody thought they saw him on the Adecco Deck.
What was this, Where's Waldo?
Finally, he was cited: the security-heightened Home Plate Club. There sat Cuban, alongside old buds Todd Reidbord, Stu Chaban, Steve Rosen and the gang, in the same Section 17 where McClatchy sits.
When Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and the Post-Gazette separately requested to interview him, Cuban uttered something rare and different for him: He declined to comment.
Should we be worried? Is this a good thing? Would we move? It would be nice to have an owner with some cash. But don`t move our Bucs.