Cuban calls out Ford, but props for Aldridge.

http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000097028762/

According to his own website...

There is a new idiot on the sports scene

"It’s no secret that in the past I have called Peter Vescey and Sam Smith on the carpet for writing things relating to me or the Mavs without ever having talked to me.

Well guess what, in the past months I have talked to both of them. Peter Vescey has found email and now will actually email me and ask me what what’s going on rather than telling me what I’m doing in his column. I won’t always answer him, but at least he will ask and I can tell him when he has some facts wrong.

Sam Smith is still clueless. I got to speak to him face to face when we played in Chicago and told him so. It was a pleasure to do so. He didn’t really argue when I suggested that he misleads people into believing that what he writes is fact rather than his opinion. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. His column just reflects the cultures of the company and newspaper he works for. You would think given what they are going through, the Chicago Tribune would offer disclaimers around everything he writes.

But I digress.

There is another writer that I don’t correspond with, or talk to, that has taken upon himself to write what he thinks I’m thinking. The new moron in town is Chad Ford of ESPN.com

To think that ESPN let David Aldridge go for this. David Aldridge checked his facts. David Aldridge would email me in the middle of the night asking one last time if he had his facts correct, or if it was something that couldn’t be commented on, to let you know what he was going with to make sure he got it right.

I remember one time David and I got into a disagreement about what fans thought about the game, its players and costs. I told him that I thought fans loved the game, and all he had to do was talk to them to find out. He did. He went and sat in the stands and talked to the customers of the NBA and asked them what they thought. When they told him they thought the game was fun and affordable, he wrote just that — with quotes from the fans.

So instead of an Aldridge, a reporter with great relationships around the NBA and access to information, they go with a guy, who at least in my case, doesn’t take the time to email me and ask. It’s not like he can’t find my email.

It’s not a suprise. Like Sam Smith, he is just one of the guys who would rather not let facts get in the way.

The irony of it all, is that he writes for the ESPN Insider section of the website. The sad part is that ESPN.com charges for access to what he writes. This guy is so far from the inside of what’s going on, that ESPN should be embarassed to take subscription money from its members.

I wonder if ESPN.com is kicking themselves for the one they let get away?"

I have to agree with him on this one.