Sports Views

Cuban versus Celizic: here's the verdict on their online debate about Shaq:

Mark Cuban (blogmaverick.com) vs. Mike Celizic (MSNBC): Cuban, as we all know, is the dot com billionaire who purchased the Dallas Mavericks. He's also a pretty interesting blogger, which makes him pending the appeal in this case in California a journalist. Recently, Celizic wrote a column questioning why the Mavericks didn't take an opportunity to trade for Shaquille O'Neal last off-season. This set Cuban off. Cuban has a particular distaste for journalists who don't call him to check their facts, and in this case, Cuban says he would have told...

Verdict: A draw. Cuban's blog has revolutionized the idea that even billionaires have tools to set the record straight. On one hand, Cuban is definitely correct to point out that Celizic should have contacted him for comment. But on the other hand, Cuban needs a lesson in the basic difference between facts and opinions. Facts are things you can check for veracity. Commentaries, such as the one that Celizic wrote, have both fact and opinion. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, but the notion that the Mavericks could have had Shaq is unquestionably...

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Read more from this blogger: When Writers Collide