Ok, maybe not ever. Certainly not the most important thing ever, not even close. But i have to tell you, one thing that has driven me crazy this summer. One thing that has taken far more time than I should have spent on it.

That one thing..

Finding a replacement to RockNRoll Part 2 by Gary Glitter to play at the Mavs games. You know the song. The hey song. The song that everyone in sports stole from the NHL, who stole it from who knows who.

This isnt a cure for world peace issue. But its one of those things that drive me crazy.

Not that there is anything wrong with the song. We will definitely keep on playing it.

And its not like we arent trying to be original. We have done parodies of songs, some unique, some not, and we will do more. Some we will just play, most will have animations so the fans can have fun with them.

But the problem remains. Maybe the blogosphere can help.

I need at least one song that is simple, has few or no words, is short and will automatically cause 20k people to stand, clap and shout in unison.

Any suggestions ?

Back to figuring out what to wear for our first Mavs game. Its TNT and I have to come up with something good

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Update:

I stand corrected. As i have since found out, figured out and been told. The Captcha from Google has been in place. It was only triggered in respone to their spam filters. I hadnt been flagged before. I was flagged today.

Thanks to those who took the time to let me know and to Jason for his updates on buzz

If Im going to criticize for inaction, its only fair to praise for action. Google has taken the very needed step of adding a captcha word verification system to blogspot.I went in today to see if the process of setting up a blog had changed, and it definitely had.

Word verification was part of the process.

Then i went to a blog i had set up which didnt have much of anything in it. I tried to add a post. Same thing. Thank you Google. Are you reading this MSN ? Your turn.

While some in the blog search business like to pretend they are smart and are doing a good jobeliminating splogs, they arent and dont. Which obviously is good news for Icerocket.com.

i think Robert Scoble came up with using Camcorder as a simple keyword search test. No engine elminates all the splog. Some are worse than others. Splogs arent going to just disappear. Sometimes it requires a call to action that benefits everyone, to which good companies, like google respond.

Unlike some with cluttered homepages, Icerocket.com isnt trying to be a portal. We arent trying to be all things blogs. We arent a gateway to the blogosphere. We arent trying to create context. We want to be a simple and easy way to search for information about any keyword or topic and return to you the freshest information available, and then allow you to easily track that information on an ongoing basis.

You can use google, yahoo , A9 , MSN or any other search engine to ask questions that you want answered. Thats not us.

The better way to describe Icerocket.com is as a tracking engine. If you want to track references made about a topic or keyword, we are for you. We allow you to easily subscribe to any website we return that supports RSS, and we enable RSS for any search result. Its incredibly easy.

If you want to track what a specific author that maintains multiple blogs is saying, thats easy. I can track what Dave Caolo is saying across hisKermit the Blog site and Apple blog, and where his posts are being credited on other sites as well.

If you are tracking something and want to go back and see what information was delivered within a certain date range. Thats no problem at all. You can customize any date range.If i want to see what was being said about the Mavs during the playoffs last year and compare that to now. Its easy. Plus, I use Mozilla. Icerocket.comenables all searches to be livebookmarks. I just click on my Links Bar and at a glance I can track what is being said.

Icerocket.com isnt really a blog search engine, although thats the term we use since its the easiest way to communicate what we are doing. We are a tracking engine. We dont just index and accept pings from blogs, we index any and every source of information that is updated on an ongoing basis. Forums. Yes. Corporate RSS feeds. Yes. Better yet, there are some things happening that will enable traditional websites to identify new information on their sites and ping that to us. This way if WidgetsInc comes out with a new Dallas Mavericks Widget, they can update their widgetsinc.com website and we will have it covered.It will show up in Dallas Mavericks topicIm tracking.

If you are looking for some extra reading material to kill time, or you want to roam the isles for a new favorite blog to read, we arent the best place to come.

If you want to know what is being said about anything, by anybody, for any given period of time icerocket.com is the place to start. If you want to keep up with or track the results of that search, we are the placeto stay.

Im happy to let the other blog engines search blogs and try to help you find the perfect blog for you.Turn to them for your bedtime reading. Icerocket.com will help you track the world so you never fall behind on any topic or keyword that is important to you.

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Time to get past the Dress Code stuff. It is what it is. Which is not that big a deal.

Its a shame the owners let it come to this, because it created a distraction and took attention away from our NBA Cares program. ( This is a trend analysis comparing blog mentions of each)

Some players arent going to like it, but they will comply. Some guys wont care because they wear suits anyway. The one thing I have to go on the record as saying is that the Dress Codeid not racist. Stephen Jackson is wrong. Ugly Wrong. The Dress Code may be Ageism (if thats a real word), but racist it was not.

This was no different than those moralistswho tried to ban Elvis from the Ed Sullivan show, which lead toElvis only being shown from the waist up, for fear his wiggling hips might corrupt America. It earned him the nicknameElvis the Pelvis.

Now grandmothers listen to Elvis gladly. Im sure the same people who think a dress code is a neccesity in the NBA, consider Elvissafe music, hope their grandkids listento it and have completely forgotten all the sex, drugs and rock n roll that Elvis lived by. Hypocritical. In many ways. Its amazing how much context we lose as we age. The good ole days, never were, but we sure want them to be.

There is a long , long list of examples over the past 50 years of generational mistrust, and that is exactly what the NBA Dress code is all about. This isnt about race. Its about generational disconnect and the NBA didnt know any other way to deal with it. And thats the end of it.

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I wanted to address some of the comments. I just think its necessary.

First. There is no question, that even at the minimum salary,NBA rookies and 1st yearplayers are blessed to be earning that much money. However, realize that about 55 pct comes off the top for taxes (they have to pay taxes in ever state we play in), agent and union dues, and NBA Escrow. But more importantly, we bang on them to save, save save. For most of the NBA minimum Free Agents in their first or 2nd year, these will be the ONLY years they play in the NBA.

Its a darwinian business. Chances are this is their only year or two in the NBA. If they are cut, they probably go play in the minor leagues, or possibly in Europe, but in either case, there is a 95pct chance that they arent going to be in this business, the one they have dreamed of and prepared for their entire lives for more than 4 years.

Which in turn means they have to find a new profession. Thats not cheap, thats not easy.

So while it may seem likea rookie free agent has plenty of money to buy custom tailored suits or sport coats for up to 2 grand a pop, its a big investment that could impact their future. In the big picture, that rookie and everyone who knows this business, knows thats money that should be saved for the future and its a huge hit for them.

2nd. Issue. The “Thug” Issue.
If you look at NBA players. White, black, brown, yellow, whatever color or nationality, regardless of how they dress, and think thug. You are an idiot. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I have run companies with a predominantly young work force. My personnel issues were far worse in those companies than anything at the Mavs, or what I have seen across the NBA. Young kids makes stupid mistakes. Thats what 21 year olds do.

If I had cameras following me when I was in my 20s……Or go to any hot nightclub and watch 20 somethings partying. Then ask them where they work.

Im willing to bet that you could take the workforce of any major corporation, segment out all their employees 35 and under and without question, you would find far more problems and issues in their workforce on, in absolute numbers or on a percentage basis than you would in the NBA.

I bet that any person over the age of 25 reading this post knows more screwups personally than there are playing in the NBA.

The reality for the NBA however is that we have let the media coverage of our game be personality based. The NFL has someone on trial or in jail every single week. Sure hasnt affected their ratings at all. Why ? Because media coverage is of the team, game strategy and in game matchups. Most of us couldnt identify 90 pct of the players on our favorite football team in a lineup. You might know their name and number, but you have no idea what they look like.

Randy Moss gets high. No one says they wont watch the NFL because of it. So and so gets accused of beating such and such. Its reported. Its documented. No one turns off the NFL as a result. We arent talking about the NFL having an image problem, we talk about how the price for Super Bowl ads continue to go up. How many advertisers walk away from the NFL and claim its because of the NFL image ? Heck, the NFL turns away ads for a movie about sports gambling. Talk about hypocritical…No one cares.

Watch the pregame of NFL games. They have talked to coaches about plays. They talk about plays. They talk about defensive strategy. They talk about what will be run in which situations. Fans do the same. It makes watching the games a lot more fun.

What do we talk about before an NBA game ? Sure we talk about individual matchups. We might even talk about individual skills. But how many in the media even know that there is a play run and a defense called , with options, bailouts and audibles on almost every single possession ? And how many write or talk about them ?

Instead we get stupid ramblings like “so and so has got to step up and earn his money”. “This is where so and so has got to prove he is worth the money”. Watching the ESPN crew with Stephen A, Greg Anthony and Tim Legler is painful. They are a cliche a second. Same soundbites every single game, just the player names are changed.TNT isnt much better. At least Barkley is entertaining at saying nothing.

I was watching the Mavs vs Detroit preseason game last night. Cliche after Cliche. Not a single bit of new information. They spent half the game talking about a dunk that Darko had. Not to pick on these guys, its the same for every team, including from our guys.

Has anyone ever heard after a basket; “I expect the Mavs to run a thumbs down or horns sidein this situation. Detroit is probably expecting them to push the ball, so watch for the Pistons to use a send 4 to the Offensive boards and everyone else gets back when the ball goes up into a man to man, gold on the post, come on first dribble on an entry pass”.

Or the Pistons always seem to run a 42 in out of bounds situations. They have run it 64 pct of their inbounds possessions under their own basket. Here is how it works …

Never. Instead we get mindless drivel about players. I know the game is fast and doesnt have the breaks that football has, but there is still time to discuss these things during stoppages and free throws

Im just as guilty of letting it happen at the Mavs in our media. Its something I have to find a way to cure.

I said it in the previous post, the Dress Code is a response to symptoms of bigger problems. The simplistic views people have of our players, is in response to our own stupidity in how we cover and report our games. On a macro level.

On an individual level. If you think NBA players, or any professional athlete that you never have had any interaction with is a thug. Then the problem is yours. You are an idiot.

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Im sure most people think I would be against a dress code of any kind in the NBA. Im not. I think every team should
have the option of having one , or not. Every team has an image that it wants to present to its community and
its customers, and that image should be cultivated on a proactive, rather than a reactive basis.

I also understand completely why Commish Stern felt the need to establish a dress code. Contrary to popular
belief, the dress code wasnt in response to a problem with any players, it was in response to problems with
owners.

Unfortunately we have gotten to the point where some, but not all, owners, or which ever executive is
in charge of the team, have lost the ability to communicate with their players. In a nutshell, they dont talk
to their players. Communication is a slap on the back if they see them after the game or at a team
function. Communication might be a message via the General Manager asking him to sign something for a son or
daughter of a friend. Its sad, but true.

Its awful hard to get to know a player if you have never spent any time with them. Thats not to say that every
owner has to be best friends with the players, or the President of the team has to go out to dinner with them every
week. But what does have to happen is that someone who represents the business side of the team has to be able
to sit and talk to players and do their best to get to know the player at least a little bit. Only then canthey
come to an understanding of whats expected or needed from the player and by the player from the team.

Its amazing to me that this is really only a problem in professional sports. In “regular” business, even on the
business side of the Mavs, I am very confident that I can trust my managers to maintain relationships with all of our
employees. When there is a corporate initiative, we know how to work through any trouble spots and to learn as an
organization how to overcome problems, whether internal or external.

Those skills dont exist everywhere inthe NBA. For many teams, I dont even want to say most teams, if the
team wants to try something different , they are truly afraid of how their players, particularly their stars might
respond. Its the teams that are afraid of their players that forced David Stern into creating a Dress Code for
players.

Its funny how the media likes to talk about the fundamentals of the players on the court being lacking, the real
lack of fundamentals is in the teams’ executive suites. When a team is unable or afraid to communicate their
message or iniative to their front office or players, or when they know they have a problem they are afraid or unable
to deal with, they ask the Commissioner to create a league wide edict. This is a convenient out for the teams.
Its not their fault that the players have to do this, its the league’s fault. To the Commissioners credit, he knows
he can easily take the hit for something so simple in concept.

Unfortunately there isnt much the league can do to legislate against lousy team management. Its there and
its not going anywhere. But as in any business, the business is only as strong as it weakest link.

Which takes us back to the dress code.

The league requires each team to do a business of basketball presentation. They give us a nice little powerpoint
to work from. Its pretty good, but I prefer to have as open a discussion about the business of the Mavs and the
league as I can.

For our meeting last week, I went over the basic economics of the team. All the way down to money we make from the
arena, money I get from other sources and the tax benefit i get from the operating loss the Mavs show. I
offered to sit down and go through the books in detail with any of them. As I have in the past with some of them.

I went through the economics of the amnesty from the luxury tax and why we did what we did with Fin.

Then we had the important discussion. We talked about how critical the relationship each of them has with our fans
and our advertisers. That their financial success was directly related to our ability to connect to the people who
pay our bills, the fans and our corporate customers.

We then discussed how that led to the upcoming dress code. I explained thata couplecorporate customers
of the league (this isnt a problem with our Mavs corporate customers) were uncomfortable with theappearance of
some players. That unfortunately, in those cities, they didnt feel comfortable having a discussion like this and that
their ownership didnt feel comfortable asking those players to work with the teams for the best of the league. Since
the teamscouldnt deal with it, they had asked the league to step in and deal with it.

At that pointseveral players asked questions about what I thought the dress code would be. I told them that
I was pretty sure that the league would prevent any jewelry being worn on the outside of clothing, but
thatbeyond that it would be business casual attire. But not suits or sportcoats. I asked everyone if they were
ok with that.To a man, every single one shook their head ok.

Then Josh Howard spoke up with a great idea. Why not go to a fashion designer that specializes in nicer clothes
and ask them to work with us. Kind of give us a designer look that the team could adopt. We do it with sneakers,
uniforms and workout gear, why not for this. Everyone would be watching, so it woudl be a great marketing opportunity
for everyone. He threw out some names and all the guys were voicing their approval. So they put me on a mission.
HopefullyI can come through. (Feel free to email me if you are a designer in case the current deal falls
through

Then I asked the guys if they would be willing to spend an extra few minutes before every game, home and on the
road signing some autographs. Jason Terry was all over the idea. He wanted specially made JET wristbands
to hand out. Some guys wanted to be able to sign pictures in advance and hand them out right when they went out
to shootaround so they could stay as close to their normal routine as possible. I was cool with that. Again, to
a man, with Dirk and Stack and JET being the impetus they all got behind it

We discussed that the more we did as a team to establisha Dallas Mavericks identity, not
only would it be better business for them and the team, but it also meant that the we could control our own destiny.
That as the team that set the example, we could do things that we liked, rather than waiting for the league to tell
us what to do.

The funny thing about the signing is that for our first 3 preseason games on the road, our guys signed pictures at
the hotel, took pictures and sharpees in hand and went out on the court to hand them out. (yes, we want to do
this on the road and at home). Unfortunately there was hardly anyone atthosegames 75 to 90
minutes before tipoff, so there were some lucky fans who got lots of signed pictures. We still have some fine tuning
of the program to do, and there will never be enough time to make every fan happy, but I think its going to work out
great.

Butnow I am here in Dallas and the guys are in Detroit.Im sure im going to hear about the sports coat
thing. Hopefully the designers we are talking to have a line of sports coats.Or better yet, I will be able to
show the league the Mavs dress code, and they will be fine with it. Thats going to be my job.

The reality is that sports coats on the benchsounds good, but its not a good idea. The league knows i feel
this way. A minimum salary rookie makes more money thanmost ofAmerica, and we all have to buy our
own clothes for work, but not many of us have to have specially tailored clothes because we are 6′8. Those arent
cheap.

Not many of us have to work in an environment where what we where to work every day is going to be shown on
TV, and now because of this dress code, commented on and discussed. Its going to be awful expensivefor minimum
contract players. And what are they going to do about the NBDL ? Sports coats there as well ?

While the lack of management skills may be the underlying problem that led to the dress code, its the inevitable
discussion of the dress code by the mediathat makes it a wrong place, wrong time mistake.

Will the media in their “Lets talk about the easiest thing to talk about” approach, talk about anything other than
the dress code for theforseeable future ?

I have already gotten more interview requests about this than i have about players, teams, games ,
entertainment or anything related to the product we put on the floor. This is ALL we are going to hear about
for months.

How many cameras are going to be pointed to the bench area and not the floor when regular season games start
? how many plays are going to be missed in game as commentary goes on about what a player is wearing. And then as
players get hurt durnig the year, every time its the first time out of uniform for a player, there is going to be a
fashion watch.

Think it will be over by April ? Not a chance. Some reporter will be there with this question “A.I. , I know its
April and the playoffs start in 2 weeks, but this is your first trip to our fair city. What do you think about the
dress code”. Lets all hope that A.I. gives us a “Dress Code…. Dress Code.. its the playoffs around the corner and all
you can talk about is a Dress Code ..” Hurt ‘em Answer.

But wait , there is more.

To compound the problem, when they probably thought they were going to mitigate it, the crack marketing team at
the NBA puts out the release for what is unquestionably the best program the NBA has EVER introduced on the same day
as the dress code is released.

The NBA CARES global out reach initiative.
$100 Million Dollars to charity. 1 MILLION HOURS of hands on service by players for charitable causes.
Its absolutely , positively brilliant. The first thing the NBA has done where I sat there and asked myself
why I hadnt thought of it first and suggested it. Its an amazing program that had it been released without all this
dress code nonsense, would have gotten loads of great coverage. Coverage that would have gone a long way towards
helping those few sponsors who dont understand, that the NBA has great guys who really do care.

So why in the world release it today ? What is going to be written about tomorrow, the dress code or NBA Cares
?

In the questions I have gotten today, it was asked as a single … and oh yeah, what do you think about NBA
CARES..by ONE reporter. Thats it. And what is talk radio talking about.. The Dress Code with all the speculation
about whether racism or some other nefarious logic is behind it. Just what we dont need.

We have the worlds greatest game. The worlds best athletes. The most entertaining product in person and on TV. We
are 2 weeks before the start of the season. What is everyone talking about ?

And finally, Im sure people will ask what Im going to wear to our games. Well I would consider wearing a sports
coat, but i dont own one. So i guess the only way I would buy one would be ifI could cover itwith
logo ads from sponsors. A lot of logo ads from sponsors. Think the 1
million dollar homepage covered. Feel free to post any and all bids in the comments section

Or maybe Ill just wear a speedo.. With a Mavs logo and an MFFL
shirt of course

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It was exactly two months ago I wrote about problems that Icerocket.com and really, the entire blogosphere was having with Splogs created and maintained on Blogger.com, with a blogspot.com URL.

Well the Shit hit the fan today.

The blogosphere was hit by a blogspot.com splogbomb. Someone did the inevitable and wrote a script that created blog after blog and post after post.

Im not talking 100 blogs with a 100 posts each.Im talking what could easily turn into 10s of THOUSANDS of blogs pinging out millions of posts !

Do a search for HDNet on Icerocket.com or any of the other engines and look at all the Splogs there are. And they have URLs like this So google, at least for the time being, we shut out adding new blogspot posts to our index until we clean all the bullshit you dumped on us out of our indexes. We will turn them on once our filters are in place, which hopefully will be tomorrowSo google, at least for the time being, we shut out adding new blogspot posts to our index until we clean all the bullshit you dumped on us out of our indexes. We will turn them on once we update our filters to resolve this fine mess you got us into, which hopefully will be tomorrow

I apologize in advance to real bloggers whose post might not make it in as quickly as before. We wont lose your posts. They are just going to be delayed.

I also apologize in advance if someones blog or posts got filtered out in our effort to deal with Splogs.

So please Google. Add a challenge system. Dump the flag you tried. It was a nice try, but doesnt get the job done. Its not an imposition to ask a blog poster to confirm their post with a link inside an email, or a word confirmation. It may not eradicate the problem, but it will improve the quality of information available in the blogosphere considerably.

Is that too much to ask ?

And one more point about splogs and the blogs. There is a reason why you dont see Icerocket.com list the number of blogs and posts on our site Because no splog filter is perfect, which makes the number pretty bogus.

The same applies to people who evaluate the quality of a blog search engine by the number of posts returned. In actuality, a higher number probably means poor splog filtering, not better indexing.

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On the ITunes Store, you can buy the latest episode to Lost and some other shows the day
after they air on Network TV. in this case ABC, for $1.99. Sounds simple and reasonable. Not anything earth
shattering right ?

Content has been available for download for years and years. That content could be played on any number of devices,
from computers to DVD players to PDAs. Being able to playback a video from the new Video Ipodjust like you
can play a song from a current IPod, certainly is not a technical marvel.

It is a business marvel. Bob Iger has gone contrary to what every current and previous TV network
head has and would have done had Bob not turned the industry on its head with his
announcement with Apple yesterday. Bob
Iger has saved Network TV.

How ?

By completely changing the economic model.

When a show is produced for primetime network TV, its traditionally sold to a network at a given license fee. More
often than not, particularly for non reality shows, that license fee is less than what it costs to produce the
show.

The hope by the production company is that if they can produce good ratingsfor the network, not only can they
increase the license fee after the first deal ends, but they can also sell the episodes in the future as part of a
syndication deal and maybe even make some money back with DVD sales.

So for instance, shows like Law and Order, CSI, and all their different versions can fetch more than 1mm dollars per
episode. Most other shows fall in mid six figureprice ranges and can go as low as 50kto 75k for hit reality
shows like Survivor. The reality shows go for far less because everyone knows the winner already.

But what if CBS sold Survivor episodes the day after it aired like ABC is with Lost ? What if they sold them not
just on ITunes Store, but through CinemaNow, MovieLink, Netflix, Walmart Online, wherever.

Think some people would buy them to keep up with the action ? Possibly to sample the show ? Thinkthey might
sell more than 75k downloads at $1.99 each ?

Could this move have created a new market that could be comparable in size for some shows and more money for others
than the current syndication market ?

ABSOLUTELY. No question about it.

This is far far better than syndication because it can apply to all shows. For a bunch of reasons, most shows do
notmake it into syndication. Those that dont, typically just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Most dont
get DVD releases. They just rot.

And this isfar easier and safer than releasing a DVD. No extras.No inventory. No shipping. No Returns.
No shelfspace issues. You ship a file to Apple and boom, the sales begin. Whats more, Apple was incredibly smart
to set the price tag at $1.99. That meansfew if any movies. Just TV and video. You have all the shelf space
to yourself for at least a little while. And if the demand appears, you know which titles to invest in for a DVD
release

Even the worstprimetime television shows have on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox get millions of viewers. If the network
can convert a couple percentage points of viewers into downloaders, it can turn into decent money. 2 bucks a pop. 50k
downloads per eps. Thats more money than a hit reality show like Survivor earns in syndication.

And for some shows, the conversion rate could be much, much higher. A show like Lost could have hundreds of
thousands of downloads per episode. Thats real money.

Which leads to how Bob Iger saved network television.

The entire TV industry is scared shitless about how advertising will evolve. Will the 30 second commercial survive
? Will PVRs eliminate commercial watching in a material percentage of homes ?What impact will HDTV have on
TV viewing and advertising (besides the obvious rush to HDNet & HDNet Movies
? The answers to these questions are pivotal to the programming side of the equation because without enough
advertising revenue for the networks, how are theygoing to pay forprogramming ?

Bob Iger has enabled a new revenue stream which if it grows, could definitely be the revenue stream that saves
primetime network TV.

Its not inconceivable that just as DVDs have surpassed box office in revenues and the theatrical release has become
a commercial for the DVD sale, the network TV broadcast could become the commercial for the download sale. I dont
see download sales surpassing advertising revenue, but I do see it as likely that the download sales could more
than compensate for any advertising market weakness brought on by ratings erosion and / or changes in how ads are
delivered on TV. I also think it wont be long before we see an ad or twoin front of the show that will
further increase revenue.

How big a revenue stream could the two combined be ? Big enough to matter.

But wait, there’s more…

Its possible that the ABC offering
NightStalker , which because it
hasnt hadstellarratings, with 7mm viewers in its premiere could be themost important
pay per download in internet history !. Why ?

What if NightStalker turns out to be a hugely popular download ? Would ABC keep it on the air for that reason ? What
if the show is cancelled ? Will ABC sell any unaired episodes ? And how many downloads will be sold of those ? If the
show is cancelled, are enough downloads being sold so that when combined with a license fee from a cable network, the
show could live on ?

Since ABC will be able to see the sell through numbers on a daily basis, will that impact programming decisions
?

Of course Nightstalker will be replaced each season as the most important download in internet history by other
shows as the market grows and data exists to better understand just what impact the downloads are having on network
economics.

All of this isnt going to happen overnight.

Distribution must expand beyond Apple, and it will.It will be interesting to see how fast MicroSoft, Yahoo,
Google, Sony (If sony had an ITunes and an ABC deal for the PSP..wow !), AOL and even retailers like Walmart Online and
Best Buy respond. Which they will. They arent going to let Apple run away with this market like they did music.
Im not saying they can stop them, but I think they learned a lot from what Apple has done with the Ipod. The
competition in turn, should help the economics for the networks.

And this isnt about watching video on VideoIpod screens. Its about downloading video to ITunes software and
its competitors, and all the places it does and will reside. All will be playback devices.I expect that either a 2nd
tier of pricing will come along from Apple for full screen quality that is designed to play on a TV rather than an IPod
or half screen on a Laptop or PC, as competitors compete by enabling higher quality and full screen playback. All of
which will further expand the market.

The future of network television got immediately brighter yesterday. All because Bob Iger had the brilliance to say
yes to giving consumers his content , where , how and when they want to consume it.

Just one suggestion Bob. How about letting us show digitally Lost in theaters ? Its a great show. How cool would it
be to see it on a big screen in a theater ? Just show it in one 300 seat theater. Not enough to impact ratings, but
enough to give hard core fans a unique experience that bonds them further to the show.

Im happy to offer Landmark Theaters as a place to test it out

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Sometimes I wish i could just sit down and chill. But I cant. Unless my daughter and wife are around, I wont even
try. My wife would tell you that even then…

Its just not my style.

So every day I work, read and wonder. What about this. What about that.

Here are some of the things Im curious why no one has tried yet.

1. Why dont newspapers offer PPC for display ads ?

I dont know what the marginal cost to print a page of a newspaper is. I dont know if it varies by section of the paper
or even if there is a variable cost based on who is writing on those pages.

I dont know how that translates into CPM. My best guess is that there is a nice little arbitrage between the cost per
additional page and doing PPC display ads.

Why not allow advertisers to automate the placement of display ads ?

Why not just let me upload my pdf or gif file that i want to place as my ad ?

Why not include a system generated and monitored URL that can track page views of that URL (the equivalent of a
clicked through page)

Why not charge me based on the number of page views ?

Why not rank positions on the page, just like Search engines do, and make me bid higher to get the better
position.

Why not let me bid the same way for size of ad. The higher I bid per page view relative to other bidders, and as long
as its above the set minimum, why not size and position my ad accordingly ?

Why not let me bid differently for different sections of the newspaper. Sports, Entertainment, Section A, B,
etc.

Of course, all the above could apply to the ads appearing on the paper website as well

Advertisers would have a choice. They could lock in their positioning and pricing, just like they do now. Or, they
could take the PP Page View route and only pay for the traffic generated to their websites. (which could end up costing
more in many cases).

The model could also be enhanced to direct traffic to a virtual phone number for the company. Create an extension on
the advertisers current phone system, or a unique number that is routed to the company that can be tracked and audited
. The advertiser would then pay per call.

There would be minimum bids. There would be a reserve amount per page. If enough ads at the right price were not
received, the page wouldnt be printed. The offering could enable different ads and pricing based on where in the paper
it would be printed.

Of course the ads could also appear on the company website as part of the program or offered seperately.

Its basically PPC for the newspaper world.

What makes it particularly interesting to me is that its the right product at the right time. Search engines are
working hard to localize their search . By definition, the local newspaper is just that. Local. So newspapers could
actually take a quick step ahead of the online world.

Local. Graphical.

And you are reaching consumers where online cant… At least I know a newspaper is far more prevalent where i read
it in the morning than my PC or Sidekick.

Maybe its a stupid idea. I dont know. But it sure seams like it should and would work with a little elbow grease
behind it.

Here is my 2nd idea

Again geared towards the topic of local. Why dont cable and telcos differentiate between local bandwidth and internet
bandwidth.

Bandwidth is far more cheap and available on a private network than it is on a public network.

In my house, my wireless hums at 54mbs. My wired hums at 100 and it would be cheap to upgrade to 1gbs

On the cable and telco networks, the same thing happens. Inside the nodes in every neighborhood, the amount of
bandwidth , particularly in the newer installed networks is huge.

The amount of bandwidth available becomes constrained when networks link to the outside nets and the internet.

With the cost of 1gbs and even 10gbs networking equipment haven fallen so far, its not inconceivable that a
minimum of 100mbs could be offered per home for local for local network access.

In other words, there is nothing that should prevent 2 houses on the same network on the same street from being
able to communicate at 100mbs or more. And there is no reason to stop at houses on the same street. It could be a
neighborhood, town, city, just depending on how the network is designed and configured.

Which leads to the business opportunity.

Why dont the cable and telco providers, as their nets go IP or lay Fiber, add a free or low
cost premium . on network tier of service ?. Call it Your Town Service. 200mbs up and downstream for any
traffic that stays on the local network.

If you want to send the kids home videos that you just captured on your brand new High Def HDV camera and its 10gbs in
size. So what. If grandma subscribes to the same service provider and lives in the network you are part of, she gets it
in a couple minutes.

With that kind of bandwidth and more, all kind of interesting things start to happen. Is the local hospital or your
doctors office on the network ? If it is, then just sit in front of your high resolution webcam and let him take a look
at how that rash is doing…

Of course you would hook up all the schools. Any number of applications come to mind there. Security. Monitoring
classes when sick (sorry kids). Parent teacher conferencing.

Want to produce a neighborhood tv channel that you stream to just the neighborhood ? NO problem. As long as you all
subscribe to the same provider

Local retailers could use webcams to take orders, ask questions, show merchandise. It would give the local merchants
in the area an advantage over the big boys. Which of course would cause the big boys to have locations on the network
in order to compete and participate.

There in lies the opportunity. This is MCI’s friends and family all over again. Its what the wireless
companies are doing with phone service. If you call people on their network there are unlimited minutes. No long
distance charges

So why arent the cable and telcos doing the same thing ?

Why not offer 200mbs network (not internet) , growing to 1gbs service over time , between any local nodes on your
network for an extra 5 bucks per month ? Or even as part of your current pricing ?

If you want 200mbs, the person, place or thing you want to communicate with has to subscribe to the same service and
be on the same network. Think maybe the first network to do this would cause a huge rush for people to
make sure they are on the same network ? THink i wouldnt make sure im subscribed to whatever network my
daughters school is on ? or that my doctor or local hospital is on ?

Think kids wanting to play online games against their buddies wont jump all over this to play at breakneck speeds
?

Internet access would work the same way it always has. Access to the outside internet, would still be at the
1,3,5,10mbs levels of service currently offered.

The first provider to offer this would create a first come, first serve subscriber rush. Just like it was in
long distance and cellphones.

Who ever introduces this first wins.

It would be such an easy sell. Go to the local school, doctors, hospital, employers. Tell them that if they buy
internet access from you, you will give them free 200mbs on network service. Watch how fast they require locals they
communicate regularly with to subscribe to your service.

200mbs plus on network connectivity for next to nothing. Simple to do on a well designed network. Easy money.

Why hasnt it been offered ?

I look forward to reading the comments

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I spent the weekend with family and friends in the Cayman Islands. Beautiful place. Far more developed than I had expected. Particularly on the south side of the island where we stayed.

When I gotto thecondo wherewe were staying, one of the first things I got the chance to glance at was a book detailing the devastation of Hurricane Ivan on the island. Category 5. Wind gusts up to 200mph. The devastation was incredible. Four Feet or more of water covered the ENTIRE Island.

Pictures in the book mirrored what we saw in the Gulf Coast.

I had totally forgot about Ivan. Out of sight, out of mind I guess. But I started asking locals that I got to meet about it. Taxicab drivers. Waiters. People I met.

They told stories of no electricity for 6 or more weeks. No water for 2 weeks. How to take a shower with a half a bottle of water.

The real question I had was how the island had been rebuilt. Who paid for it ?

The stories were all the same. We did. We did. We did. The government tried to do their part. But when it came right down to it, enterprise stepped in. Insurance proceeds were invested.

A couple people felt like that the island should have done a better job of asking for assistance, like the US did for Katrina, but most seemed to be proud of the fact they did it themselves.

It was great to see.

But part of me was sad.

That used to be an American story. I kept on waiting for the story to end with a description of American know how and ingenuity. But they werent talking about Americans.

Im sure there are parts of their story I dont know. I was just a tourist asking questions. Maybe i wasnt in the right area. But all I could think ofwas,if this little island could get back on their feet through free enterpriseand through their own initiative, why cant we ?

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It’s amazing how long the summer seems up until the day camp starts.Only 2 months. Only 1 month. Only 2 weeks. Bam. It’s here.

Today’s morning practice was great.

There were a few things thatstood out.

First, the self study programs that we put together for the rookies and first year guys, teaching them the plays, defenses and philosphies that The General is putting in place really helped. Every day they were required to watch film and write up summaries of what they watched, then each week they were tested on the material. They were required to draw upresposibilitiesall 5 positions for each play. Outline where to go on primary and secondary breaks and offenses. All things that typically the coaches would be required to teach them during camp.

The fact that Josh, Rawle, Desagana, DJ and Pavel all went through the process let them hit the ground running. So practice had far fewer stops toexplain plays andwas a lot more intense than in previous years.

Doug Christie knows how to play defense. I guess I never fully appreciated his knowledge of the game.Just watching him it was obvious he always knew where to be. He is going to be a great influence on our young players as well. His work ethic is incredible. He comes in more often to work on his game than even Dirk did in the past. From putting in a half court at his house so he could shoot in the morning before it got hot, to coming to the gym at night to work on his shot. All after working out and getting in runs with the guys during the day.

It’s also amazing how much better shape guys come to camp in than just 5 years ago. We have a shuttle drill that all players have to pass in order to play. My first camp, it took a couple weeks for 3 or 4 players to get in good enough shape to pass. Now only Pavel still has a little work to pass. And that’s not all that suprising. It’s the same number for JET as it is for Pavel to pass, so he has to be in great shape to pass.

For those wondering about Diop. He is in the best shape of his career. 20 plus pounds lighter than his Cleveland days. His quickness is obviously better. I told him today that we are going to be all over him regarding his diet. That our nutrition is going to be his best friend (Pavel got the same speech), and we are going to be weighing in all players every week throughout the season, so we both will know exactly how well he is keeping up with his program.

The nutrionist position is back after a year absence. We weren’t happy with the job the last person in the position did, but decided some of our guys were young enough and uneducated enough about nutrition, that we really needed someone in that role.

It’s just a great buzz and feeling. The first day is always exciting, but there seems to be a bit more of an edge this year. Guys from last year seem to have picked up where they left off and the new guys are excited to be part of it and push things further.

More to come later…

Go Mavs!

And because you all know I have to plug and promote. Our movie, The War Within came out this week and got off to a good start in NY and expands Friday to multiple cities…GO SEE IT. It’s intense.

And we have another movie opening this weekend as well in select cities. Good Night and Good Luck.

Both are great, and I promise you will get your money’s worth. So make sure to go see one on Friday, and the other on Saturday!

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