I wish more owners were like the Mavs' Cuban

	Mark Cuban is always animated when he watches his Dallas Mavericks in action. AP

Some people couldn't be happier that Mark Cuban and his Dallas Mavericks left the NBA Finals empty handed. But enough about David Stern. Me, I'm disappointed.

Yes, Cuban is a bit of a lunatic and he constantly whines about the officiating. And yes, his Mavericks coughed up a 2-0 lead while watching Dwyane Wade win the NBA championship almost single-handedly. But even though he's far from perfect, I still hope he gets his ring someday soon. After all, the guy is living my dream. And yours.

Every sports fan's fantasy is to strike it rich and buy a pro team. And to shave Ben Wallace's afro, but let's focus on the team buying for now. Legend has it that Cuban was watching a Mavs game with some friends and he bragged that he could run the team better than the people who were in charge at the time. How many of us haven't said that to ourselves about our favorite team at some point? Heck, most Knicks fans are actually right. But when our friends tell us to prove it, like Cuban's friends told him, we don't have the $285 million to put where our mouths are.

When I was watching the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup on Monday night, one thought came to mind: since when does Carolina have a hockey team? My next thought, though, was, "Why isn't Peter Karmanos on the ice dancing with the players and hoisting the cup over his head? Well, for one thing, he'd probably break a hip if he even tried. But also, he's no Mark Cuban. And that's unfortunate.

What I like about Cuban, and the reason that I was rooting for the Mavs over the Heat (besides instinctively disliking any team whose name isn't plural) is that he didn't stop acting like a fan just because he bought the team. Only a fan would go on Letterman during a playoff series to talk trash about the other team's coach, as Cuban did last week. He complained to Dave about "the old Pat Riley stuff, where they'd just beat up on people." Owners don't talk like that; fans do.

When Cuban goes to a Mavs game he can sit anywhere in the building, and instead of relaxing in a luxury box like most owners, he's sitting courtside, jumping up and down and screaming with the rest of the fans. As badly as George Steinbrenner wants to win, I've never seen him in the dugout high-fiving Jeter after a big hit, or on the field shaking hands with the bench players after a win. He watches the games from the owner's box like the rich old man that he is. With 26 seconds left in Game 6, Cuban was out on the floor, waving his arms and imploring the Dallas fans to get on their feet. Guess where Miami Heat managing general partner Mickey Arison was. I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with "buxury lox."