Who wouldn't want to walk in Cuban's shoes?

	Mark Cuban is as well-known as any of the players on his Dallas Mavericks team. John W. McDonough/SI

When you think about it, "owner" is a word that has gone out of style. In the past, you'd hear the word owner, and think of the mean, fat guy who lived in the big house on the hill and ran the mill in the company town taking advantage of widows and orphans.

But now, the last people we know as owners are the ones who well, own, sports franchises. You got billions of dollars, but hedge funds and oil futures don't do it for you anymore, so, you buy a ball team. Now, you're an owner. Owners come in all sorts. Some never really impose themselves on the operation. After all, it's not like buying a widget company, because sports is arcane. No matter how smart you are, how you made your money in conventional business, you have to let sports guys run sports things.

There's a story that when the son-in-law of George Halas, the old Chicago Bears owner, came into the team, he asked the general manager, Jim Finks, what his duties were. Finks replied: "You're an owner, Ed. Own."

Some owners, though, think they're too smart by half and botch things up by meddling. The Bidwell family, which has owned the football Cardinals forever, is the role model for long-term owner-operator ineptitude. The Bidwells keep finding sucker cities to take their team in, carpetbagging from Chicago to St. Louis to Phoenix, but whatever the address, they lose in perpetuity. Peter Angelos bought the Baltimore Orioles, the absolute model franchise in baseball, and quickly and arrogantly turned it into a joyless, misdirected mess. James Dolan, the New York Knicks proprietor, has somehow managed to have, at the same time, the highest payroll and the worst, must screwed-up team in the NBA. That ain't easy, folks.

Occasionally owners become celebrities as big as their players. Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders was the last of a breed, the coach who became owner. Art Rooney in Pittsburgh grew famous just for being beloved. George Steinbrenner became known simply as "The Boss," as much a tabloid staple as axe murderers or Paris Hilton. Still, I don't know if there's ever quite been any owner like Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks.

Cuban is a handsome young, self-made high-tech billionaire, and, yes, he absolutely does adore the spotlight. Good grief, even during these NBA Finals, the owner of the Mavericks seemed to attract as much attention as the players on the Mavericks. Cuban was even on David Letterman last week. He's a constant thorn in the commissioner's side, sounding off, running on the court --as he did again after the controversial loss in Miami on Sunday --incurring fines now totaling more than $1 million, then sounding off some more. OK, sometimes he acts like a nitwit. He sits courtside, as prominently as Jack Nicholson or Spike Lee, and kind of wanders over and eavesdrops on the Maverick time-out huddles. His E-mail address is as advertised as amazon.com, and he spends part of every day faithfully answering correspondence. Yet, for all the critics who think he's just a blowhard and a show-off, I think most fans see Cuban is passionate and involved with the team he owns in all the right ways. He is engaged, but he knows how to delegate. He's having fun. We all dream about being a big sports star. I'm not sure that in our fantasies today, a lot of people wouldn't rather be Cuban, more even than any of his glamorous players. Mark Cuban has actually made "owner" a person we could love. Even though his team lost last night in the Finals, he's redefined the position.

Top Photo Galleries Rafael Nadal Through Time Did You See That? 100 Memorable Olympic Moments The NHL's Great Game 7s Best Players Without An NBA Title

Most Popular Stories Ex-Penn State president Spanier sues, eyes Sandusky emails Royals' Moustakas leading charge of rising sophomores Is age catching up to Halladay? Diamond: Success as players a plus for Titans coaches, but there's more to it NBA fines Heat's Spoelstra