Archive for the ‘Dallas Mavericks’ Category

Ever dream of becoming a Mavs Dancer? Auditions will be held in July at the Hilton Anatole Hotel Saturday the 25th. Registration is from 9:00am-10:00am. Auditions begin immediately there after.

Mavs Dancer Auditions
“Think you have what it takes to become a Dallas Mavericks Dancer?”
This event is planned to start at 9:00 am on Jul 25, 2009 at Hilton Anatole Hotel.

Dallas Mavericks dancers audtions this Saturday at the Anatole.

Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony’s fiancée, LaLa Vasquez, is so upset about what went down at the American Airlines Center Monday night, she has released a statement.

Vasquez says the video only shows one side of the story.

The statement reads:

La La Vazquez became distressed during a heated playoff game, after being verbally attacked by some opposing fans, who were using racial slurs, calling her child crude names and throwing ice cubes. She sent her son home early and was preparing to leave herself when she was physically pushed. Although shaken, she left the premises on her own will and is happy to be at home with her fiancé and child.

“Obviously the play-off games bring out the best and the worst in fans but what happened on Monday night with the racial slurs/threats, verbal attacks on my son and physical attacks to myself by irate fans was unacceptable,” states LaLa. “The fans were totally out of control. What the cameras captured was me defending myself and didn’t show the abuse that was taking place.”

Fans who witnessed the debacle are contacting local news affiliates after reading LaLa’s account disputes what happened in section 119 at the American Airlines Center.

One fan, told NBCDFW there were no racial slurs, no one threatened her child and that Vasquez assaulted a Mavs fan (the lady behind her) after the lady accidentally brushed against her.

In a phone interview the fan goes on to say the he didn’t see any fans throw anything at Vasquez, Martin’s mother or any Nuggets fans in section 119, and that Vasquez was hostile.

Peggy, a season-ticket holder, mixed up in the fray tells the Dallas Morning News Vasquez and her bodyguard are to blame for what happened and that Vasquez had an over-the-top reaction to an accidental brush.

Sam who was also sitting in that section tells WFAA he saw Vasquez flick the drink and that the man sitting with Vasquez turned around and threatened to “fight all you f***ers right now.”

Jess Barrett tells NBCDFW Vasquez attempted to throw jewelry at the woman sitting behind her and hit him in the process.

The Nuggets play the Mavs in Denver for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Vasquez is a former MTV VJ who still works for MTV from time to time. She got engaged to Anthony on Christmas Day 2004. They have one son, Kiyan Anthony, who was born in 2007.

From: Dallas Business Journal

Recession woes aside, several Dallas-Fort Worth area billionaires managed to make their way onto “The World’s Billionaires 2009” list, recently published by Forbes magazine.

Fort Worth resident Alice Walton, 59, daughter of the late Sam Walton, ranked highest on the list among the locals. Walton, who inherited part of the Wal-Mart fortune, ranks 12th on the Forbes list with a net worth of $17.6 billion.

Forbes noted that Wal-Mart remains a strong retailer in down times thanks to a business model that is focused on discount prices. Alice’s sister-in-law Christy, 54, and brother S. Robson Walton, 65, also rank 12th alongside her, while brother Jim Walton, 61, ranks 11th.

Fort Worth is home to another member of the 2009 billionaire list: Robert Bass, 61, who inherited and continues to grow the Bass family fortune. Forbes ranks Bass 110th on the list of 468 billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. The Bass fortune was grown in the oil industry and through investments.

Another Texan ties Bass for the 110th spot. Self-made billionaire Henry Ross Perot Sr., 78, is worth $4.5 billion. Perot made his fortune after founding Electronic Data Systems in 1962. He sold EDS to General Motors for $2.5 billion and later formed data processing company Perot Systems. Forbes notes that Perot and his son sold natural gas interests under land owned by the Perots’ Hillwood real estate platform on Texas’ Barnett Shale to Quicksilver Resources.

Ray Lee Hunt, 66, ranked 261st on the list with a net worth of $2.5 billion. Hunt is the youngest son of H.L. Hunt, whose fortune grew in the oil and real estate sectors.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, 50, landed in the 296th spot on the list. Cuban has a net worth of $2.3 billion, according to Forbes . He made his money in the Internet industry with the creation and sale of Broadcast.com.

Three more Bass family members followed Cuban on the list: Lee Bass, 52, and Sid Bass, 66, (each ranked 334 with $2 billion apiece) and Edward Bass, 64 (ranked 468, $1.5 billion).

Oilman T. Boone Pickens, 80, also ranked 334th on the list. Forbes says declining energy prices caught him off- guard, causing him to lose $1 billion in energy funds in nine months. Regardless, he still ranks among the world’s billionaires with $2 billion.

That daring dancing boy wonder, Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and co-owner of the Landmark Theaters cinema chain, has acquired a 9.4 percent stake in Carmike Cinemas Inc., according to an SEC filing today.

In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Cuban reported buying 1.2 million Carmike shares on the open market for roughly $2.8 million of his own funds. According to the filing, Cuban has been acquiring the shares through his personal investment account since mid-October.

If you want to jump on this bandwagon, fire up your E*Trade account and the stock symbol is CKEC.

Carmike has 252 theaters in 36 states, most of which are equipped for digital projection.

In Monday’s SEC filing, Cuban said he acquired his stake in Columbus, Ga.-based Carmike for investment purposes. He reserved his right to discuss the company’s performance and strategic direction with Carmike’s stockholders, officers or directors.

Cuban co-owns movie theater chain Landmark Theatres with Todd Wagner, who was his co-founder of the pioneering online audio streamer Audionet. The service, later named Broadcast.com, was sold by Cuban and Wagner to Yahoo! in 1999.

The Wagner/Cuban Cos. also include distribution company Magnolia Pictures, production company 2929 Productions, and high definition cable networks HDNet and HDNet Movies.

Carmike shares fell 4 cents to $1.99 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $1.37 and $11.37 during the past 52 weeks.

Part of Reunion Arena can be yours for the right price.

The city is holding an auction for more than 300 items in the former home of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, which is now scheduled for demolition starting next March.

You can bid on everything from grills and retractable arena seats to a Sony Jumbotron screen. Even a basketball floor will be for sale.

You can view items up for auction on Sept. 18 and Sept. 23 at the arena, 777 Sports Street, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Other items from the 28-year-old facility — including lockers and forklifts — are available in an online-only auction.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is one of at least three potential buyers who still has a chance to purchase the Chicago Cubs and historic Wrigley Field, according to a person involved in the process.

The price tag is said to be near or above $1 billion.

Several bidders offering current owner Tribune Co. between $700 million and $900 million for all the properties have been excluded from the second round, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of nondisclosure agreements governing all talk about the bids.

A Tribune spokeswoman said the baseball team would not have any comment on the status of the sale, which also includes the team’s minority stake in a Chicago regional sports TV network.

Besides Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, others in the second round include the Ricketts family, which founded the brokerage that is now TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Henry Aaron and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. The last group is believed to be teaming with another bidder who submitted an offer in the initial round.

All three of the reported potential buyers refused Thursday to comment publicly. However, the person involved in the bidding provided to The Associated Press an outline of the conditions for the second round.

John Canning, the chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, which had been treated as the front-runner, did not make the initial cut, according to the person, who said Tribune is not letting any bidder eliminated after the first round submit a new higher proposal in the second round.

Canning is a minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and close friends with Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Any successful sale must be approved by three-quarters of the owners of other major league teams.

The bidders still in the running will get more detailed financial information on the Cubs, Wrigley and the sports network before they are required to submit a new proposal.

A person familiar with the Ricketts family bid confirmed that it is one of those invited back.

The Cubs — lovable losers who haven’t won a World Series in 100 years — are expected to fetch more than the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox, their ballpark and 80 percent of their TV network in 2002 by a group headed by Florida commodities trader John Henry.

Tribune paid $20.5 million for the team in 1981. It is now seeking to sell the team and its stadium to help pay off the $8.2 billion cost of going private last year.

The value of Wrigley Field apparently has been harder to quantify, since it may require hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations.

The state-run Illinois Sports Facilities Authority offered about $400 million to buy Wrigley using taxable bonds that would be repaid with lease revenue. Those talks broke down in May over how the ISFA would finance renovations and improvements at Wrigley, the second-oldest ballpark in the country behind Boston’s Fenway Park.

Former Gov. Jim Thompson, who is chairman of ISFA, said his agency estimated the cost of improving the stadium structure and the player and fan amenities between $400 million and $600 million.

Tribune has said it is willing to sell the properties individually.

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain and a mildly sprained knee. It’s a blow to the Mavericks’ title hopes - and perhaps their chances of making the playoffs.