Mark Cuban Hero’s Celebrity Game 6/22/13

If you live outside of the DFW (Dallas/Ft Worth) area, you might not know who Mark Cuban is. In fact, if you live in the DFW area you might only think of him as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks or the guy on Shark Tank.

He is proof of America’s Exceptionalism. Every few years people like Cuban bubble to the top. I’m not talking about wealth or celebrities but people that have an impact on our lives.  Other countries have someone once a century or maybe a generation; Canada’s Guy Laliberte or England’s Richard Brandson and maybe JK Rowling come to mind.  American produces people like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Steve Job regularly.

From Cuban came Audionet, which became Broadcast.com, which is how I listen to Phillies games over the internet.  He’s more than just the guy that was on Dancing with the Stars.  And I finally picked up this billionaire’s autograph.

I went to the Hero’s Celebrity Game in Frisco.  It’s just down the street rom where I live.  I had a few names I wanted but I failed on all fronts except for Mark.  He started signing as soon as he stepped onto the field. He posed for photos and chatted as he moved down the 3rd base line. He slowly worked his way through the crowd. He seemed to be enjoying the fans and the interaction.

I moved to a good spot and waited for him. He was about 5 feet away when it looked like he was about to stop. He knew he still had fans waiting. Someone yelled out not far from me. He heard and looked over to me and nodded.  The acknowledgement implied I wouldn’t be forgotten. He chatted with someone for a moment and then turned back and started signing.

A few really anxious fans rush pass me.  As we had lined up in the seats of the ballpark, I tried to stay out of people’s way.  About a minute later I heard the same guy called for Mark again. This time Mark looked up (at me) and nodded but he looked annoyed.

When he finally worked his way to me I handed over my clipboard. He signed. He flipped the photo up to see if anything else needed signing.  He handed it back to me. Then he moved on to sign for more fans.

I turned to get out of people's way. I then looked at my photo. He signed his face. Not the spot I expected or wanted.

I’ll admit the photo probably isn’t one of his favorites.  I can assume the fan that called for Mark twice got under his skin and I was mistaken for that cad. But I was still disappointed with the placement of the signature.  

I’ll try again next year or maybe the year after.

AH