Mark Cuban should act professionally

Recently, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated his first year as owner of the basketball team. But this achievement was overshadowed by a $250,000 fine leveled against him last week. \nCuban, who gets our vote for the most loyal and enthusiastic fan, was irate that goaltending was not called against the Detroit Pistons after a missed shot by Dallas' Steve Nash. Had it gone in, the shot would have tied the game at 106. A replay showed that a Detroit player's hand touched the rim with the ball in the air. \nCuban had the replay frozen on the JumboTron and invited press photographers to take pictures of it. Later, he blasted the referees for their call.\n"The refs were pitiful, tonight and I don't care if I get fined," Cuban said. "We're going to find out what the rules are and protest the game."\nCuban's antics were not his first of the year. He has already been fined four times for outbursts this season. The previous times came in an eight-day span in November. His fines add up to $295,000, or $800 for every day he has owned the team.\nThat is a sad fact. Yes, Cuban is a great fan who is not afraid to call out the mistakes of the referees. But he is also an owner with a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of the game. If he doesn't respect the sport, what makes him think anyone else will?\nThe owner is not only an example to the fans, he is an example to the players. If the Mavericks see that Cuban is not accepting the officials' calls, why should they show the refs the respect they deserve? \nUnlike football, there is no replay in basketball. And the referees, while they supposedly have more acute skills to judge a game than the fans, are only human. They do make mistakes. But they deserve respect for their hard work -- and that must come from the players, coaches and owners first and foremost. \nThe sad part of this ordeal is that the $250,000 fine does not mean that much to Cuban, who became a billionaire in 1999 when the company he founded, Broadcast.com, was acquired by Yahoo!. He will pay it and, probably, these outbursts will continue. The NBA should consider creating stiffer monetary penalties and different options for penalizing those officials associated with a basketball team who do not show the league the respect it deserves. \nFan or not, Cuban's actions were wrong. Something must be done before he adds fine number five to his short career as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. \nStaff vote: 11-5-2\nOnline vote: 46-132-12