Cuban will pose media distraction at debate, should be banned

A distant but noteworthy fourth in the “all eyes will be on” race for tonight’s debate is reality TV star and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Of course, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt take home the top three spots on the list, and most of the anticipated 80-100 million people who will be watching are obviously tuning in to hear what the first two have to say, particularly to each other.

{mosads}But Cuban — as starved for attention as they come in a world with plenty of competition in that category — is a decent bet to attempt make the night all about him. Will the media once again be his enabler?

To review, the Clinton camp has invited Cuban to be at tonight’s big debate at Hofstra University in New York and will even seat him in the front row. The goal, of course, is to try to throw Trump off his game with the hope that the distraction will even induce a temper tantrum or two. Because a Trump self-induced implosion is the only way Clinton — whose campaign narrative is basically “he’s dangerous, I’m not” — can score a decisive victory with expectations around Trump being so low going in.

All of that said, know this: The Commission on Presidential Debates should not allow in any capacity Cuban to be at this debate tonight, where the rules clearly state no noise should come from the audience in any form. And not because he’s anti-Trump, but rather due to the fact he could very well steal the narrative coming out of tonight if past behavior is any indication.

Even if Cuban is silent throughout the debate, you can be sure the media will be talking about him in earnest, before and after tonight’s debate, based on all the coverage and analysis he received on the Sunday political shows, where the topic was broached extensively across the board on broadcast and cable alike.

For those that don’t follow sports, here’s the deal as it pertains to Cuban: He’s a self-absorbed loudmouth who loves to draw cameras on him whenever possible, even to the detriment of his own team as well as his basic integrity.

All told, the 58-year-old has been hit with 19 fines by the NBA during his tenure of Mavericks owner. Of those 19 fines, 11 were prompted by taunting other players and/or referees.

The NBA has repeatedly warned Cuban to cut out the antics, but he simply doesn’t care because it only leads to more headlines, more attention, and eventually even a reality TV contract with ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

All total, Cuban has been fined nearly $2 million dollars for his conduct. Context: That’s almost quadruple of the second-most fined person in the league since 2000 (Heat owner Micky Arison has been fined $525,000).

“He’s got to learn how to control himself as well as the players do. We can’t lose our temper all the time on the court or off the court, and I think he’s got to learn that, too,” Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki once pleaded in an interview. “He’s got to improve in that area and not yell at the officials the whole game. I don’t think that helps us … He sits right there by our bench.

“I think it’s a bit much,” Nowitzki continued. “But we all told him this before. It’s nothing new. The game starts, and he’s already yelling at them. So he needs to know how to control himself a little.”

The Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairman Frank Fahrenkopf said the move by the Clinton camp isn’t being met with open arms, but apparently isn’t actually going to do much about it.

“We are going to frown upon — I will tell you this right now — whether or not a Republican or Democrat or anyone else attempts by use of tickets in placing people in a front row or not to try to impact the debate,” Fahrenkopf told CNN. “It is wrong. We would frown upon Mr. Cuban being in the front row if his purpose is to somehow disrupt the debate; likewise, if Mr. Trump was going to put someone in the front row to try and impact things.”

The last part, of course, pertains to Donald Trump shrewdly declaring that if Cuban is being sent to the debate as a distraction, he’ll find one of his own in the form of former Bill Clinton longtime mistress Gennifer Flowers:

If dopey Mark Cuban of failed Benefactor fame wants to sit in the front row, perhaps I will put Gennifer Flowers right alongside of him!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2016

Trump’s running mate Mike Pence said Sunday on Fox News that Flowers won’t be attending. The point of the Trump tweet around Flowers, per campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, was “to remind people that he’s a great counterpuncher.”

Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton. It’s the Super Bowl of politics tonight in a debate that will approach Super Bowl audience numbers.

Here’s hoping the media talk afterward is on the performance of the candidates, on policy … and not on another billionaire who decided it would be a great idea to get thrown out of another public event solely to “improve” his own provocative brand.