Gawker: valleywag, mark cuban, dancing with the stars

Thanks for the memories

Owen Thomas — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:57:28 EDT

I can't conceive of what it's going to be like next week without the sight of Mark Cuban kicking up his heels on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. I was so disconsolate that Gawker Media videographer Richard Blakeley cooked up this montage to cheer me up. Let me tell you, Microsoft should be investing $240 million in this guy.

Mark Cuban, now imperiously slim

Owen Thomas — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:28:18 EDT

Kicked off of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, Mark Cuban reveals that he's lost 30 pounds in the course of preparing for and performing on the show. That points to his future career: fatblogging, like his good buddy Jason Calacanis, the wantrepreneur who's turned himself into the Richard Simmmons of the Internet.

I don't feel like dancing

Owen Thomas — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:51:49 EDT

Alas, Mark Cuban. You soft-shoed your way into my heart — but not America's. Cuban has been booted off Dancing with the Stars. His crime? Letting his nerd flag fly, in high-waisted pants and black-framed glasses. Here's a recap of his brief dancing career:

Mark Cuban geeks out

Owen Thomas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:38:29 EDT

Give billionaire Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban this much: At least he didn't faint during last night's Dancing with the Stars on ABC. It wasn't his best performance, but I'm betting he'll be safe during tonight's results show: The hypernerdy glasses he donned during an "I Dream of Jeannie"-inspired number played to his core audience of Valleywag readers.

Mark Cuban has all the luck

Owen Thomas — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:49:02 EDT

Once again, Internet billionaire Mark Cuban is safe for one more week on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." This one I didn't get — but then again, I didn't really understand why Yahoo paid $5.7 billion for Broadcast.com, either.

Mark Cuban's dancing feet sidestep Wii, PlayStation

Mary Jane Irwin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:13:15 EDT

Despite Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban's tenacity on Dancing With the Stars and his status as Silicon Valley demigod, he is not considered a "who's who" by Activision. He's been left out of the videogame publisher's Wii and PlayStation 2 titles based on the ABC show, which allows you to fulfill your most nerdly ballroom-dancing fantasies in the privacy of your own living room. But sadly, Cuban's hot-trotting shoes and puppeteer-spontaneous jazz-finger outbursts are not part of the package. Instead the adaptations stick you with the likes of Emmitt Smith and Joey Lawrence.

Mark Cuban bores the bojangles out of us

Owen Thomas — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:14:16 EDT

So far on Dancing with the Stars, Mark Cuban could do no wrong, as far as I was concerned. But last night's performance? A disaster all around. Slow and tepid dancing, and Cuban's expression, under caked-on makeup, looked like the Joker's frozen smile. Not even geek pride could get me to vote for this.

Shocked by his win, Mark Cuban dances on

Owen Thomas — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:54:56 EDT

Mark Cuban is safe for another week on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." From his grim expression, though, you'd think he was all but convinced he was off the show — note how it takes a few seconds for his win to register. Kym Johnson, his dancing partner, also seems shocked by the voters' choice.

Mark Cuban feels no pain

Owen Thomas — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:56:52 EDT

From the tone of his blog post yesterday, I was prepared to see Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban fall down on the dance floor, writhing in pain as his career on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" went up in flame. Instead, the Web's ultimate good-time Charlie kept jazz-handing his way through the number, smiling all the while. Was he hopped up on ~~hardcore pain medication~~ endorphins or what? Still, a lesson for every startup founder: Set expectations low, and then exceed them.

Mark Cuban admits he can't dance

Owen Thomas — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:24:02 EDT

Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban warns viewers that, well, he's going to suck tonight on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," thanks to a recent hip-replacement surgery that left the muscles of one leg weak. That's okay, Mark — from the very beginning, every vote for you was already a sympathy vote.

Loudmouth Internet billionaire Mark Cuban...

Owen Thomas — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:00:12 EDT

Loudmouth Internet billionaire Mark Cuban thanks the "Nerd Hard" [sic] for keeping him on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" for one more week. You're welcome, Mark. And, um, thanks for noticing, I think. [Blog Maverick]

Save Mark Cuban!

Owen Thomas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:15:30 EDT

A tragedy is brewing, folks. The Fort Worth Star-Something — apparently they have newspapers in cowtowns, who knew? — reports that Internet billionaire Mark Cuban risks getting voted off "Dancing with the Stars," due to the low scores assigned him by the judges. This is a clear example of the basest kind of antigeek prejudice. "It was like a bulldog chasing a squirrel," said one judge. Whatever! Who doesn't love bulldogs? And the worst thing: California, again, has been practically shut out of the vote, due to its Pacific timezone. The polls closed an hour ago. The Bay Area's nerd-boy hotbed, Cuban's natural constituency, left out again. So unfair! We'll have to watch tonight to see how this turns out.

Mark Cuban's money shot

Owen Thomas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:10:51 EDT

Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban takes the stage again on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." As I watched this, I had three thoughts: "Wow, that outfit is gay, even for 'Dancing with the Stars'"; "Mark Cuban is a really good bad dancer"; and "Those are not spirit fingers! These are spirit fingers!" Still, Cuban is the geekiest contestant on the show this season, so give him a little love, won't you?