In sport, tension rises between fans who are extremely loyal to their teams. Recently Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas mavericks, told Kenyon Martin's mother that her son was a "thug." It started as a "smart ass comment", but escalated quickly. Below is an apology from Mark to both Kenyon and his mother.
What caused Mark to apologize? Was this a legitimant reason for apologizing? What reasons make apologies more sincere or believable? Is offering a suite and dinner to Kenyon's family a good gesture or a slap to the face?
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/05/12/an-apology-to-kenyon-martins-mom-2/
For those of you who do not know, Kenyon Martin is a NBA player for the Denver Nuggets.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Mark is trying to buy his apology. It seems as though he bribes the Kenyon family with his suite just to put what he did in the past when he says, "So if we can put this behind us, I will make sure when the series comes back to Dallas, your family and friends, and that of your teammates are very comfortable at our Arena." Because of the bribe i think that Mark is not truely sincere in his apology.
ReplyDeleteI would say that his apology is coming from him having had the same things happen to him. I think he feels like it isn't that big of a deal because of that feeling but he is definitely ready to make up for his mistake if he actually did hurt some feelings. He talks a lot about pushing his money and authority around, saying he will buy dinner and get them a suite for the games but I don't think that he is using the moeny to buy them off. I just think he has the ability to use money so.... why not?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Mark Cuban almost immediately tried to acquire pity from us by saying, "No one takes more abuse and gets more threats on the road than I do." At the same time, he offered the suite as a gesture of goodwill, keeping the safety of the families of the players in mind. He gets the big picture, stating that "It's still just a game." He made the right decision in apologizing and kept his words at a minimum, so as to eliminate more possible slips of the tongue. In my mind, his apology was successful.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this apology was forced. I think that he didn't know how to be genuinely sorry, so all he could think to do was offer to pay for a suite and dinner. I think that those things don't have much significance in an NBA player's life because, let's be hoenst, they make tons of money. What is paying for one suite and one dinner to an NBA player? Probably not much. I think that he focuses a lot on the security of the families, but I think the issue should be focused on his statement and how he was wrong and sorry for what he said. Without this, I think it makes the apology insincere. I think he focused very little on actually being wrong. He even tried to make the excuse at the beginning that it was just a comment, but escalated. I think that regardless of the apology, there will most likely still be tension or dislike between the two players. I think it's important that he is so concerned about KMart's family, which does show some sincerity. I think it shows family is important to him and must be to others and he doesn't want anyone or their family to feel disrespected.
ReplyDeleteI feel like he apologized because things really did get out of hand and he had to step up and do the right thing. It was affecting not only his business but his fans, and his authority or credability as an owner. It was a legitimate reason to apologiz because even friends apologize for saying mean things to each other and so should adults. Even in large corporations people say mean things, some apologize some don't but it is a good reason. Relationships must be kept up in order to make sure teams can travel safely and comfortably and truely have a good game.
ReplyDeleteI think he says lets move on because its not a huge problem. He was name calling like a child and it may have hurt feelings and been uncomfortable to Kenyon. I don't think that offering dinner or his suite is a slap in the face, because he invites the whole team not just Kenyon. I think that he is not trying to buy anyone but trying to establish a comfortable and friendly environment again. All people are entitled to their opinion but like Kanye there is an apropriate time and him calling Kenyon a thug should have been kept to himself.
He is trying to be sincere and an owner and get it resolved because that is part of his business. He needs to keep relations in order to ensure his team will get the best lodging and safety and vice versa. He is owning up to it being a man and moving on.
I think that there is a lot of sincerity in the blog this week. Unlike Kanye West's apology to Taylos Swift, Mark is owning up to the problem that he has caused. Not only that, he is trying to make a conscious effort to rectify the problem as well. This serves as a combo breaker from Kanye's apology. Humor aside, I think Mark is right in apologizing because he made a stupid comment for no good reason. But it seems like he is trying to win the hearts of the people he has offended by trying to buy them dinner and offering up a suit. This adversely affects his ethos and makes it seem like he is trying to take the easy way out. I would like to commend the authors of the apologies posted on this blog for not ignoring the problem at hand forever like Apple and BP.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about this and had never heard of it until it was posted for the blog project. Nevertheless, I think that Mark Cuban was sincere in his apology. He says he was wrong and apologizes and says that he shouldn't have said it multiple times. I feel that his offer of paying for a suite and dinner isn't a bribe. It is probably the only way he knows to make it up to Kenyon Martin. I also feel that his offer is a way of showing how sorry he feels. Since actions speak louder than words, I feel like this was an appropriate response. I believe that Mark's apology was successful and was sincere.
ReplyDeleteThe apology to Kenyon is a simple and effective apology. I like how he simply said “It doesn’t matter why I said it. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Most apologies are filled with excuses and reasons, but he basically said that he was wrong to have said the comment. In fact he says it a couple of times. I do feel that he may have been a little pressured to apologize since it was affecting business and not just his personal reputation.
ReplyDeleteI do think it was a legitimate apology because it was directly to Kenyon and his mother and not to his co-workers, employers, and other “bystanders”, apologizing to them for disappointing them. I think that the offer to share a suite with Kenyon’s family wasn’t a bribe because he gave his reasoning, saying that if people can actually talk face to face, problems can be resolved. I’m not sure I know the whole story though, because I thought it was supposed to be an apology to the “thug” comment but he goes on about the security of the Arena. So maybe there was some comments later, made by Nugget players, about their safety in his arena. I don’t know.
I am a basketball fan, and I love watching NBA,I heard of a lot of story about Mark Cuban. I think Cuban is the kind of person does not pretend anything,and just be himself. In the playoff game, he is always so aggressive to the other team when he thinks something happened is unfair. So, there is reason for me to believe that when he is pissed about any reasons like that, he will be so mad to say something bad but, he probably did not mean offensive. Due to his personality and his words in his apology,since he has admit that he was wrong and apologized, it looks sincere to me. As the manager of Mavs, he is responsible for his temper,which can impact the image of both Mavs and him. That is one of the big reason he apologized. I think offering a suite and dinner for Kenyon family make his apology more sincere, because mostly apology comes with nothing but the words. However, is it a good gesture or slap on face? Depends on how the Kenyon's family think about it.
ReplyDeleteI think it was sincere the way Mark Cuban came right out, admitted he was wrong, and apologized for his "thug" comment. However, would he have made this public apology if his family, team and reputation wasn't getting continually disrespected? I am not sure. It seems like he thinks the situation was taken out-of-hand. Yes, we are all human and make mistakes now and then, but I think as a public figure and representative of a team, he was extremely inappropriate in his comment. I understand he wants to put this behind him and I am sure Kenyon's mother, Kenyon and his team do as well. However, I think Mark knew if he didn't stand up to the plate, his career would have been severely damaged. The question is; does this make his apology sincere? Yes he apologized, but it seems somewhat rushed and impersonal. As far as offering of the suite and dinner, I don't believe it necessarily added "sincerity" to his apology. I think it was more or less a stunt to take the pressure off of him, his guilt and his actions.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to tell if his apology is genuine. I agree with the comments that have been stated about whether his apology is stemming from actual sincerity or just for the sake of improving his self-image. I personally feel the latter was the reason Mark apologized. He never would have done so if he was never caught. I feel the apology would have been better accepted if he would have done the public apology on his blog, and then privately given the family the suite and security. That is just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI think Mark was working on that apologize well. Instead of saying sorry, he concentrates more on acts, Public apologize on his blog and a warm invitation As a crazy boss, Sometimes, Mark always speaks inappropriately. I think this apologize is acceptable and sincere.
ReplyDeleteMark Cuban is genuinely sorry that his comments were exposed. He is upset at how fast this situation spiraled out of control. He was angry after the last second loss in a game that he should have one. And said something he probably shouldn't have. Who hasn't? He offered everything he could do to fix the situation. He showed class in his apology. Congratulations Mark, you did good. And who knows, maybe "KMart" is a punk; he plays in the NBA after all.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Mark Cuban was really sorry for what he had said. He only regarded the issue as a smart ass comment and he was forced by the out-of-control situation to make this apology. Mark also refered to his own similar experience and claimed that he also suffered a lot which made this apology far more like a complaint. He did offer a suit and a dinner stuff to Kenyon Martin's family to show his apology. But it seems to me more like a kind of artifical acting.
ReplyDeleteTempers could easily push one into an embarrassed situation, causing him to become aggressive, offensive, and sometimes, even out of control. Anyone, no matter fans, players or coaches might lose temper during an overheated NBA game, let alone a boss named Mark Cuban. I would buy his apology in the first place because of his words. He didn't speak much to defend himself but state sorry from the point of his own experiences. Even though many would see his invitation to Nuggets players to stay in his suite as a bride, I would take it as an effort to make up.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Cuban's apology was sincere and you can tell that he was upset that what he had said got blown out of proportion. Although money cannot buy forgiveness, Cuban did offer to try and make up for his actions. I also feel that he knew that he did wrong and hurt someone by his actions. Cuban admitted to his mistake, apologized, and took steps in order to make things better which made his apology more genuine.
ReplyDeleteI feel Mark Cuban didn't think the situation was that severe, because he knew this kind of thing happened a lot in NBA, but he really wanted to apologize. He wrote,"it doesn't matter why I said this". It shows that he didn't want to find excuse. He knew what he did was wrong, no matter what reason he had. Judging by his words, offering a suite may be the best way he came up with to show his sincere.
ReplyDeleteMark Cuban does not seem very genuine in this blog post. Everywhere else on his blog he is overwhelmingly confident, and it is no different here. He sounds like a kid who was forced to apologize by his mother -I know no one heard me- but he still does apologize, which is good. One thing that Cuban does well is business, and he shows how good he is at that here, where he addresses an entire new issue while settling an offense at the same time.
ReplyDeleteCuban's apology rubs me the wrong way and I am not a fan of the way he went about it. One of the first things he says is "it doesn't matter why I said it" and that just makes it seem like he's not even sorry. If he was genuinely sorry, it would bother him too much to have something as important as the meaning behind what he said to not "matter". Although I think he feels bad, I believe he feels more bad that people are mad at him then he does about what he said and how it effected Marin and his mother. If he is really sorry for what he did he could have spent more time making it sound sincere because to me it sounded a little too forced.
ReplyDeleteMark Cuban started his blog with an excuse that he thought no one heard his commons. He even did not care about why he said it. From this point of view, Mark did not show his morse to Kenyon Martin and his mother. Although he said that he would like to invite them to Dallas and treat them, it seems impossible. All the offers he gave were not for apologizing. Those offers were like the bargining chips that they can trade to keep balance. If Mark really sorry for what he did and make an apology to Kenyon and his mother, he should be more serious and do some real stuff.
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