Ever since Mark Cuban banned bloggers from the locker room at Mavericks games, he has been the subject of quite a bit of criticism.

Cuban came under attack after the ban when bloggers around the nation all simultaneously pointed out that Cuban himself is a blogger, and questioned his ability to be in the locker room. They also pointed out that if not for the Internet, Cuban wouldn’t own the Mavericks. Personally, I don’t think there’s much logic to most of the criticism, but a lot of irony.

This week the NBA told Cuban that he could not bar bloggers from the locker room that are otherwise properly credentialed. Cuban replied by saying that he will not discriminate against any bloggers, and has encouraged all to apply for credentials, saying on his blog:

“So I invite any blogger to post samples of their work here as a comment. if its good, and I am the only judge, then you will get an email invite to get credentialed to cover a game in Dallas (its up to you to get there). I don’t care if you work for a major company, or are in 8th grade. All will be given equal access.”

Here’s the thing — I think Cuban was dead wrong the first time when he banned bloggers, and I think he’s even more wrong with this decision to let them all in. There was a simple solution in the middle, being to allow reporters that are properly credentialed to have proper access to the team. It doesn’t matter what your medium is, if you have a credential, you get the access. It’s that easy.

If Cuban didn’t want bloggers in the locker room for any reason, then those people should not have received credentials. A writer for the Dallas Morning News, even if he is just a blogger, was given a credential to cover games, and should get the same access as everyone else. If that particular reporter does something in violation of their credential, then you can revoke the credential — but you don’t limit their access.

I worked in the media for some time in Phoenix. I covered the Suns, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Coyotes, Arizona State, and everything else that came to town, and I understand the process of covering games and getting credentialed. In defense of Cuban, I agree that your average “Joe blogger” doesn’t need to be in the locker rooms. There might be specific individual blogs/websites that have a purpose in the locker rooms, and I’d like to see them get an opportunity to be credentialed, but generally speaking, your average blogger does not need to be in the locker room.

What Cuban is doing now by opening the doors to anyone and everyone is just bad business. I feel for the rest of the Dallas sports media that work full-time jobs that include covering the Mavericks. These are the same people that cover the Cowboys and Stars, and I feel for them for the fact that they will now have to possibly share their limited work space with a bunch of people that are not there to cover the game.

While some bloggers may get the thrill of a lifetime covering a few games, they will take up space. They will take up resources, and they will not be familiar with media etiquette. I’ve covered hundreds upon hundreds of games in my life, and I’ll tell you right now — nobody knows their way around on the first day. Now Cuban wants to turn his locker room over to a bunch of first-time media guys.

This is wrong to do to the regular media and this is wrong to do to the players on the team. Do you think his players will be happy that some seventh grader is asking about his favorite food when they just lost a close game? Like it or not, it will happen if Cuban goes through with this.

A solution for integrating bloggers into the media is possible. The teams need to make decisions and stand by them. There are blogs and Internet sites that have qualified writers and legitimate reasons as to why they believe they should have a credential. If judged on a case-by-case basis, and held to professional standards, then issuing credentials to these sites is realistic.

In Phoenix, there is a website called Arizona Sport Fan Network (ASFN) that is part blog, part forum, but all fan-based. There was a period of two seasons (give or take) where ASFN was given credentials to cover practices and press conferences for the Arizona Cardinals. They were very non-invasive, usually seeking information from the other media folks, and they would do the occasional player interview as well. The Cardinals never gave them game credentials, and eventually told them that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate them anymore, but it was a system that worked pretty well.

I don’t see why blogs and Internet sites can’t have limited credentials. I don’t mean for every site, but for certain sites. Every team in every league is familiar with the popular message boards for their team and they know which sites should qualify for a credential. As long as bloggers understand their role, and don’t expect the amount of access that a beat writer gets, then this is a possible solution. The Mavericks themselves said they’d be willing to work on a case-by-case basis last year when a blogger applied for a credential.

I no longer cover games as a profession, but I obviously still write about sports. I would love to have access to some of the boxing matches in Las Vegas, but I have no interest in taking the seat of someone who needs to be there.

Both sides need to understand the other for this to work. Professionals in the media need to understand the power of the blog, and understand that information gathering is not the same as it used to be, and accept the fact that bloggers are their colleagues as well as their competition.

Bloggers need to understand that newspaper, television and radio outlets are still the top source of sports information. Bloggers need to understand that these are professionals who have worked their whole life to be where they are. Their job is their job, and not a hobby.

Bloggers need to let journalists do their job and not interfere with the system, and journalists need to welcome bloggers into the media fraternity. Both mediums will exist for as long as we can see, but both stand to accomplish different things.

The Dallas Mavericks, and particularly Mark Cuban, have the eyes of the Internet upon them, and must make the right move here. The right move is to allow the credentialed members of the media in Dallas full access, and judge any independent bloggers or Internet writers on a case-by-case basis.

If they want to be innovators, then the Mavericks could create a separate credential for bloggers for next season that has a separate media room, and limited seats in the arena (if any). Bloggers would be welcome to come to the game, get press releases, go to press conferences, and do post-game interviews, while at the same time being non-invasive.  Bloggers would have their access in this system, with the opportunity to prove they deserve a regular credential.

Cuban has a chance to stand up for that same Internet that made him, and do it in a way that fits in with the basketball team that defines him.

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