Dino Baskovic Can’t Lose

I've never agreed with the statement "It's business, nothing personal." I owned and ran my own business for eight years. It's very personal.

That's not to say I had a right to publicly and visibly burn every bridge I felt like. As a result of last night's nuclear explosion over "The Decision" of LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert woke upto an ounce of remorse and a pound of damage control. Were I the Cavs PR guy, I'd be a bit rankled at my boss for having singlehandedly turned crisis into crises.Comical (Sans) that Gilbert's letter was, holding the webmaster at gunpoint to pull the trigger without first running it through a few filters was just as foolish as the entire LeBron-ESPN debacle in the first place.

Still, it's near impossible for me to be completely objective throughout all this, being a lifelong Cleveland fan and having endured all "The" monumental sports failures over the years. Personally, I loved "The Letter." This is why I turn to Brian Windhorst, the Cavs beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer who offered rationale, factual reporting throughout this free agency messmoreso than his source-frenzied media peers at other papers. He gave a glimpse of what Gilbert went through the past seven years in service to the King. James wasn't perfect. Then again, neither was Gilbert, nor could the two of them hoist a trophy together—at least the only one that matters.

It's good to know that guys like Gilbert, wealthy and at times pigheaded as they may be, actually give a damn about this business. Now the question for Gilbert and the Cavs is how to turn that terse letter into lemonade -- and five subsequent rings. It will take a lot of fast and right moves in the coming days and weeks, as well as rebuilding the franchise in mere months, not years. Sure, that harsh rebuke has sports pundits wondering why on earth any superstar agent would send their clients Gilbert's way at this point. But if a few choice words become the impetus for turning the team and perhaps all of Cleveland into champions, then Gilbert made the right choice.

Countless letters throughout history penned by the powerful and the passionate have become catalysts for change, war cries, rallies for victory. You see, business is about winning. (Yes, it's also about learning from failure and fostering talent and the people and the children and the manatees and on and on, but ultimately winning.) And if you don't like winning, then get out of the business.

ESPN blogs about the Tribe Social Deck, an experiment to drum up excitement (with apologies to John Adams) and boost attendance for Cleveland Indians home games.

The idea is to select Tribe fans that will gladly trade their score cards for press credentials in anticipation that they will cover games online and generate positive buzz. Even though the Indians could stand for more wins than bloggers, it's a worthwhile experiment that costed their PR team virtually nothing to produce.

Being a Cleveland boy myself, it will interest me to see how the Tribe Social Deck plays out. At least one local blogger and the Waiting For Next Year site have sounded off, and I wonder if other sports venues will follow suit.

For now, my Tribe is four games behind the Twins in the AL Central. Tweets are great, but so are stats.

Cancer sucks, but Cleveland rocks.

Famed funny man from my old hood Drew Carey is raising awareness and dollars to fight cancer via social media.

The short of it: a guy named Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer and decided to LIVESTRONG.  One thing led to another, he's auctioning off his Twitter handle @drew to the highest bidder, and Drew Carey will pony up a million bucks if an equal number of people follow him on Twitter.

I wonder how Twitter will hand off the followers between accounts, or whether other famous Drews (e.g. Barrymore, Dr. Drew Pinsky) will raise the ante.  Regardless, this is welcome news for cancer tweeps around the world.

Thank goodness for Follow Fridays.  Now go follow Drew Carey!

Now that "Rich Uncle Pennybags" is finally open for business, here are my first impressions of Monopoly City Streets:

• Slick interface.  Think "Command & Conquer meets Google Maps."
• Buying the streets I grew up?  Cool.  Rebuilding my old school and childhood home?  Very cool.  Owning high rise condos on Whiskey Island? Now we're talking.
• The fact that no other registered user in the world can touch my properties?  Now that is neat.  Unless of course, they own a bulldozer.
• Sharing my real estate prowess on Twitter, gravy.  Facebook, I wouldn't know...
• The game servers lag a bit and the official blog is a tad preachy, but it's free and I ain't griping.

MCS won't replace the kitchen table.  Sure, I miss my thimble, but that's not the point.  This isn't "online" Monopoly, which already exists on multiple platforms.  Nor is it a mere transformation of an American classic.  Rather, a transubstantiation of a ageless brand from gaming tradition to global juggernaut. 

Think of it.  Monopolists in Moscow, for example, snapped up parcels along Arbat Street faster than they could say "это очень дорого" within hours of the site going live.  Save the uber-wealthy, Muscovites can barely afford to stare into store windows along Arbat, much less live there.  But as of today, they are virtual landlords, competing with other consumerists around the world in a digital land grab not seen since Second Life.  The economics of EverQuest also come to mind.  Wake up, marketing!  This could be bigger than Mafia Wars, larger than Second Life!  We need banners and apps and contests! 

Maybe I'm wrong.  Second Life did lose luster over time.  Then again, MCS could be the next "next big thing," spawning countless cottage industries and consulting fees. 

That's the marketer in me talking.  What about the consumer?  Perhaps this fad will pass by my next blog post.  Or maybe I get hooked.  Would I pay for premium play?  Will I crave each session as I once did with Scrabulous (now Lexulous) on Facebook?  And this is light years ahead of Lexulous...

Time will tell.  For now, it's fun to frolic in the old 'hood.  Think I'll go grab another green house.

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Sure my home teams lost this weekend.  Vikes over Browns, Trojans over Bucks.  My alma mater, I won't even go there...

It's mid-September.  I shouldn't worry so early.  And I don't.  You see, I am from Cleveland, Ohio.  I eat heartbreak with stadium mustard and onions.  And when it suits me, sweet relish.

I got my Columbus fix in 2002.  The Browns?  Well, it's only been 45 years.  What's one more?

This is football, dammit.  My kind of football.  I have high def and I'm not afraid to use it.  Now pass me some hot wings and keep the beer cold.

Yeah, the blue cheese, too.