Did you watch Friday night’s opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics?

How much do you intend to watch?

NBC approaches telecasts of these Winter Olympics walking on eggs. They are already estimating a drop of about 25% from the ratings of the last Winter Olympics. Other networks, which during the Winter Olympics usually show reruns of reruns of reruns, refuse to do that this year. Believing that the Winter Olympics are vulnerable as a TV product, the rest of the TV world is running its top shows head to head with the half pipers, cross country skiers and skeletoners.

In its desperate attempt to beef up their winter product, the Olympics (and TV) have over the last few years shoved more and more obscure sports into the competition. They believed this would result in more and more of the X-Game types watching their telecasts. That may have been a significant mis-judgement. The telecasts now seem fairly crowded with bizarre sports that once you seen them a few times do not have a long television shelf life.

There will still be significant pomp and ceremony. But somehow America just may never get into hooded people who’s faces you can’t see skiing down Italian mountains while they fire guns.

Mark Cuban is a genius.

I think Mark is a bright guy. He’s obviously got A.D.D. because he works on a dozen things at once. His movie company is spectacular. He is making brilliant movies. He may well win an Academy Award.

But his announcement that the Mavericks are going to lower some ticket prices was absolute genius. Every fan in Dallas will now love him. Every other owner in the NBA has got their Mark Cuban voodoo doll out.

Mark Cuban announces, ‘…hey, we’ve got a much lower luxury tax payment next year…our expenses are going to be down…so, we’re going to pass that on to you, the fans…’

Genius, I tell you…Pure genius.

This is a guy whose team is winning like crazy. This is the ultimate “Please Gouge Me” situation for fans. His team is on a 13 game win streak and he’s lowering ticket prices.

This is the first anti-gouging announcement in sports I’ve seen in a long time. Admit it, you figured Maverick ticket prices were going up this year. A successful team, young stars, lots of wins, of course ticket prices were on their way up.

Say what you want about Cuban. But, let me tell you something: when it comes to marketing to his fans, he gets it. And when it comes to the business of his team, he gets it. He understands that an empty seat will generate absolutely no revenue.

Two games. Three days. And the slaying of a four-headed dragon.

That's what has kept the Mavs busy this week: dousing the fire-breathing of four NBA icons: Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.

We'll march through the slayings of the NBA's hottest team, one by one:

1) Slaying Kobe: We addressed it earlier this week, and we'll expand on it here: Once upon a time -- like, a few weeks ago -- Kobe's ability to score at will against Dallas was a Mavs' mental bugaboo. He was in their head. Then, on Tuesday, Dallas forces him into a 5-of-22 shooting night.

He is out of their head now. The Mavs don't play the Lakers again this year, unless the Lakers somehow qualify for the playoffs. In which case these Mavs would welcome the challenge.

2) Slaying Phil: The Lakers coach exited Tuesday by claiming Mavs owner Mark Cuban "intimidates'' referees into calling games Dallas' way. "Nervous Nellies,'' he called the officials. First, an opinion: All Jackson is attempting to do here by re-initiating a spittin' match with Cuban is to deflect scrutiny of a bad team. HIS bad team. Cuban responded to the remarks by joking that he "owns Jackson'' and that Phil is now his "bucket boy.'' (Urban slang, I believe.) Now, to the facts: How successful has Cuban been in "intimidating'' refs during LA-Dallas games in, say, the last five years? Cuban has been so "intimidating'' of the zebras that the Mavs are 7-10 in those meetings.
That's the Cuban Era Advantage? He bares his fangs and we get 7-and-10? Wow, that is intimidating!

One step more: Maybe lead official Ken Mauer, who worked that Tuesday game, is specifically guilty. Maybe Mauer's games with Dallas end up the Mavs' way. Let's check on how Ken Mauer might have aided Dallas, either "secretly'' or "conspiratorially'' or as the result of having been "strong-armed'' by Cuban's muscular audio-visual department:
In the last five seasons, Ken Mauer has worked five of them.
The Mavs' record in playoff games not worked by Mauer is 20-21.
The Mavs' record in those five games worked by Mauer: 1-4.
Thanks for nothing, Ken.

Thanks for a fake controversy, Bucket Boy.

3) Slaying Shaq: Shaquille O'Neal is famously comical. He has derided Dallas for years, once calling Don Nelson a "clown coach,'' more recently questioning the manhood of Mavs center Erick Dampier. Thursday night, Damp said little before the game or after the game, but man, was he jabberin' at Shaq DURING the game. Shaq got 23 meaningless points in Dallas' 112-76 win. That's 13 straight victories for a Mavs team that during the streak hasn't allowed an opponent 100 points, has an average margin of victory of 16 points, and enters Friday a half-game ahead of San Antonio and a one-and-a-half game behind Detroit in the race for the best record in the league.

Shaq, anything humorously derisive to say about the Mavs today?

"That was just a good old-fashioned Texas beatdown,'' said O'Neal.

Hey, wait. ... that wasn't funny!

4) Slaying Barkley: During this terrific run, TNT's Charles Barkley should be eating his words. (Eating words would no doubt make for fewer calories than whatever he's stuffing in his piehole now.) But no. Before Mavs-Heat, Barkley announced that no matter what the Mavs have accomplished, THIS game would be the true test. Then came a 30-point blowout. ... and Barkley dismisses the game as unimportant because the Mavs still haven't beaten anybody.

For the record: The best teams in the NBA -- the teams considered contenders, powers -- are the Spurs, the Pistons, the Suns, the Heat -- are 1-6 against Dallas. As a point of comparison, "powerhouse'' Miami Heat's record is now 0-7 against Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix.

Shouldn't national analyst Barkley, working the Mavs-Heat game, point this out? Nah. He was too busy admitting that while Dallas is improved, its postseason fate is sealed because (to paraphrase) "Dirk will have to cover the Spurs' Tim Duncan in the playoffs, and he can't do that.''

Of course, anybody who actually watches the NBA knows that Dirk doesn't cover Duncan.

And anybody who watches the NBA knows Charles Barkley doesn't cover the NBA.

The City of Dallas is hoping to put a $50 million project to renovate the Cotton Bowl on the ballot in November.

The City of Dallas desperately wants to keep the annual Texas/OU game in the Cotton Bowl. OU has jumped on board and said that they’d like to stay. But the city is still awaiting word from UT.

Meanwhile, the UT Board of Regents have approved an expansion and improvement of Royal War Memorial Stadium worth about $150 million. This renovation will make the stadium a 90,000 seat stadium. It will be ready in 2008. This is going to make it much harder to keep the game in Dallas. UT will not be as willing to give up a home game every other year when it means turning down all that revenue that a 90,000 seat stadium will bring.

As you well know, I have been frustrated with the City of Dallas for years. I’m leery of anything they do. So many things have been absolutely bungled by this CAN’T DO city. It’s not that some haven’t tried. Thank goodness that the AAC has been built. In 3 years the Victory Development will be a massive development that Dallas can be proud of.

But I don’t have any idea why this city is now going to ask you for $50 million to spruce up the Cotton Bowl. Especially when they just turned down a golden opportunity to completely revitalize Fair Park with the Dallas Cowboys.

Yes the Cowboys would have required a much larger investment. But, they would have also brought a much much much bigger return. The Cowboys project would have secured not only the Texas/OU game, it would have also brought Final Fours, Super Bowl(s), All-Star Games, NFL Playoff Games, BCS Bowl Games and possibly a National Championship. $50 million in improvements to the Cotton Bowl may bring Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

I’m sorry, I understand that public funding of stadiums is a very controversial issue. Heck, Friedo has argued with me for years that the City of Dallas could have gotten a much better deal in the AAC negotiations.