DALLAS - Everyone dreams about what they'd do with a billion dollars. For a 40-something sports fan, the vision could easily go like this:
Buy your favorite team, even if it's an epic loser that's not for sale. Do wacky stunts that bring attention to your club and to you, but also hire the right people to build the team into a big winner.
Once that's done, start branching out. Try buying a team in another sport that you grew up rooting for. Better yet, bid on two.
When one of baseball's landmark franchises goes for sale, make an offer.
When folks are looking to start a pro football league to rival the NFL, grab a piece of the action. Say the Las Vegas franchise.
Along the way, you'll discover new diversions, such as mixed martial arts. Go ahead and add that to your sports empire - which, by now, is part of a bigger portfolio that includes a cutting-edge television network, a respected movie company and a national chain of theaters.
But that's still not all. With so much going on, you'll become more famous than most of your players. GQ will make you a "Man of the Year" even though your wardrobe is mostly jeans and T-shirts. ABC will put you on "Dancing With The Stars" even though you bombed the first time the network put you in prime time.
Sound like fun?
Welcome to the world of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Since parlaying a dot-com idea into a 10-digit bank account, Cuban not only has had the financial ability to do what he wants, when he wants - he's done it.
And loved every minute.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said after announcing his latest venture, HDNet Fights, a marriage between his high-definition satellite TV network and the growing world of mixed martial arts.
"I like to do things that are unique and different and once-in-a-lifetime chances. And when I get to tie them all together, that's the ultimate solution."
Just his luck, plenty of those "ultimate solutions" have come along lately. Starting a week from tomorrow, Cuban will be part of the new season of "Dancing With The Stars." He's doing it even though he had hip replacement surgery earlier this summer. (Dang rugby injuries.)
Cuban says dance practice is his version of rehab.
"It was either work with Bruno or work with Kym Johnson. That was an easy decision," Cuban said.
Executive producer Conrad Green was hesitant about what he was getting into with Cuban because he only knew him as the guy who went berserk on the sidelines.
Cuban has racked up more than $1 million in fines from the NBA for antics that range from outrageous to inflammatory. His style rubs a lot of people the wrong way, even some diehard Mavericks fans. Cuban bashers extend beyond basketball, too. He had a war of words with fellow billionaire Donald Trump a few years ago.