Fluff

An addendum to the Kevin McCarthy column you have/will/may slog through (see big-ass story, this page): In an e-mail exchange, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says that my e-mail requesting comment from him was the first time he'd heard that his firing of McCarthy helped contribute to his breakdown.

"It's unfortunate that Kevin is facing these issues," Cuban wrote, "and I wish him well, and had we known, or had Kevin said anything, which he did not, we would have tried to help." Cuban also says that he did send McCarthy an e-mail after he was fired (he's e-compassionate!) but hasn't talked to him. The Mavericks did pay McCarthy for the rest of the year ($250 a game, season tickets, VIP parking). Finally, Cuban disagrees with me that he should have at least waited until the end of the season to give the job to fellow Big 570 host "Humble" Billy Hayes, which Cuban is entitled to do because he's a billionaire. "We felt it was important to change the style of PA in the arena to match the other changes we were making in the entertainment during games," he said.

I said in my last column that I would write a lot more about The Met turning 6. I changed my mind. So there. But it is worth noting that for the folks here and elsewhere who take great pleasure in disparaging the weekly (sometimes legitimately, often not), the paper remains one of the few places that supports and develops young talent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For the most part, the early cast of editors were all out of work or too inexperienced to be hired elsewhere. I, for one, couldn't get a job. But a quick rundown shows they've proven themselves beyond the paper, because former staffers went on to hold titles such as: national affairs correspondent for Investors Business Daily in Washington, D.C.; local morning show deejay on The Merge 93.3 net radio thing; music editor for L.A. New Times (and currently documentary filmmaker); staff writer for US magazine; producer for GuideLive.com; fine arts critic for the Wichita Eagle; and associate editor at Architectural Digest. This doesn't count the several people hired here from The Met over the years. Sure, I'm biased, but I still think it deserves credit for making it six years while competing for ad dollars against this paper, which is well-funded, and The Met continues to find good young writers and give them a place to grow -- albeit at $18K a year.

Bill Minutaglio, The Dallas Morning News writer who penned First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, has seen his now-national status pay off with a lucrative magazine deal. Last month he signed a contract with Talk magazine to write feature stories. Rumor has it there could be a mid-six-figure book deal in the works as well...Former Channel 4 anchor Ashleigh Banfield, now on MSNBC, showed rare bite when she ripped Dr. Laura Schlessinger on her show the other day, although Banfield offered too much info when she said she's often thought about being a single mother -- something that Dr. Laura frowns on...And this from David Letterman recently, when discussing Oprah Winfrey's new magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine. "I'm gonna start me a magazine," he said. "D Magazine." Please, Lord, no.