Ten years ago, I saw Mark Cuban in action. Today, I hope his Dallas Mavericks squeeze out one more win over the Miami Heat

Iowa played in the 2001 Alamo Bowl and I covered it, which means I spent a few days in San Antonio that year.

One night, there was a Dallas-San Antonio game in the Alamodome. I got a press credential and found myself seated to what seemed like an overcaffeinated fan. It took me several minutes of the game to realize it was the owner of the Mavericks, Mark Cuban.

Cuban hadn't had the team for that long, so I can be forgiven for not immediately recognizing him. But he made an indelible memory by the time his team had posted a 126-123 overtime win in the best NBA game I ever attended in person. It's funny, I can't tell much of anything from that Alamo Bowl other than Iowa beat Texas Tech and Hawkeyes Coach Kirk Ferentz said afterward that a corner had been turned. Or something like that.

Dirk Nowitzki, The Man so far in this year's NBA playoffs, had 26 points and 11 rebounds that night. Almost 10 years ago.

Anyway, Cuban was Superfan. Loud, demonstrative, but never vulgar.

After I got back to my hotel that night, I decided to write something about the experience of seeing this game and this owner. So I tracked down Cuban's e-mail address on the Internet, with low expectations of hearing from him. His reply was in my e-mail basket before I awakened the next morning.

Here's the story I wrote for the Gazette:

SAN ANTONIO - Many call NBA games dull. Many are.

But you wouldn't have found much mundane about Wednesday night's Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs game at the Alamodome.

Especially if you sat next to manic Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Dallas won in overtime, 126-123. Steve Nash's 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left was the game-winner.

Sounds like a good game, no?

Then note Spurs All-Star forward Tim Duncan scored a career-high 53 points, the most any NBA player has tallied this season.

Then add two unusual second-half delays because a low-flying, sonar-impaired bat circled the court. Spurs guard Terry Porter tried to swat it with a towel, but threw up an airbat.

Then watch the game at press row behind the Dallas bench sitting next to Cuban, a computer-technology wizard who has amassed $5 billion and still acts (and dresses) like a common fan.

Cuban was very enthusiastic. And very loud.

When Duncan was at the foul line in the fourth quarter, Cuban tried to rattle him in a voice that could easily be heard on the court even though the crowd of 20,667 was boisterous.

"Think about it, Timmy Duncan!" Cuban bellowed. "Think about it, baby!"

Duncan swished both free throws. He made all 15 of his attempts from the line.

Cuban yelled at the officials a lot, too.

"You're killing us, Courtney," he screamed at official Courtney Kirkland. It didn't prove to be true.

Last season, Cuban totaled fines of more than $500,000 from the league, mainly because he berated officials.

He was fined $100,000 for sitting on a baseline during a game. He got a two-game suspension for running onto the court to try to help break up a fight.

Wednesday, he was up and down all game. But the only time he charged onto the court was to hug his players after the win was sealed.

Cuban also signed autographs and posed for photos from fans, and embraced several friends.

Dallas fans clearly like him, and with good reason. The Mavs, who took a 19-9 record and seven-game winning streak into their Thursday home game against Chicago, seemed to get competitive the day he bought the team in January 2000.

It has been said that Cuban answers all of his e-mail. So I e-mailed him Thursday morning to ask what makes owning the Mavericks so satisfying. He replied before noon.

"I've been a basketball junkie as long as I could remember and I'm smart enough to realize I'm the luckiest guy in the world and living a dream," he wrote.

"What makes it particularly satisfying is knowing that peoples' perception of the NBA is so wrong. So many people think those guys don't work hard at their jobs. They do.

"Watching the guys practice, the coaches prepare, the fans get excited, and then seeing it all come together is an amazing experience. Add to that all the strategy in terms of how to build a team, and to me, it couldn't get more exciting."

Cuban 's coach, Don Nelson, got his 998th career win Wednesday. Nelson, 61, is a 1962 Iowa graduate. He was a two-time all-American for the Hawkeyes.

"Some of the greatest moments of my life were spent at the University of Iowa," Nelson said after the game. "I just had a wonderful career there. I enjoyed every year I had there.

Nelson played 14 seasons in the NBA and was on five league champions with the Boston Celtics. He coached the Milwaukee Bucks to seven straight division titles in the 1980s.

"I've been a very lucky guy," said Nelson, who will become the third NBA coach to win 1,000 games. "I've withstood the rigors of this job and continue to have a good job and compete at a very high level."

His guys were good enough to beat a team that had a player score 53 points.

"It's a wonderful win," Nelson said. "It was quite a game, wasn't it?"