A few days ago we reported that RealGM Hoop Net representative site DallasBasketball.com had an exclusive interview with Mavs owner Mark Cuban.  In that article Cuban told Mike Fisher that if commissioner David Stern resorts to stripping draft picks from his team he'd sell his franchise.

Well the crew have done it again, with Stephi Fisher managing to gain an exclusive, one hour interview with the NBA director of officials Ed Rush.  Rush had been the on the tail end of a Mark Cuban outburst which cost the owner a whopping $500,000 fine, and has been fending off interviews ever since.

?Talking to reporters is like going to the dentist: they get you comfortable, then they start pulling out all your teeth,?? Rush told Stephi, who she says first claimed to not be Ed Rush when initially approached. ?Now, go ahead ? ask me the tough questions.??

Rush claimed that his refs are doing a good job, as evidenced by their 94% grading (self-graded).  After the Utah-Dallas game they were set to head back to the hotel and break down the tape.

?How?s your friend in the front row, with the thing (credential) hanging around his neck, always yelling at the refs??? Rush joked.  

Rush said he has not spoken to Cuban since Mark's comments because ''it doesn?t mean anything'', Rush admitting he and his family were fans of Dairy Queen 'before they became famous'.

'He gives off a ?just-one-of-the-boys?? aura, one of his strengths as a person but, Cuban might argue, one of his weaknesses as a manager' writes Fisher.  To put Stephi's feat into perspective, beyond one one-sentence answer, Rush declined to speak to any other media.

Be sure to visit DallasBasketball.com for more on the subject.