Should Bob Johnson stick to what he knows?

-LENN HINDSMANN The billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, Bob Johnson has made many successful investments over the years, but it looks like the $300 million price he paid for the Charlotte Bobcats may be test for the man who made his name and money via the media industry. Bob has been accused of being too much of a hands off owner in the era of Mark Cubans and rarely makes trips to Charlotte. Some there have even called for him to sell the team to someone who really loves basketball because he isn't in it for the game he is in it for the status and money. But it looks like the money has been slow to come. Perhaps Bob should do what everyone else is doing, drop some money on a hot web start-up or something. "I don't think Bob anticipated it would be this hard. I think someone in the league sold him a bill of goods about how easy it was going to be," said Felix Sabates, a NASCAR team owner and Bobcats minority investor. "I think the NBA, they were pretty anxious to put in a new franchise for $300 million. I don't think the NBA did a very good job of researching the market before they came back in here." The Bobcats' own mistakes made it worse. They were forced to drop ticket prices after fan backlash. A regional television sports network Johnson started folded after one year. And the team is still tied to a deal with Time Warner Cable that prevents satellite dish owners and some cable subscribers from seeing most of the team's games. Unfamiliar territory: Bobcats owner not used to losing games, money [Desert News]