My column on Mark Lazarus’ comments about the playoff beards in hockey caused a bit of a kerfuffle. However, the NBC Sports chairman also was in the news for another reason.

NBC landed the rights to the British Open, beginning in 2017. Lazarus said a highlight came when he broke the news to Johnny Miller, who won the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale. Coincidentally, that will be the site of the ’17 Open.

“We could see Johnny’s smiles through the phone,” Lazarus said. “It was the same with all the talent. Everyone is thrilled about this.”

Indeed, NBC now is back in the major game after losing the U.S. Open to Fox.

“We’re always in the business of having the most important events we can have,” Lazarus said. “We were disappointed to lose the U.S. Open, no doubt about that. But we can’t dwell on the past. We have to move forward. The next opportunity to move forward was the oldest and probably biggest global golf event.”

A big component of the deal will be the airing a significant chunk of the tournament on the Golf Channel. It will be a huge milestone for the network with its first live coverage of a men’s major.

“Someone turned a phrase: ‘The home of golf at golf’s home,'” Lazarus said. “I like that.”

Want to share a good column by Adam Proteau of the Hockey News. He doesn’t agree with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus’ desire to get rid of playoff beards.

However, Proteau contends fans who are vehemently opposed to Lazarus’ stance are missing the larger issue. He writes:

But when you consider the TV executive’s underlying message – that the league, the game and its players must take greater efforts to maximize their marketability – isn’t to be mocked at all. Lazarus is doing the NHL a service by trying to shake the tree and wake people up to a problem, because hockey at its highest level too often strives for a homogeneity that threatens its place in the pro sports pecking order.

The playoff beard tradition isn’t all that much of a tradition, as Lazarus noted; it began with the 1980s-era New York Islanders Stanley Cup-winning teams, but didn’t fully catch on for many years after that. Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers never looked like they were auditioning to be Rip Van Winkle when they were winning championships.

Proteau wants more color from the players:

If Safe is Death as a hockey strategy, the same goes in regard to business. There’s a reason products in virtually every industry known to man are constantly attempting to evolve. If you don’t change with the times, you don’t get many more times to change. And in many regards, the NHL hasn’t changed enough to compete in the modern entertainment industry. Players and media continue a Kabuki Theatre of passive-aggressive thrust-and-parry that usually results in the journalism equivalent of Muzak. Virtually every night, there is a Cirque du Snoré of endless hackneyed surface analysis, an unspoken contest to see which players can use the most syllables to say the least. Is that an area where players are willing to change? Knowing that they might be making more hockey fans (and putting more money in their pockets), can they show a little more emotion and care a little less about winding up on the opposition’s dressing room message board as the author of a quote that indicates they’re an actual human being and not a magic 8-ball of cliches?

And finally:

If the game is to grow, change is inevitable and not nearly as negative as many would have you believe. So yes, Lazarus picked the wrong target when he focused on playoff beards. But his intent is admirable, and if we can stop piledriving his one particular notion into the ground, we’d see he’s got a point.

You can mess with plenty in sports, but don’t go messing with the playoff beard.

Judging by the reaction to my Chicago Tribune column,  NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus is in a distinct minority with his view that players need to shave during the postseason. He thinks the playoff beard hurts their recognition with fans.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports:

NHL stars are sold on two things: Skills and story. A beard doesn’t change what they do on the ice. A beard doesn’t change who they are intrinsically, if NBC would spend the time to churn out the same level of vignettes for the Stanley Cup Final that it does, say, for the Olympics.

And the idea that some of these players are less attractive with beards?

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the sports media has shown a tone deafness for the women (and some men) in its audience.

Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing:

If making individual players more identifiable is the goal, there are plenty of ways to do that without attempting to legislate what facial hair they can have. Helmets and visors would seem to be more of an obstacle there, and while you obviously can’t remove those for in-game play, how about getting helmetless shots of some of the key players standing or skating around and running those when your broadcast talks about them? In general, though, it seems like Lazarus is creating a problem that doesn’t really exist here. Hockey’s doing well for NBC as it is, posting strong Stanley Cup Final ratings so far despite the inclusion of oft-criticized market Tampa Bay, and there certainly aren’t masses of fans out there complaining about the beards or saying it’s hard for them to pick out individual players. Facial hair is only a problem in the head of the chairman of NBC Sports. Sadly, it seems he’s trying to make it a problem for the league.

 

Mike Cardillo of The Big Lead:

Admittedly, the humble author of this blog post doesn’t know very much about fashion trends — my local barbershop canceled its GQ subscription — but I’ve seen the groan-inducing term “lumbersexual” appear in my Twitter feed numerous times in the last couple months. This could be one of those terms that only appears in the bubble of social media, but it apparently exists.

Short story short, beards appear to be “in.” Granted a slob such as myself saying beards are “in” likely signals just the opposite. Whatever.

Hemel Jhavari of USA Today:

This may be where Lazarus probably has a point. There’s no contest between a clean shaven Jonathan Toews and one sporting several weeks of weak playoff scruff.

Instead of a beard, Toews has this Amish chin strap that doesn’t quite connect all the way around his face. It’s not his best look, but that’s part of the deal. It wouldn’t be the playoffs without players and their gross, scraggly facial hair.

Seth Rosenthal of SB Nation:

Next of all, buried under the kinda creepy “model citizens” and “one of a kind among professional athletes” garbage is a legitimate point: Hockey players perform beneath huge pads and helmets. It gets hard to tell them apart, and to recognize them when they’re not in uniform. Covering all their faces with fuzz only further obscures identities. That’s a bummer if you’re trying to market these persons to the world.

Counterpoint: Guys are gonna do whatever they want with their facial hair. You don’t make the face rules, TV man.

Congrats to Mr. Vitale, age 76 going on 16.

The official release from ESPN:

Basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale, one of the most accomplished and impactful personalities in the history of sports television, has agreed to a new contract extension with ESPN that will carry through the 2017-18 season. The agreement will add another season to Vitale’s previous extension, which had been announced this past October. The 2017-18 season will mark the 39th on ESPN for Vitale, who started with the company in its first year (1979-80).

Vitale will continue to call some of the season’s top games across ESPN networks, including regular-season action primarily on ESPN and ESPN2 and the Men’s Final Four for ESPN International.

“Dick continues to connect with fans by demonstrating an incredibly successful combination of exuberance for and knowledge of the game he loves,” said John Wildhack, ESPN Executive Vice President, Production and Programming. “He is a one-of-a-kind personality and the passion he brings to everything he is involved with continues to have an enormous impact.”

Vitale added, “I am so proud to be part of the ESPN team. They have become my second family and have been a vital part of my life. It has been nothing but pure happiness working with the beautiful people at ESPN and I can’t thank them enough as they’ve been responsible for so many of the glorious days I’ve had in my life.”

Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season — just after the network’s September 1979 launch — following a successful coaching career. He called ESPN’s first-ever major NCAA basketball game – Wisconsin at DePaul on Dec. 5, 1979 (a 90-77 DePaul win). Since then, he’s called more than a thousand games.

Over the years, Vitale has been widely recognized for his work and his positive impact on others. Among the recent honors are: the American Cancer Society for his dedication to cancer awareness; the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) with a Court of Honor Award; and Seton Hall University with the Humanitarian Award.

Beyond the numerous awards he’s received for his work, including the sport’s highest honor in 2008 (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in the contributor category), Vitale has been celebrated for his many charitable contributions. He’s been an outspoken and passionate fundraiser and board member for The V Foundation for Cancer Research and has also worked closely with the Boys & Girls Club and Make-A-Wish, among other organizations.

While his knowledge, preparation and enthusiasm are unparalleled, his “Vitale-isms” have become part of the sports lexicon, including “Awesome, Baby!,” “Get a TO, Baby!” and “PTP’er.” Vitale, who has authored nine books, has been selected for nine halls of fame. In addition to TV, he contributes to numerous other ESPN outlets, including ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and more.

Vitale’s roots are in teaching the game he’s loved since childhood. Following college, he got a job teaching at Mark Twain Elementary School (Garfield, N.J.) and coaching junior high school football and basketball. He began coaching for eight years at the high school level in 1963, and in 1970, moved on to his first of seven years of college jobs with Rutgers and later University of Detroit. In May 1978, he was named head coach of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, the job he held prior to joining ESPN.

My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana.

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Imagine if it was Atlanta, not LeBron James and Cleveland, facing Golden State in the NBA Finals.

Imagine if it was Anaheim, not Chicago, going up against Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final.

Imagine if two different horses, not American Pharoah, had won the first two Triple Crown races going into the Belmont Stakes.

The ratings narrative would have been much different. You wouldn’t be hearing about huge numbers, some of the highest in more than a decade, from the networks.

The ratings would have been much, much lower. Instead of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman using the surging championship numbers to show the robust health of their sports, there would be stories pointing out that the declines suggested sports fans were tuning out the biggest games of the year.

Once again, the ratings show how star power is everything these days. They are a powerful reminder how the networks need the right players, teams and even horses to be performing on the biggest stages in sports.

The stars are truly aligned this year.

According to Sports Media Watch, the site that monitors ratings, Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday got off to its best start in 14 years with a 10.6 rating (17.3 million viewers) on ABC. After posting on a 12.9 overnight rating for Game 2 on Sunday, the ratings for the first two games are the highest ever for a final on ABC. Thank you, LeBron.

Game 1 of the Chicago-Tampa Bay Final was the best opener since 1997 with a 3.3 rating (5.5 million viewers).

SMW reports the overnight ratings for American Pharoah’s victory in the Belmont actually were down a tick (12.3 from 12.9) from last year when California Chrome made its bid for the Triple Crown. SMW writes: “The lower number may seem surprising, but keep in mind last year’s race likely benefited from relative novelty — it was the first Triple Crown attempt in six years and only the second in a decade.”

However, NBC still was more than pleased, as Saturday’s rating was up 167 percent from 2013, when no Triple Crown was at stake (4.6).

Let’s throw in one more big name: Serena Williams’ victory over Lucie Safarova in the French Open women’s final earned a 1.9 overnight rating on NBC Saturday morning, up 27 percent from the Maria Sharapova/Simona Halep last year (1.5).

When it comes to the NBA and NHL, ESPN/ABC and NBC should be thanking their lucky stars. Both of their sports are on remarkable runs with teams in the finals. In the case of the NBA, it comes down to one player.

James now is playing in his fifth straight NBA Final. That’s a gift from the TV god for ESPN/ABC. Much like Michael Jordan in the ‘90s, he is a ratings machine. James brings in the non-traditional viewers who tune in to check out his incredible talent. His one-man quest to win the title is must-watch TV this year.

The ratings wouldn’t be close if the star-less Atlanta Hawks had made it to the Finals. Even with an attractive Golden State team with Stephen Curry, viewers would be flipping elsewhere with a Hawks-Warriors Final.

As for the NHL, it almost had a nightmare Stanley Cup Final in Anaheim-Tampa Bay. Most people in Los Angeles don’t know that there is one hockey team in town, let alone two. The ratings would have been minuscule for that match-up.

NBC didn’t get its dream pairing in Chicago-New York Rangers, but the network isn’t complaining about having the Blackhawks in the final for the third time in six years. Not only are the Blackhawks a big national draw, my town turns into a ghost town with everyone staying home to watch the games. The huge Chicago numbers account for 20-30 percent of NBC’s overall national rating. Yes, NBC executives are big Blackhawks fans.

Surely, the networks’ star runs will end one of these days. NBC will get stuck with a Carolina-Nashville final. ABC will have to make something out of a Milwaukee-Memphis match-up for the title.

Look out below.

What happens when the stars fail to deliver? Look no further than golf where the ratings have been off significantly with Tiger Woods in an epic freefall. While the game has some new budding stars in Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, they can’t match Woods’ star power when he was at the top of his game.

The declining ratings have some people suggesting that golf’s popularity has eroded. No, that’s not the case. Rather, they show impact of Tiger’s singular feats on sports fans who tuned in just to watch him.

Indeed, the NFL is the only sport that doesn’t necessarily need star power for its biggest games. People will watch the Super Bowl regardless of who is playing. However, it didn’t hurt that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have played in the last two Super Bowls.

Baseball clearly has been impacted the most by not having transcendent stars.Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune noted the game could use a player like Bryce Harper to emerge as a Mickey Mantle-like presence.

Sullivan writes: “The Giants and Royals may have been the two best teams of 2014, but through Game 6 of the World Series, Giants-Royals was on pace to be the least-watched Series in history. Only a Game 7 bump put it ahead of the 2012 Series, leaving ’14 second from the bottom.

“Bottom line: Neither team had any stars that casual fans cared about enough to watch, at least until Game 7.”

Bottom line: Stars rule the day in TV sports. Always have and always will. NBC and ESPN/ABC should enjoy this run while it lasts with the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final. They know all stars eventually fade away.

Wonder if the Golf Channel will begin coverage of the 2017 British Open today? It would if it could.

After losing the U.S. Open to Fox, NBC is back in the major business by landing the rights to the British Open, beginning in 2017. The deals lasts 12 years.

The 2017 Open Championship, as it is called over there, will mark the first time the Golf Channel will have coverage of a men’s major. It will be a huge milestone for the network.

Also, adding the British Open likely will keep Johnny Miller around for a while. Miller turns 70 in 2017. However, while the U.S. Open defined his career with his epic round at Oakmont in 1973, his other major victory occurred in the 1976 British Open. Miller isn’t going to retire without calling a few British Opens first.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reported the deal last night.

NBC and Golf Channel will replace ESPN, which is paying a reported $25 million annually under an eight-year contract. While NBC did not divulge its fees, Mark Lazarus, head of the NBC Sports Group, said the deal called for a “fairly large increase.”

“This is an affirmation of the way the golf industry looks at us and Golf Channel as an important part of the golf media world,” Lazarus said. “We’re in the golf business. It’s not a hobby for us. Golf is a pillar of our strategy at NBC and Golf Channel.”

The official release from NBC:

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NBC Sports Group and The R&A announced today a long-term media partnership in the United States beginning with The Open from Royal Birkdale in 2017 and spanning 12 years. The announcement was made today by Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, and Mark Lazarus, Chairman of the NBC Sports Group.

“The R&A is synonymous with the traditions and history of golf, and The Open is golf’s original championship. NBC Sports is proud to present The Open Championship, and to work with The R&A on their initiatives to grow the game around the globe,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman of NBC Sports Group. “This partnership will allow NBC Sports, Golf Channel and NBC Universo to serve the legions of sports fans in the U.S. with complete coverage that reflects the prestige of The R&A’s championships.”

“We are delighted to announce that from 2017, The Open will be broadcast by NBC Sports Group. They have unparalleled experience in golf and have demonstrated a genuine desire to showcase and promote The Open and The R&A’s elite championships through their extensive range of channels and digital platforms,” said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. “The United States is home to millions of fans of The Open and we know that through NBC Sports Group, they will enjoy world-class coverage of the Championship.”

The new partnership agreement includes coverage across all media of The Open, The Senior Open Championship, and The Amateur Championship, as well as the RICOH Women’s British Open, in partnership with the Ladies’ Golf Union. The agreement also includes coverage of the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, in years when these international amateur team events are hosted by The R&A and Ladies’ Golf Union.

NBC Sports Group, The R&A and Ladies Golf Union partnership:

Returns The Open and RICOH Women’s British Open to U.S. broadcast television for the first time in eight years

Represents Golf Channel’s first live coverage of a men’s major championship with The Open

Adds the RICOH Women’s British Open as the fourth women’s major championship on Golf Channel, and joins this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship as the second to receive broadcast coverage on NBC

Includes NBC Universo’s live Spanish-language golf coverage of The Open and the RICOH Women’s British Open

“As these events’ new home in the U.S., NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the RICOH Women’s British Open and Curtis Cup will further raise the profile of these world-class events,” said Lazarus. “Adding broadcast coverage of the Women’s British Open will contribute to the momentum that the LPGA Tour and Golf Channel have generated in the United States, as the women’s game continues to grow stronger.”

“This is fantastic news for the Women’s British Open and the Curtis Cup and for women’s golf generally,” said Trish Wilson, Chairman of the Ladies’ Golf Union. “To have the full weight and breadth of the NBC Sports Group behind these two international events will be of tremendous benefit to their future growth.”

NBC Sports Group’s promotional effort will feature The Open as one of the final marquee events within NBC Sports’ widely recognized Championship Season each spring and summer and will strengthen NBC Sports Group’s leadership position as sports fans’ morning destination in the U.S. In addition, the partnership will collaborate on showcasing golf’s oldest and most international championships, including Golf Channel’s coverage of The Open Qualifying Series events, documentaries from the Emmy-nominated Golf Channel Films unit and a U.S. promotional tour of the Claret Jug, one of sport’s most iconic trophies. Golf Channel and The R&A also will work together on efforts to showcase The R&A’s global youth initiatives, utilizing Golf Channel’s presence in more than 200 million households, 80 countries and 11 languages around the world.

As an old hockey fan from the 70s, I will be watching this one.

NBC Sports Films’ first project, “Center of Attention: The Unreal Life of Derek Sanderson,” a one-hour documentary that chronicles the remarkable life of former NHL star and two-time Stanley Cup Champion Derek Sanderson. Center of Attention will premiere Monday night on NBCSN, following Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks.

Narrated by Boston native, Primetime Emmy Award-nominee and star of Mad Men John Slattery, Center of Attention followsSanderson’s journey from humble beginnings, to becoming the highest paid athlete of his time, only to eventually end up homeless, broke and addicted to drugs and alcohol. Through interviews with former teammates, coaches, friends, rivals, andSanderson himself, viewers get an inside look into his eccentric and reckless life that ultimately features a fourth act fitting of a Hollywood screenplay, as Sanderson is able to get clean and become a respected financial adviser for top athletes.

In his book Crossing The Line, Sanderson said of his life: “In the span of an extraordinary life, I made the National Hockey League, won two Stanley Cup championships, became a trendsetter, gained celebrity status, became a millionaire, descended into addiction, was homeless, almost died, asked for salvation, kicked booze, drugs and cigarettes, climbed back from the wreckage, met an amazing woman who gave us two great sons, taught kids about the evils of addiction, was a broadcaster and now advise athletes about their finances. That’s a lot to pack into one life!”

Center of Attention features interviews with eight members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, including Sanderson’s teammates Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Rod Gilbert, Gerry Cheevers Brad Park, Bernie Parent and coaches Harry Sinden and Emile Francis.

In the glory days of his playing career, Sanderson was a national sensation. He won the Calder Trophy, as the NHL’s top rookie in 1967-68, and was a two-time Stanley Cup champion before his 26th birthday. Off the ice, the man known as “Turk” was an iconoclast who went into the nightclub business with Joe Namath, was regularly seen with beautiful women, drove around town in a Rolls Royce, and was quoted as saying his pregame meal was “a steak and a blonde.”

In 1972, Sanderson left the Bruins and the NHL to sign with the Philadelphia Blazers of the World Hockey Association. His $2.65 million contract made Sanderson the highest-paid professional athlete in the world at the time, but within months, poor play, a back injury and his lavish contract led the Blazers’ owners to buy out Sanderson’s deal for $1 million.

At age 27, after making it back to the NHL, Sanderson’s drinking increased and he developed an addiction to drugs.Sanderson ended up broke and homeless, at one point sleeping on a bench in New York City’s Central Park. By 1978, when he was 32, his hockey career was over.

In 1980, after more than a dozen trips to rehab, Sanderson was able to get clean and start a new life. He was hired by then Mayor of Boston Ray Flynn to serve as a drug and alcohol awareness speaker at Boston area schools, worked as a lead television analyst for the Boston Bruins, became a financial adviser, and started a sports group to help protect athletes from themselves and from those who could take advantage of them.

Spanning the globe to give you the constant variety of sports media:

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The great Bob Ley shows why ESPN gave him a contract extension this week in anchoring the network’s coverage of the FIFA mess. A Q/A with Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing.

AA: You list off all those contributors that were brought in to the coverage. For you is this one of those days that represents everything ESPN can be as the self-proclaimed worldwide leader where you can go to Mallorca and Berlin and London to bring in world-renowned former players and commentators and journalists and put all those resources to their best use?

Ley: Once we’re done, and we’re never done because we’re taping things once we’re done live, but once you’re done yes you’re very proud that you were able to put 40 years of love for this sport and the contacts and the knowledge in that time and work on the fly and share that. The US soccer community has grown, but it’s still not very large. But all the people we had on today I would consider a friend. We all know each other and we’ve all had these conversations about FIFA off the air in airports and bars around the world and now we get a chance to put it out there. What you guard against is going too inside football and down into the politics of the federations of FIFA to lose people. You want to keep it as relevant as you can.

I was talking to Jay Harris as I left the office trying to remember the last off-the-field sports story that captivated the world like this. The last two, and maybe I’m missing something as I’m deprived of sustenance on the way home for dinner, would have been Ben Johnson testing positive for doping at the Olympics or Magic Johnson testing positive for HIV. This story with Blatter matters to every country in the world because soccer is the world’s game. If problems were to crop up in MLB, NBA, or the NFL there’d be a lot of people in South Asia that wouldn’t give a rat’s behind. They do about this.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times interviews the author of a new Ty Cobb book that portrays a much different version of the baseball legend.

When he began work on a new biography, “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” (Simon & Schuster), Charles Leerhsen expected to uncover fresh depictions of the player as a racist and a spikes-sharpening attacker of opposing infielders. If Cobb was the meanest man in baseball flannels, additional animosity would not be difficult to find.

“I thought I’d find new examples of monstrous monstrosity,” Leerhsen said in an interview last week. “Instead, I found a very different person than the myth. I was a little disappointed at first. He’s more normal than I thought.”

George Solomon, head of the Povich Center for Sports Journalism at Maryland, isn’t crazy about automated game stories.

Shirley Povich, the man the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism is named, tried to give his readers that “feel” as well. Every fall, the students in the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s sports reporting class listen (I hope) to my reciting Povich’s description of Don Larsen’s perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series: “The  million-to-one  shot came in. Hell froze over. A month of Sundays hit the calendar. Don Larsen today pitched a no-hit, no-run, no-man-reach- first game in a World Series.”

In his 1969 memoir, “ All Those Mornings,” Povich remembered what it was like trying to write for his readers of The Washington Post about the only perfect game ever pitched in the World Series:

“When it was over, my frightening task began: How to handle this aurora borealis?  I sat among four hundred other writers transfixed, my eyes staring at the Yankee Stadium turf, my mind trying to absorb and ponder the magnitude of the achievement, all the while knowing the clock is moving and the deadline is mocking. I shifted my stare to the empty white sheet of paper in my typewriter until snow-blindness threatened to set in. Then my fingers began moving across the keyboard of my portable and I was writing scared as the words began to come out.”

I’m sure my friends at the Associated Press will figure out what to do about game stories. So will the nation’s sports editors. Automation?  Perhaps.

I shudder to think the great sportswriters of today will not have the opportunity Povich had that autumn day in 1956, or Red Smith had covering Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run for the New York Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 or Jimmy Cannon sitting ringside when Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in 1938.

Richard Deitsch at SI.com interviews NBA writers about covering the Finals.

Beck: As I mentioned above, the access and the overabundance of media makes covering the Finals much more challenging. It’s not a complaint, just a reality.

Isola: I wish the postgame interviews could be handled a little better. Get the key players out on the podium quicker. Waiting for them to shower and dress is a deadline killer … for those of us in the newspaper business who still have deadlines. I get it; the players use the postgame press conference as their red carpet moment. They like to make fashion statements. But I think a better visual is the players in their uniform talking. I blame Michael Jordan. He started it. AndCarmelo Anthony is the league leader in taking an eternity to shower, get dressed, put on his fedora, and speak with reporters.

Lee: The late starts make it really tough for newspaper deadline purposes. The games usually end around midnight, leaving little time to process what happened and properly explain it to the masses. I always marvel at Internet writers pulling all-nighters when I’m walking out feeling like I just tried to microwave a turkey.

Recalling the career of Ron Bergman, the long-time beat writer for the Oakland A’s, who died last week.

Ron Bergman, the colorful, stylish sportswriter best known for documenting the Swingin’ A’s of the 1970s, died Thursday. He was 80.

Bergman was the Oakland Tribune’s original A’s beat writer when the franchise arrived from Kansas City in 1968 and went on to cover their three consecutive World Series titles.

His book “Mustache Gang” remains the best insider account of that wild cast of characters.

“It’s a great loss for all of us. He was a cool dude,” said Vida Blue, who won the MVP and Cy Young Award for the A’s in 1971. “Remember, this was the 1970s, and our relationship with the media was a lot different. He’d be on our flights. He’d be there for drinks. And nothing was off limits — the good and the bad.”

Bergman would hit the town with Catfish Hunter or Joe DiMaggio (an A’s coach at the time) and played bridge with the likes of Rollie Fingers and Ken Holtzman. As a result, Blue said, players confided in him, allowing Bergman to produce an almost daily parade of scoops.

Glenn Schwarz, who covered the A’s beat for the San Francisco Examiner during those years, said: “I was a so-called peer. But he was peerless. He was the best baseball writer of his time.”

My old Tribune colleague Richard Rothschild at SI.com recalls the ’75 Golden State Warriors, who broke my heart as a Bulls fan en route to winning the NBA title.

Rare Finals format. Because the Cow Palace could not be used over the Memorial Day weekend, the Finals were a 1-2-2-1-1 format. The Washington Bullets, who held home-court advantage, were given the choice of opening at Golden State and then playing Games 2 and 3 at home, or opening at home and playing Games 2 and 3 on the road. The Bullets opted to open at home but blew a 14-point lead to lose Game 1. The Warriors won Games 2 and 3 at Golden State and then swept swept the Bullets back at Landover, Md.

Michael Bradley of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana writes on how ESPN turns up its promotion machine to full blast for the NBA Finals.

But ESPN has something they don’t. That, of course, is the ability to create a promotional cocoon around the finals that stays active 24 hours a day from (in this case) a week before the first game until after a team has claimed the title. It started somewhat subtly, with a series of 30-second or so promotional videos dropped randomly into “SportsCenter” broadcasts. There was no news whatsoever in the clips, which featured footage, sometimes in slow motion, of the teams and their stars, accompanied by dramatic music. There was no voiceover, no updates on injured players or strategic approaches. This was merely advertising for the finals, inserted into the SC mix under the guise of something more, designed to build awareness for the games, which will be shown on ABC, ESPN’s sporting partner.

Fox Sports is laying off writers at its regional sites, according to Awful Announcing.

This tweet from Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports says it all.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final did a 28.0 rating Wednesday on WMAQ-Ch. 5. That means nearly 1 million homes in the Chicago area were tuned into the game; 1 local ratings point is worth nearly 35,000 homes.

By comparison, NBC’s coverage of the Bears-San Francisco game on Sunday night last September did a 31.2 local rating. Keep in mind, it only was Game 1 Wednesday. The ratings will continue to grow for the Blackhawks-Tampa Bay series.

Meanwhile, the game pulled a 4.23 overnight rating of national markets on NBC; 1 national ratings point is worth more than 1 million homes. It was NBC’s second-highest rating for a Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. The first was the triple overtime Game 1 of the Blackhawks-Boston series, which did a 4.8 overnight rating.