R.I.P.: NBC, ESPN And Johnny At The U.S. Open

The obits are rolling in on NBC and ESPN televising their last U.S. Open, with most of the emphasis on weekend host NBC.

Alan Shipnuck writes for SI/Golf Plus that "it’s been hard for me to care about all the machinations of the USGA’s new TV deal with Fox Sports, but I’m genuinely bummed that this will be Johnny’s last U.S. Open."

And he writes something I'm pretty sure we'll never read about Fox's Greg Norman:

Certainly, Johnny’s style isn’t for everybody. If Jim Nantz’s dulcet tones evoke a kindly grandfather and David Feherty is the out-of-town cousin who makes you laugh so hard that Coca-Cola is streaming out of your nose, Johnny is the cranky old uncle who is likely to break up a dinner party with his blunt observations. He has always been such an alpha male, he can have a negative effect on the coverage as a whole; the most common phrase on most NBC telecasts is, “I agree, Johnny.”

Ed Sherman files a superb Golf World story on NBC and its plans for its last U.S. Open at Pinehurst, with extensive quotes from Dick Ebersol, who doesn't give too many interviews.

With NBC returning to Pinehurst, Miller has one request for his final Open: He wants it to be memorable. With Woods not playing, he hopes the other big stars step up.

"My only wish for the championship is that we get a great leader board and a great champion," Miller says. "I'd love to get somebody who really makes a difference. Maybe it's Phil Mickelson finally getting his Open. Nothing against the Matt Everys, but I hope we get some guns going down the stretch."

Ebersol will be watching. When he was running NBC Sports, the final round of the Open was one of his favorite days of the year. He made a tradition of walking all 18 holes with the last pairing.

Ebersol is saddened that this will be NBC's last Open. He calls the USGA's decision to go with Fox a mistake, considering the learning curve required to air a U.S. Open.

"I don't think Fox is going to do a bad job," Ebersol says. "But they have to live up to a high standard."

Bob Wolfley reports on Thursday's NBC conference call helmed by Johnny and says the NBC team is taking the high road even after the USGA dissed their efforts not once, but twice!

“There's a million story lines, and I'm just excited to be part of it and part of the team that covers at NBC, and it's like, get it on, I'm ready to go right now,” Miller said.

Similarly, Roy was diplomatic, emphasizing that NBC will not hand in a lame duck performance in its last turn.

“This, of course, is our 20th consecutive U.S. Open, and unfortunately because of business circumstances, it's our last, but it's a real privilege to televise a major and we're giving maximum effort to deliver our best shows yet,” Roy said. “I've been asked, is there a tendency to mail it in, knowing that this is your last, and I can absolutely assure you that that's not in any DNA and not in our team's DNA. I've been asked, are you going to cut back on equipment and do it on the cheap. Absolutely not.”

If the tournament concludes on June 15, Roy said there will be an appropriate reference to his network’s association with the U.S. Open.

“The story will not be about being NBC's last U.S. Open and today's call is going to sort of reflect that premise,” Roy said. “We have said all we are going to say about that, and now it's time to talk golf.”