On Snowy Days, He’ll Be Wearing Chains

NBA players are prohibited from using their uniforms for advertising, but that hasn’t kept Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons from using the hair on his head, styling it so that it matches the tread pattern of Goodyear’s Assurance Triple Tred tire. Bloomberg News reports Hamilton made an endorsement deal with Goodyear that includes free tires and an unspecified amount of money.

Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey said his company chose Hamilton because “the way he plays fits nicely with the product -- confident maneuvering, handles well in all conditions.”

But teammates have been complaining that Hamilton looks tired.

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Trivia time: Who won the Belmont Stakes last year, thus depriving Smarty Jones of the Triple Crown?

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A key thank you: Larry King, one of the presenters at the recent Eclipse Awards at the Beverly Wilshire, says he speaks at many such affairs, including one in Washington where they give out about 1,000 awards.

“And there are about 8,000 thank-yous,” King said.

In order to hold the crowd, King said, they present a prestigious man-of-the-year award at the end of the program. Past winners have included Frank Sinatra and Johnny Carson.

“One year, it’s Danny Kaye, and he’s getting his award at 20 to 2 in the morning,” King said. “He gets up and says, ‘I would like to thank my urologist for making it possible to sit through this.’ ”

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Nun better: Possibly the biggest fan of the University of St. Mary, a small liberal arts college in Leavenworth, Kan., is Sister Madonna Fink. The 72-year-old nun has been to almost every home athletic event since the school started varsity sports 17 years ago. She often waits by the team bus to hand out bags of cookies, and she regularly prays for the athletes.

On Saturday, the school named its basketball court after her. The gesture was a surprise to Fink, and Coach Phil Connor called it “a sincere, loving, respectful recognition of a person we really care for.”

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Clueless: Regarding Leonardo DiCaprio’s not knowing what teams are playing in the Super Bowl, Sacramento reader Doug Kelly says, “Paris Hilton doesn’t even know the game is being played.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1967, the American Basketball Assn. began operation with George Mikan as commissioner. The league started out with 10 teams, including the Anaheim Amigos. No one thought to call them the Los Angeles Amigos of Anaheim.

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Trivia answer: Birdstone beat Smarty Jones by a length and paid $74 to win. A Birdstone-Smarty Jones $2 exacta paid $139, and, with longshot Royal Assault finishing third, the $2 trifecta paid $1,589.

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And finally: A clip of King, before the Belmont, advising his CNN viewers to take a shot on Birdstone and pair him with Smarty Jones in an exacta was shown at the Eclipse Awards.

Said King, “It’s great to see that. One of my rare winning days.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.