The Rev. Al Sharpton on his national radio show Monday said: “The NBA needs to stand up and send a strong message by dealing with this situation.”

He also chided black leadership groups for not speaking out about the “culture of violence being perpetuated in professional sports.” Sharpton cited former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress as an example of professional athletes run amok.

While the Arenas soap opera played out in Chinatown, an impressive number of national and local media were following Mike Shanahan in Ashburn.

The gang followed the new Redskins boss from the moment he landed at Dulles on Monday until after he signed his deal. We watched him have dinner through a window at the Tyson’s Corner Palm on Tuesday night.

At yesterday’s press conference, local media followed comments made by general manager Bruce Allen and Shanahan, who now is the executive vice president of football operations and head coach.

Owner Dan Snyder sat in the front row. There were no Super Bowl Trophies on display. This was the Allan and Shanahan show.

The major question asked by most of the throng covering the event, and even by those around the country, was who is really in charge at Redskins Park?

Adam Schefter, the ESPN NFL Insider, who was the Broncos beat writer for the Denver Post and knows Shanahan better than any reporter covering him, was clear and to the point.

“Mike wanted to coach a franchise where he was in charge. The buck will stop with him in Washington and he will listen to Bruce Allen and his coaches but in the end he will make the ultimate football decisions, not Dan Snyder. There is no doubt that he wants to prove that he can be a winner again in the NFL and he feels that with Snyder’s backing and Allen’s help he can do that in Washington.”

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.