ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 19, 1996 TAG: 9611190081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
WANT TO KNOW how things are really going for the Redskins? Just turn on the radio if you like your analysis straight from the lip.
On the field, the Arizona Cardinals are preparing to kick a field goal that will defeat the Washington Redskins in overtime.
In the radio booth, former Redskins great Sonny Jurgensen is at the microphone, wistfully thinking.
``Bad snap!'' Jurgensen says over the air, trying to jinx the Cardinals' center.
Curses. The snap is good, the kick is up but Kevin Butler's boot barely sails wide of the goal post.
``Thank you, thank you,'' Jurgensen says with a sigh. ``Thank you.''
In the end, the gods do not smile on Sonny's Redskins this day. Butler makes a field goal with 37 seconds left, and Arizona wins. Except for some gloomy locker room interviews to come, it's all over for the latest radio adventure of Sonny, Sam and Frank.
In their 16th season, there is a comfortable flow to the names in that order - Sonny, Sam and Frank - just as there is a certain chemistry produced each time they strap on their headsets.
Some call that chemistry inimitable, some infuriating.
That's because Sonny, Sam and Frank are big Redskins fans. True burgundy believers, not to mention bosom pals, which they say is the foundation of their longevity and popularity.
``We're supposed to be [fans]. After all, it's the Redskins' broadcast team,'' Sonny says, somewhat annoyed. ``We're not here promoting the Buffalo Bills or the Dallas Cowboys. We pull for the team, but we still try to do the game correctly.
``We say it if they're making mistakes and playing poorly. We don't say, `Oh, it's unfortunate, he made a bad throw.' We say, `What in the hell's going on down there?'''
Here's what goes on in the cramped cave of a booth at RFK Stadium on any given Sunday.
Frank Herzog, 51, a blustery longtime TV sports reporter and radio play-by-play guy in D.C., takes the center chair in the open-air cubby.
To his left is Hall of Fame quarterback Jurgensen, 62, chewing on a Cuban cigar he's extinguished just before kickoff. To his right is Sam Huff, 62, a Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants and the Redskins.
Jurgensen is the offensive orator, expounding on how and why the teams are moving, or not moving, the ball. He is a more quiet, analytical presence than the garrulous Huff, who speaks for the defense.
Huff skewers lousy tacklers and critiques strategies. Between tidbits, Huff also is the most prone to malaprops or inane remarks.
Against the Cardinals, for instance, Huff butchered the name of Cardinals rookie Simeon Rice a couple times and, once corrected, wondered why Rice's mother would name her son Simeon.
Then, when the Cardinals tied the score in the final seconds of regulation, Huff chided the Redskins for not taking long enough to score from the 1 earlier in the game.
``You can't control that, Sam,'' Jurgensen responded.
``Sam says some of the stupidest things,'' says Andy Ockershausen, the former WMAL radio general manager who formed the unusual three-man team by adding Jurgensen to the Herzog-Huff duo in 1981. ``But we love him.''
Herzog, in his 18th season of calling ``Touchdown, Washington Redskins!'' is the driver. And the usual drill is this: Herzog describes the play, then Jurgensen and Huff add blunt commentary - praise, criticism and insight - almost as if it were Sonny's offense and Sam's defense out there.
This usually continues right up until the instant Herzog must call the next play. Dead air does not exist.
And as much as they favor the Redskins, Sonny, Sam and Frank don't exude boosterism nearly as much as casual listeners think they do. They berate sloppiness and drop credit, even ridicule, upon either side when deserved.
``Constructive ridicule,'' Huff says. ``We don't pull many punches.''
``Sonny and Sam are football purists,'' Herzog says. ``If the team plays badly, they're insulted. They get angry at the Redskins.''
Says Huff: ``And not one of [the players] can say that we're wrong. Because we've been there, we know what we're talking about. Together, we have a wealth of knowledge. You name it, we've done it.''
The trio is employed by the 74-station network's flagship, Washington's WJFK-FM, with the Redskins' approval. Jurgensen and Huff could be on the coaching staff, though, as plugged in as they are to the players and coaches.
Jurgensen and quarterback Gus Frerotte consult regularly, and Jurgensen has watched game films with head coach Norv Turner. Huff is especially close to veteran cornerback Darrell Green.
The analysts attend practices through the week and put in hours of game preparation. Then they go to the games and act naturally.
Often, this includes Jurgensen predicting plays just from seeing the formations and Huff offering definitive solutions to defensive glitches.
``We do the same things we do when we're not on the air,'' Jurgensen says, ``and I think we communicate that to the people.
``I think one of the nicest compliments we've ever received came from Ed Walker, a blind disc jockey in Washington. He said, `Y'all make me see the game so well.' If we can do that for Ed, I hope we do it for a lot of people.''
Some broadcasts are better than others, Huff says, because of the quality of the game. ``But really,'' he says, ``the give and take between Sonny and Sam is classic. What we do, you can't rehearse.''
Late in the first half against Arizona, Huff correctly predicts the obvious: that Frerotte will spike the ball to kill the clock.
``I'll tell you, I've got this game figured out,'' Huff brags.
Jurgensen stares across at his former Redskins roommate and motions toward the packed stadium.
``Sam, so do 55,000 other people out there.''
Sonny shakes his head. Sam grins. Frank steers.
And that, TV muters, is entertainment.
LENGTH: Long : 108 linesby CNB