'Sonny and Sam Show' Runs Course

Call it the "Sonny and Sam Show" -- maybe the most entertaining aspect in a season of moribund Washington Redskins football.

The Redskins' loss to the always-bad Detroit Lions on Sunday, allowing the Lions to snap a 19-game winless streak, along with an uninspiring 9-7 home win over the lowly St. Louis Rams the week before, has Washington fans in a lather. So bad is the 2009 version of the Redskins so far that the rampant speculation among fans and in the media is that head coach Jim Zorn might not last the season.

But about Sonny and Sam. Sonny is the colorful quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, and Sam is the legendary linebacker Sam Huff. Sonny and Sam are Redskins color analysts on WTEM/ESPN 980 in Washington, thus the "Sonny and Sam Show." They are a hoot.

Simply, Sonny and Sam are beloved Redskins heroes -- not to be taken lightly. But is anybody in Washington wondering why these two are still announcing Redskins games? Maybe Sonny and Sam are characteristic of what is wrong with the Redskins franchise in today's current era of professional football.

Sonny is 75 and Sam turns 75 on Oct. 4. The two Hall of Famers are nearing great-grandfather status with the new crop of NFL players. You listen to their radio game commentary and wonder if they are relating to Clinton Portis or a Haynesworth, Campbell or Moss. Sounds like they are announcing the games from recliner chairs -- seemingly no real sense of urgency about the game, but plenty of thoughts about outmoded 1950s, 60s and 70s football.

Nothing against the wisdom of age, but pro football -- unlike Major League Baseball where skill is defined by experience -- is a young man's game. Except for a few select players, football players compete for a few years and then drop out the game. Sorry, Sam. Sorry, Sonny. Behind the times.

It is entertaining if it means anything today that Sonny was backup to the great Norm Van Brocklin for the first four years of his career starting in 1957 or that he played for the great Vince Lombardi when the coach took over the Redskins for the 1969 season after leaving the Green Bay Packers.

Sam started out with the New York Giants in 1956 (when Lombardi and Tom Landry of Dallas Cowboys fame were assistant coaches). In fact, Landry, then the Giants defensive coordinator, put in the revolutionary 4-3 defense in to capture Huff's middle linebacker skills. Huff also played in what has been known as the "The Greatest Game Ever Played" -- that 1958 sudden death title contest won by the old, Johnny Unitas-led Baltimore Colts, 23-17.

Surely, you can't diminish what Sonny and Sam have meant to pro football. But to hear them over the air carrying on like Matthau and Lemmon in "Grumpy Old Men" gives a reason to tune out. On one play during the Rams game, one of them was heard saying, "He leaped and caught the ball." Boy, that's insightful.

In many respects, the nation's capital is an old town with 70- and 80-year-old politicos in their twilight years running the country. And as historic championship-winning franchises go, you can't argue with the tradition of the Redskins, dating back to 1937 and irascible owner George Preston Marshall. But should that be the draw in 2009?

Sonny and Sam calling Redskins games for over 30 years really should be enough.

Football is a game growing in popularity each year. In fact, judging by television ratings and polls, the NFL has never been as popular. Young people, women and minorities today all are embracing a sport that no longer has an offseason. Sure, grandpa is still there rooting, but times are changing.

We all know that ex-players become announcers. Take a listen someday to the Baltimore Ravens' broadcasts with the impressive Rob Burnett, the defensive end who retired in 2003, and then do a comparison with acknowledged greats Sonny and Sam. Just no comparison.

Time to change Redskins.

• More: Wikipedia's current list of NFL announcers.

Photos: Sonny Jurgensen (top): http://www.hailredskins.com; Sam Huff:
http://www.art.com

LifeLock the Top Team in WNBA

When Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter go against San Antonio in an opening round WNBA playoff game Thursday, you won't see "Phoenix" or "Mercury" on their uniform jersey tops, except for the small team logo. Instead, you'll see "LifeLock."

Going into the playoffs, the Mercury and stars Taurasi and Pondexter are entering as the team to beat. The pair are the league's top two scorers, leading the club to the WNBA's best regular season record at 23-11. As the games tip off on ESPN2 -- the Washington Mystics made it and will host Indiana Thursday night at 7 -- the playoffs again will give the WNBA a much needed boost of television exposure after playing its regular during idle summer months.

Since June, Mercury uniforms have been adorned with the LifeLock name, a Tempe, AZ identity theft prevention company. The Mercury are even selling the jerseys that way at the WNBA online store, part of a multi-year marketing partnership with LifeLock. To boot, when existing jerseys with the Mercury name on the front are sold out, only those LifeLock ones will be available.

No other American sports team has gone so far as to actually place the name of a sponsor on its uniform instead of the team name.

Agreed, in an age where sponsorships provide key operating revenue to sports franchises, no league needs the money more than the WNBA. And today they name stadiums after companies, such as M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and the Washington Redskins' FedEx Field. The Wizards in the NBA and the Mystics, of course, play at DC's Verizon Center. Look at the sponsors plastered on the racing attire of NASCAR drivers.

But on the jersey of an American professional sports team? Call it old-fashioned, but such is hard to fathom for some sports fans. The Mercury-LifeLock deal gives all WNBA season ticket holders a one-year complimentary membership valued at $110, among other benefits. Is that a win-win?

NBA Commissioner David Stern praised the deal as "groundbreaking" for the cash-strapped WNBA, signaling we can see others. But would Stern allow LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal to wear "Campbell's Soup Cavaliers" jerseys?

Why not go ahead and put the "Comfort Inn Cowboys" on the front of Tony Romo's America's Team jersey. Shucks, before Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire, she worked in television in the Baltimore media market. She has as much cash as some major corporations. How about the "Oprah Orioles." Why not the "Radio Shack Redskins"?

In justifying the deal, Mercury officials noted that European sports clubs regularly put the names of sponsors on uniforms. (Weak argument. This is America.) It is one thing to put a sponsor's name, logo or likeness on banners, courtside chairs, warm ups or gym bags, but it seems a stretch for the jersey top worn during competition. The uniform should be sacrosanct.

Sports still is supposed to be about the purity of the competition. Professional sports, too. Isn't that why Pete Rose is banned from the Hall of Fame and Shoeless Joe Jackson is one of sports' most infamous figures?

How about some what ifs? If a sponsor has a bad financial quarter, would the sponsor try to influence the competition on the court for "corporate reasons"? And what lengths would a money-hungry franchise go to to keep the sponsor's name on the jersey?

Go LifeLock!

• More: Mercury-LifeLock announcement, Mercury WNBA Web site.
  

Photo: Diana Taurasi Life-Lock jersey, http://store.nba.com

Riggo: Voice of Reason on Portis?

The Redskins are marching toward their 2009 season opener Sept. 13 with the New York Giants in the Meadowlands, and the two most productive running backs in franchise history, John Riggins and Clinton Portis, are stoking the flames. Riggins, the Hall of Famer who led the Redskins to the 1983 Super Bowl title, called out Portis as "a headache" who "has the team over a barrel," referring to Portis' favorable contract status and its adverse impact on the team's salary cap.

Not one to shy from dishing back criticism, Portis offered that Riggins surely was a great Redskins running back, but it was "not hard to be a great running back when you've got that talent all around you," referring to the legendary "Hogs" offensive line anchored by Russ Grimm and Joe Jacoby during Riggins' era.

The feuding only figures to get worse if the new season falls below Redskins fans' expectations. Many NFL sages are labeling the Skins as an 8-8 contender at best and long shot to make the playoffs competing from the rugged NFC East against the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys.

The backdrop for the Riggins-Portis row: Portis is on the cusp of going past Riggins as the franchise's all-time leading rusher. Riggins racked up 7,472 yards during his Skins career. Portis needs 1,370 yards, a solid season for a top running back, to knock Riggins from his perch. Both downplay the role of the record in the feud.

Riggins took Portis to task last Dec. 28 -- a season ending loss to San Francisco -- because Portis reportedly went to coach Jim Zorn and asked Zorn to game-plan to help him to finish the mediocre 2008 season with 1,500 yards; Portis was 13 yards short of that mark. Apparently incensed Portis would seek an individual accolade, Riggins branded Portis as a loser on his sports talk radio program.

Make no mistake, Portis thinks of himself with the best of them. But you can understand Portis' incredulity that Riggins is taking him on -- arguing that Riggins of all people "should know better than anybody what I go through as a running back" with nagging injuries and inconsistent O-line play.

Portis has a point. Riggins had his own issues back in the day. A great back coming out of Kansas to the New York Jets in 1971, Riggins morphed into one of the all-time greats with the Redskins. He may be a solid citizen today, but in his day, Riggins widely was known as, well, a flake.

Any Riggins complaints about Portis' contract status would fall short. Everyone knows owner Daniel Snyder has a reputation for overpaying his athletes, and Riggins conveniently is forgetting his own history when he targets Portis. It was none other than Riggins who sat out the 1980 NFL season over a contract dispute with the Skins, bolting from his team in the middle of training camp. It took a Joe Gibbs trip to Kansas to find the Mohawk-wearing, camouflage-outfitted, Bambi-hunting, beer guzzling Riggo and lure him back into the fold. Gibbs, by the way, was quoted as describing Riggins a "fruitcake" among other superlatives.

There is no denying the size of Portis ego -- or his gab. Such is not surprising with Portis coming from the "U." But give him some credit, too. Portis has been a solid pro -- despite lacking the success of a Riggins in the postseason. Portis showed great leadership and support for his teammates during the dark days in the Redskin locker room that followed the tragic death of safety Sean Taylor during the 2007 season.

So, Riggo, voice of reason, let it go. Take one for the team.

• More: Official NFL site, Hogs fan site and unofficial John Riggins site.

Photos: Portis, NFL.com, Riggins, johnriggins44.com