Ol' Ricky's Washington Football Tales - Boys on the Bus + NFC Least?
Ol’ Ricky is reading the timeless “Boys on the Bus” about the press corps (weren’t called media then) the 1972 Nixon re-election campaign. Those people were made of steel and quite a lot of fun in a newspaper world kind of humor. I get the jokes. Not sure you will.
Anyway, as Ol’ Ricky nears the end of this four-month series of memories, I wanted to remember some of the great people in the press room at Redskins Park that are mostly long gone. These were the ones before the internet age who decided what the public knew about the team. Nowadays, everybody has Twitter and pretends to know.
Warner Hessler was the old guy to me. Probably 60 or so. (Ugh – Ol’ Ricky turns 60 in a week.) Crazy head of gray hair always topped by a ballcap. Covered the Buffalo Bills when O.J. Simpson played. He could ask people their innermost secrets and get great stuff. Covered the team for the Newport News Daily Press until shortly before his 2008 death. Sold cars the last few years and was really good at it.
My favorite Warner story is we both were early risers so we ate together on the road often. Once after a preseason game, we returned to a Miami hotel at 2 a.m. and were flying out at 6. We should have just drove to the airport and slept by the gate. Anyway, we agreed to meet at 4:15 in the lobby. I get there at 4:10. By 4:20 Warner’s not around and I think I’ve finally beaten him for once. Then I looked out the front door and he was in the car waiting, drinking coffee he bought down the street. Did he even sleep?
Oh, one more. Associated Press reporter Joe White brought his young son Harry to camp. Warner told Harry to stop bouncing a ball outside his window while the former was trying to write. I grabbed Harry and we bounced the hell out of that ball outside Warner’s window until hearing him yelling. We ran around the corner. Warner never knew I was behind it.
Joe was man of many tastes. Had this crazy British accent when arriving at the 1995 training camp after many years working in England. Turned out he was from North Carolina. Joe spent 20 years covering the team before retiring to own a health food store in Staunton, Va. One of the nicest people you’d ever meet and we all thought he won the retirement game. Sadly, he died last summer of an apparent heart attack after recently hiking 1,400 miles of the Appalachian Trail before breaking his wrist in a fall. Saw him a week before passing when coming by training camp. I still can’t believe he’s gone.
Arnie Sachs photographed the Redskins for something like 50 years. Really. Also covered Capitol Hill. Told amazing stories like racing Sam Rayburn through tunnels under the government buildings in golf carts. Talking to Lady Bird Johnson or the Kennedys on a first-name basis. His wife Lorraine often joined him at training camp. It was like your parents living with you at summer camp. Wonderful people who have long since passed away.
Is anybody still alive? Oh yeah. Jim Ducibella covered the team for the Virginia Pilot before retiring one day before Joe Gibbs did the second time. “Ducey” was an amazing writer that always made me jealous when reading his features. Duce could eat some wings. He took me to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, ordered 50 wings and asked me, “You want any?” And he ate them all. Another time in Green Bay, Duce swore he was cutting back on the brats. He ate seven. Invented a game where your porn name was whatever business we were passing in Carlisle. His name was Lube N Go.
Paul Woody recently retired from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The absolute best writer to cover the Redskins. His columns were typed by angels. Always amazed me how he could summarize chaos into one sentence. We called him the “Silent Assassin” because Woodman played to win.
There were so many fun guys and I have to recall my Washington Times partner David Elfin and my Examiner partner John Keim. The three of us wrote two books together among other things. David was as dedicated to reporting as anyone I’ve known in the business and is still my memory safety net. John is now top dog in the Redskins media for ESPN and doing a great job. I could write a book on the three of us.
Matter of fact, Ol’ Ricky has another book coming out. Just can’t discuss the details till the ink is dry, but you’ll hear about it over and over until you finally buy it just to shut me up.
Tomorrow: Ol’ Ricky says farewell. Don’t miss it.
Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Washington football team in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.
