Life on the Sidelines With a Veteran Chain Gang

Pete Snitzer holds the "box," which marks the down and the location of the football. Snitzer has been working the chains at Annandale High for 19 years. (Photos By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)

The way Pete Snitzer, Roy Bartnek, Steve Burney and Don Rosenberger figure it, they have the best seats in the house, only, well, without the seats.

The quartet is better known as the Annandale High School varsity football chain crew. With each volunteer working on the crew for the past decade-plus, their sideline residency has become as much a part of the Annandale experience as the landscaping in the end zone or the sign outside the stadium trumpeting the school's six state championship teams.

Chain crews are a crucial, if overlooked, component of high school football. The chain gang personnel serve as deputized members of the officiating crew, though they are often the fathers of players from the home high school.

In Annandale's case, its chain crew members have stuck around long after their kids, and in Snitzer's case, grandson, have graduated. And for guys who get together on only five Friday nights a year, they have developed a comfortable choreography when it comes to managing the sticks and making the game hum.

"They know each other's moves," Annandale Athletic Director Angelo Hilios said. "It's unbelievable." A man on the sideline at a recent game compared them to the Hogettes at Washington Redskins games. He seemed to mean it as a compliment.

Let's meet the four guys (Charlie Palmer pinch-hits when necessary):

¿ Snitzer, 67: Retired from the CIA. Has put off knee surgery until next week, when his football and fall rec league softball seasons end. Has held University of Maryland season football tickets for the past 39 years. The senior member of the group at 19 years of service. Donated new chains to the football program last year. Handles the down marker, or "box," as it's called.

¿ Bartnek, 53: Works for the U.S. Postal Service. On one recent Friday night had a pouch of Big League Chew gum in his pocket. Tells elaborate pregame jokes with such punch lines as: "Oh, that's a knick-knack, Patty Whack, give that frog a loan. His old man is a Rolling Stone." Huge Packers fan. Holds one end of the 10-yard chain. In his 13th year on the sideline.

¿ Burney, 54: A superintendent for a construction company. Has built a wrestling awards stage and shelving units for a room the football team uses. The only Annandale graduate (Class of 1971) among the bunch, he had eight brothers and sisters who also attended the school. Holds an end of the 10-yard chain. Eleventh year on the crew.

¿ Rosenberger, 61: An elevator inspector who used to work at the White House; talked a colleague through an elevator repair at Camp David before the summit with Mikhail Gorbachev. Runs 10-mile races, a hobby that comes in handy when the hobbled Snitzer hands off the down marker for Rosenberger to skirt downfield after long runs. Gets picked on by crew mates when he wears black socks with shorts. Handles the "clip," which helps keep track of where the first-down mark is in case the sticks have to be dropped abruptly or have to be brought onto the field for a measurement. Tenth year on the crew.

Varsity Letter caught up with the Annandale crew Oct. 19 for the final regular-season home game, vs. Lake Braddock, on a night when the rain and wind kicked up so much in the fourth quarter that the kicking net on the sideline blew over.

The four rolled onto the field, separately, shortly after 7 p.m., donned their blaze-orange vests and awaited instructions from line judge Scott Asher. Officials deal with a different chain crew each game they call, so they have to assume they are dealing with novices. Asher's main message: Throw down the sticks and get out of the way when players are heading toward them out of bounds, and don't move to set up for a first down without Asher signaling.