A REGULAR JOE AFTER YEARS OF CALLING IN TO WFAN SPORTS RADIO, JOE BENIGNO GRABBED THE MIKE

At least once a week for the past six years, "Joe from Saddle
River" called in to talk with the hosts on New York's sports
radio station, WFAN-AM. Not anymore. "Joe from Saddle River" has
become Joe Benigno, the host of WFAN's 1 a.m.-5:30 a.m. show.

How an average Joe with a job in food sales landed a
five-day-a-week talk show in the country's top media market is
not your typical overnight success story. The 42-year-old Joe
from Saddle River was well known to WFAN listeners for his
anguished soliloquies--liberally sprinkled with ums and uhs--on
the travails of the New York Jets, who have had only one winning
season since the station went on the air in 1987. Although he
may have dreamed of being a host while waiting on hold to speak
his mind, Benigno was satisfied with his calls. That is, until
last December when he was chosen to host an hour-long show as
part of WFAN's Listener Appreciation Day. The station's sports
director, Bob Gelb, liked what he heard and suggested Benigno
change careers.

Benigno took Gelb's advice. He enrolled in a four-month
broadcasting course in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., then bought a
weekly hour of time on a small New Jersey radio station (he
covered part of the $400-an-hour expense by selling ad time to
his cousin Pete Benigno for his tire store). Impressed by Joe's
commitment, WFAN program director Mark Chernoff took him on as
an occasional substitute host on the overnight show. This
spring, when WFAN's overnight host, Steve Somers, moved to a
daytime slot, the station conducted a nationwide search but
could find no one better suited to the gig than Benigno.

Under dim light in WFAN's basement studio, surrounded by press
guides, wire-service copy and the other detritus of a busy
Sunday at a sports radio station, Benigno made the final
preparations for his first show as regular host. It was very
early on Labor Day morning. Dressed head-to-toe in Jet regalia,
the slim, 5'7" rookie studied a black spiral notebook filled
with notes and statistics. Appropriately, his debut came only
hours after the Jets had been demolished by the Miami Dolphins
52-14 in their season opener. Once upon a time Joe from Saddle
River would have had to sit by the phone pressing the redial
button to get through to the station, and then he would have
waited on hold for more than an hour to get the chance to make a
quick comment. Now Benigno faced the challenge of filling 4 1/2
hours of air time. On this night it would be easy.

"Where else can we start but with the Jets?" he asked listeners
in his raspy New Jersey accent, his voice tinged with
disappointment, resignation and amusement. "It was an absolute
debacle, an absolute embarrassment." Eleven minutes later,
finally pausing for a breath and a commercial, the fledgling
host was jokingly cautioned by his 24-year-old producer, Ryan
Williams, "Don't hold back, Joe."

Throughout the broadcast Benigno punctuated his opinions with
one hand and punched in callers with the other, holding forth as
part Psychic Friend, part Howard ("I'm mad as hell, and I'm not
going to take it anymore") Beale for the thousands of listeners
who tuned in.

"He cares so much, you can hear it on the air," says Gelb. "He
entertains through his passion for sports. Joe treats [Jet
quarterback] Boomer Esiason and [Jet defensive end] Marvin
Washington as if they were his kids."

The eldest of Benigno's five children and stepchildren,
16-year-old Samantha, is also a Jet fan. "How could you be
anything else in the Benigno family?" she asks. Samantha admits
that she sometimes thought her father was "a little crazy" for
making all those calls to WFAN over the years, but she's
impressed now that he's on the other end of the line.

As the first show progressed, Benigno said he intended to hold
himself to the standard he has set for Boomer and Marvin. "I'm a
regular guy who has gotten a great opportunity and has a lot to
learn," he declared with intensity during a commercial break.
"I'm going to work as hard as I can to learn it. This is not a
lark or a sideshow. I am very serious about making this my
career."

Benigno has received positive reviews from some of the sports
world's toughest critics: WFAN callers. "His show is like having
a conversation on the street corner with a buddy, and that's
what talk radio is all about," says "Bruce from Bayside," a.k.a.
Bruce Lindner, a New York City high school teacher and longtime
WFAN listener who is now a regular caller to Benigno's program.
"Of course, for most of us, no matter how successful Joe Benigno
becomes, he'll always be Joe from Saddle River."

This is New York-based freelance journalist John Solomon's first
story for Sports Illustrated.

COLOR PHOTO: GABE PALACIO Though now a media member, Benigno still flaunts his loyalties. [Joe Benigno talking into microphone]