RIP Les Grobstein

[Regan MacNeil]

Recorded the famous Lee Elia rant. If you’ve listened to Chicago sports radio, you’ve heard Les. RIP, Grobber.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Never good to be "found" dead. RIP.

 

[Liut]

Planned a college spring break trip to Chicago and wrote Grobber at WLS to see about a station tour. He responded with a kind letter. Ended up watching Larry Lujack's show and actually got on the air, albeit briefly. Told that story to Les when I called into his overnight show, oh, probably a month ago.

Amazing storyteller and, man, did the guy know his sports history.

RIP, Les

 

[I Should Coco]

This sucks. RIP to a longtime voice of Chicago.

People who are 30 or younger have no idea how popular morning radio DJs, news guys and sportscasters were back in the day. They were part of the wake-up, breakfast and morning commute of hundreds of thousands of people, simultaneously, in a way that the personalized world of podcasts and Spotify can never be.

 

[playthrough]

This sucks. RIP to a longtime voice of Chicago.

People who are 30 or younger have no idea how popular morning radio DJs, news guys and sportscasters were back in the day. They were part of the wake-up, breakfast and morning commute of hundreds of thousands of people, simultaneously, in a way that the personalized world of podcasts and Spotify can never be.

I loved the mid-morning guy on the sports radio channel when I was in my 20s at my first metro newspaper. Had a half-hour or so commute and was happy when traffic made it longer so I could catch a few more minutes. I didn't know he was sick and when he died it hit me hard. It's been 20 years and I still can hear his voice and all his goofy bits.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

 

[Slacker]

The (partial) print version*, which oughta be engraved on a marble wall somewhere ...

“I'll tell you one ****in' thing – I hope we get ****in' hotter than **** just to stuff it up them three thousand ****in' people that show up every ****in' day. Because if they're the real Chicago ****in' fans, they can kiss my ****in' ass, right downtown, and print it! They're really, really behind you around here. My ****in' ass! What ... what the **** am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my ****in' players get destroyed every day, and be quiet about it? For the ****in' nickel/dime people that show up? The mother****ers don't even work! That's why they're out at the ****in' game! They oughta go out and get a ****in' job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a ****in' living. Eighty-five percent of the ****in' world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A ****in' playground for the cocksuckers. Rip them mother****ers! Rip them country cocksuckers, like the ****in' players! We've got guys bustin' their ****in' asses, and those ****in' people boo ... and that's the Cubs? My ****in' ass! They talk about the great ****in' support that the players get around here, I haven't seen it this ****in' year!”

* FULL DISCLOSURE: THE PRINT VERSION IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I covered the Phillies when Elia was a coach
Great guy

 

[ChrisLong]

This dredges up a horrible memory for me. I covered that game as a Dodgers beat writer. The Dodgers won, the Cubs sucked. I got more than enough for my story in the Dodgers clubhouse. The clubhouses are far apart at Wrigley, the visitors' upstairs behind first base, the Cubs' nearly all the way down the left field foul line. I didn't go to the Cubs clubhouse and I took the bus back to the hotel to write. I had no idea this happened. All I could do when it came out was tell the desk that I don't have this, there's no way I could get it, use wire as a sidebar. Not my finest hour.
It's a lesson on why you need to be there, why you can't cover games off TV, why it is difficult to rely on a phone call.

 

[Slacker]

This dredges up a horrible memory for me. I covered that game as a Dodgers beat writer. The Dodgers won, the Cubs sucked. I got more than enough for my story in the Dodgers clubhouse. The clubhouses are far apart at Wrigley, the visitors' upstairs behind first base, the Cubs' nearly all the way down the left field foul line. I didn't go to the Cubs clubhouse and I took the bus back to the hotel to write. I had no idea this happened. All I could do when it came out was tell the desk that I don't have this, there's no way I could get it, use wire as a sidebar. Not my finest hour.
It's a lesson on why you need to be there, why you can't cover games off TV, why it is difficult to rely on a phone call.

Who could expect you to be in the Cubs clubhouse at that moment?
Your priority was the Dodgers' room, and who knew Elia, or anyone, would go off like that?
But, of course, Lasorda would. Elia sounded pretty much like Daily Lasorda on that rant.

 

[ChrisLong]

Who could expect you to be in the Cubs clubhouse at that moment?
Your priority was the Dodgers' room, and who knew Elia, or anyone, would go off like that?
But, of course, Lasorda would. Elia sounded pretty much like Daily Lasorda on that rant.

You pretty much explained my rationale. Thank you. But I still had trouble accepting that major news happened at a game I "covered" and I didn't get it.
Years later when I covered UCLA, I had a boss who said I didn't need to go to Terry Donahue's weekly press luncheon because you get what they give you and everybody gets the same thing. I said that I DID need to go because he goes off the record sometimes and what if he calls the opposing coach a war-monger, or something like that. He wouldn't but what if he did. You need to be there.
Thanks again.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

The (partial) print version*, which oughta be engraved on a marble wall somewhere ...

“I'll tell you one ****in' thing – I hope we get ****in' hotter than **** just to stuff it up them three thousand ****in' people that show up every ****in' day. Because if they're the real Chicago ****in' fans, they can kiss my ****in' ass, right downtown, and print it! They're really, really behind you around here. My ****in' ass! What ... what the **** am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my ****in' players get destroyed every day, and be quiet about it? For the ****in' nickel/dime people that show up? The mother****ers don't even work! That's why they're out at the ****in' game! They oughta go out and get a ****in' job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a ****in' living. Eighty-five percent of the ****in' world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A ****in' playground for the cocksuckers. Rip them mother****ers! Rip them country cocksuckers, like the ****in' players! We've got guys bustin' their ****in' asses, and those ****in' people boo ... and that's the Cubs? My ****in' ass! They talk about the great ****in' support that the players get around here, I haven't seen it this ****in' year!”

* FULL DISCLOSURE: THE PRINT VERSION IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.

Maybe the greatest rant of all-time. Today, the whole world would have it in 15 seconds (of course, that's precisely why it wouldn't happen today, but work with me people). Without Les, this never would have made it out of the room. RIP.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Never good to be "found" dead. RIP.

It is enver good to be found dead anywhere. But the Sun-Times said he had been off the air for a while due to an illness.