Les Grobstein RIP

[LambeauLegs]

Have any of you Chicago sports fan ever listened to Les GrobStein on the overnight on 670 the Score AM radio?

He was a Chicago sports know it all and I thought very good at his job.

I have been listening to him for years usually only the football season

I really enjoyed him he sure knew his Chicago sports and really all sports in general and he had a great overnight following

He was always fair in his comments and could remember almost any sports facts back into the 70s

I was trying to get him on midweek last week and he was not on at midnight they had Amy Lawrence on in his place.

It turns out he was out sick from last Wednesday and ended up passing away on Sunday at age 69. It must have been a heart attack or something like that

It was always fun to hear him on Sunday nights after the Sundays NFL games to hear his viewpoints. He always had time on his show on Tuesday nights for callers to call in and state who they thought was bum of the week which was interesting.

I will now have to find something else to take his place.

Les Grobstein, Chicago sports broadcaster, dies at 69​

Les Grobstein, Chicago sports broadcaster, dies at 69

Chicago sports broadcaster Les Grobstein died at age 69, sports station 670 The Score announced Monday.

abc7chicago.com

 

[richig07]

I graduated college with a degree in broadcast communications. It wound up not being the path I wanted to pursue (very difficult and very little money unless you hit it big). My final internship in college was with The Score, though. With Mully and Hanley in the morning. I usually showed up for show prep at 4 AM. Road the red line in from up north in Edgewater overnight. Got everyone their coffees from the Dunkin down the road. I worked until about 11 or noon for no money. Then, I would typically also have class or my own show on the student sports station in the afternoon. Along with working a bartending gig at night for money to pay for my shitty apartment off of Sheridan and Gunnison in Edgewater. Just wanted to get my foot in the door.

Hanely recognized one day how tired I always was and he jokingly pulled me aside to ask some questions. Sometimes I would close at the bar and by the time I was done cleaning/closing the register. I would only have time to change into nice clothes and ride the train to CBS's building. Pat Mannelly (old long snapper in the 90's and 00's) had the show after Mully/Hanley at the time. He walked in on me multiple times in my little production booth starting to nod off. Told Hanley about it (Mully was never a dick, but a little less down to Earth and too big in his mind to deal with interns or young producers).

Hanley goes "You have massive bags under your eyes every morning. Pat said you smell like booze sometimes and fall asleep. I don't care, you do good work. But are you like coming in here straight from partying all night or something?" I tell him what my daily schedule entails Mon-Fri and he's like "Holy shit... you don't get to sleep, you work 35-40 hours here per week and we don't pay you? I'm sorry man. I wish you the best of luck and keep going. Don't burn out."

He actually thanked me for my hard work on the air that day. The higher ups began to know who I was and respected me. Les heard about me somehow and I was brought on for the graveyard shift when my internship ended. My first job in sports radio. Dealt with him a lot and he was a great guy. Dan Bernstein was kind of a jack off, but everyone else at that place was great and very professional. Les did a great show and I loved running the board while listening to him.

Wound up leaving to take a 9-5 production director job at a Minnesota/North Dakota FOX sports affiliate radio station. Had to pretend I was a Vikings fan when I would make an appearance on the air (yuck).

Les was a great guy, though. And took me on when I was a young buck with a dream. Sad to hear of his passing. RIP.

 

[NCChiFan]

I have no dog in this hunt as I don't get to listen to the Score, except over the interweb at work sometimes. Solid to hear what others thought of him. Seemed very positive for sure. Too bad he passed. 69 seems younger and younger every year.

 

[LambeauLegs]

I have no dog in this hunt as I don't get to listen to the Score, except over the interweb at work sometimes. Solid to hear what others thought of him. Seemed very positive for sure. Too bad he passed. 69 seems younger and younger every year.

I could get the radio station fairly clear at my home as it is a very strong signal but at night some of those AM stations lower their power and was hard sometimes. Then when the phone apps came out it was clear as could be over the phone which was nice. A lot of sports knowledge was lost last Sunday

 

[LambeauLegs]

I graduated college with a degree in broadcast communications. It wound up not being the path I wanted to pursue (very difficult and very little money unless you hit it big). My final internship in college was with The Score, though. With Mully and Hanley in the morning. I usually showed up for show prep at 4 AM. Road the red line in from up north in Edgewater overnight. Got everyone their coffees from the Dunkin down the road. I worked until about 11 or noon for no money. Then, I would typically also have class or my own show on the student sports station in the afternoon. Along with working a bartending gig at night for money to pay for my shitty apartment off of Sheridan and Gunnison in Edgewater. Just wanted to get my foot in the door.

Hanely recognized one day how tired I always was and he jokingly pulled me aside to ask some questions. Sometimes I would close at the bar and by the time I was done cleaning/closing the register. I would only have time to change into nice clothes and ride the train to CBS's building. Pat Mannelly (old long snapper in the 90's and 00's) had the show after Mully/Hanley at the time. He walked in on me multiple times in my little production booth starting to nod off. Told Hanley about it (Mully was never a dick, but a little less down to Earth and too big in his mind to deal with interns or young producers).

Hanley goes "You have massive bags under your eyes every morning. Pat said you smell like booze sometimes and fall asleep. I don't care, you do good work. But are you like coming in here straight from partying all night or something?" I tell him what my daily schedule entails Mon-Fri and he's like "Holy shit... you don't get to sleep, you work 35-40 hours here per week and we don't pay you? I'm sorry man. I wish you the best of luck and keep going. Don't burn out."

He actually thanked me for my hard work on the air that day. The higher ups began to know who I was and respected me. Les heard about me somehow and I was brought on for the graveyard shift when my internship ended. My first job in sports radio. Dealt with him a lot and he was a great guy. Dan Bernstein was kind of a jack off, but everyone else at that place was great and very professional. Les did a great show and I loved running the board while listening to him.

Wound up leaving to take a 9-5 production director job at a Minnesota/North Dakota FOX sports affiliate radio station. Had to pretend I was a Vikings fan when I would make an appearance on the air (yuck).

Les was a great guy, though. And took me on when I was a young buck with a dream. Sad to hear of his passing. RIP.

This is awesome, How long did you work by him and how long ago was it?

 

[Jiddy]

I graduated college with a degree in broadcast communications. It wound up not being the path I wanted to pursue (very difficult and very little money unless you hit it big). My final internship in college was with The Score, though. With Mully and Hanley in the morning. I usually showed up for show prep at 4 AM. Road the red line in from up north in Edgewater overnight. Got everyone their coffees from the Dunkin down the road. I worked until about 11 or noon for no money. Then, I would typically also have class or my own show on the student sports station in the afternoon. Along with working a bartending gig at night for money to pay for my shitty apartment off of Sheridan and Gunnison in Edgewater. Just wanted to get my foot in the door.

Hanely recognized one day how tired I always was and he jokingly pulled me aside to ask some questions. Sometimes I would close at the bar and by the time I was done cleaning/closing the register. I would only have time to change into nice clothes and ride the train to CBS's building. Pat Mannelly (old long snapper in the 90's and 00's) had the show after Mully/Hanley at the time. He walked in on me multiple times in my little production booth starting to nod off. Told Hanley about it (Mully was never a dick, but a little less down to Earth and too big in his mind to deal with interns or young producers).

Hanley goes "You have massive bags under your eyes every morning. Pat said you smell like booze sometimes and fall asleep. I don't care, you do good work. But are you like coming in here straight from partying all night or something?" I tell him what my daily schedule entails Mon-Fri and he's like "Holy shit... you don't get to sleep, you work 35-40 hours here per week and we don't pay you? I'm sorry man. I wish you the best of luck and keep going. Don't burn out."

He actually thanked me for my hard work on the air that day. The higher ups began to know who I was and respected me. Les heard about me somehow and I was brought on for the graveyard shift when my internship ended. My first job in sports radio. Dealt with him a lot and he was a great guy. Dan Bernstein was kind of a jack off, but everyone else at that place was great and very professional. Les did a great show and I loved running the board while listening to him.

Wound up leaving to take a 9-5 production director job at a Minnesota/North Dakota FOX sports affiliate radio station. Had to pretend I was a Vikings fan when I would make an appearance on the air (yuck).

Les was a great guy, though. And took me on when I was a young buck with a dream. Sad to hear of his passing. RIP.

Unpaid internships kinda piss me off...but nice you have some good memories/experience from it.

 

[richig07]

This is awesome, How long did you work by him and how long ago was it?

I was with The Score for most of 2014 and into the late spring before I left the city for the other gig.

 

[richig07]

Unpaid internships kinda piss me off...but nice you have some good memories/experience from it.

Yeah, it was a point of contention with a lot of the show hosts and The Score's program director at the time. Multiple hosts would make references to us and the fact we were working for free. Rolling their eyes that they think it's BS.

Looking back, it is kind of bull shit. I was run ragged and worked insane hours for absolute free. I actually lost money if you account for the fact that I had to ride the red line each morning. At the time, I was mostly just happy to be around all that, though.