Sun-Times : Les Grobstein, 670 The Score overnight host, dead at 69

[sjs1959]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/1/17/22887801/les-grobstein-670-the-score-overnight-host-dead-at-69

RIP, Les, you will be missed.

 

[Koolmotor]

I just heard about this. I noticed he wasn't on the latter part of last week at midnight CST. He was one of a kind and a real original. I loved his stories about teams and radio in the 1970s.

 

[QED]

I noticed he was off as well. I thought he may have had COVID or perhaps they were making a change. 670 had Amy Lawrence/CBS for a few days. Last time I heard Les he sounded good.

 

[cyberdad]

One of a kind and a true Chicago Treasure. I'll leave it to others to argue whether or not he was the greatest Chicago sportscaster.But he almost certainly had to have been the hardest working. Last time I heard him was about a week ago, and he sounded great. RIP, Les. You'll be greatly missed.

 

[radioman148]

I'm shocked. Les was truly Chicago sports. I remember him from sportsphone and then as the sportscaster on Larry Lujack's morning show on WLS. He knew more about Chicago sports than anyone.
A big loss for Chicago. RIP Les!

 

[tvnut]

Amazing memory, amazing endurance to do so much on and off the air. Prayers to his family.

 

[tvnut]

WSCR 670 has a live memorial program running in Les' midnight-5 a.m. timeslot tonight. For those who think 50 kW stations are wasted wattage outside of their market area, and not listened to, let the record show the first caller was from Dallas, Tex. That wasn't unusual – Les got calls from fans throughout the central United States.

 

[icybluelake]

One of a kind and a true Chicago Treasure. I'll leave it to others to argue whether or not he was the greatest Chicago sportscaster.But he almost certainly had to have been the hardest working. Last time I heard him was about a week ago, and he sounded great. RIP, Les. You'll be greatly missed.

I remember listening to Les on WLS when I was very, very young. I'm not actually that much younger than he was, it's just that he got a pretty early start as a sports broadcaster. Many people said he had an encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago sports and I would certainly agree -- I still just marvel at guys like him.

There's one rather prosaic, unremarkable moment I remember from hearing him in the late 70s. He was recapping something that occurred in a game, and I don't remember what happened, but Les characterized it as very poor sportsmanship, and he was quite emphatic about it. At the time I found this almost quaint. And even more so today: I don't know when I've heard a sports reporter or someone describe a player's behavior as poor sportsmanship. But it told me a lot about the kind of person Les was and from then on, I really admired him.