(670 The Score) Les Grobstein was there. He was always there.
Whether it was there to record the famous tirade from then-Cubs manager Lee Elia in 1983, there to defend Pluto as more than a dwarf planet, there for every Bears home opener since 1961 or there for his loyal listeners on Score Overnight, Les was simply there all the time.
We lost Les on Sunday at the age of 69 – and I use "we" because he was all of ours, a one-of-a-kind treasure we shared. If you met him once, you felt like you had known him forever. And if you tuned to AM-670 on a long drive through the dark night, he was a companion you cherished. We were all just part of Les' audience in life.
I first got to know Les early in my career -- and it was before I ever met him. I was covering Northwestern athletics and often found myself driving overnight from Iowa City or Ann Arbor or Madison, trying to stay awake in the late hours. His stories would hit on the Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks but also the Chicago Bruisers, Hustle or just about any defunct minor league team for which he would broadcast.
So, it was a thrill for me when I joined 670 The Score first in 2014 to have Les welcome me on his show. I quickly found that no matter what I had prepared to discuss – could the Cubs finally break through or would the Bears land their franchise quarterback? – those topics would always be lost in whatever stories from well beyond my time that he had in mind.
After the Bears lost 24-23 to the Packers in their heartbreaking 2018 season opener, I joined Les on his show amid my late-night drive back from Lambeau Field. I figured the interview would be a report on the game. He instead spent our 20 minutes mostly ranting about the cheap-shot hit from Packers defensive lineman Charles Martin on Bears quarterback Jim McMahon in 1986. I hardly got a word in.
Following the Bears’ loss to the Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2019, I had my report ready for Les from the airport gate ahead of a red-eye flight at 3:10 a.m. CT. Rather than discussing Mitchell Trubisky’s uncertain future or whether the Bears could save their season, Les talked about the NFC Championship game from January 1986 until they nearly shut the gates on me. He missed my subtle hints to wrap it up.
There were so many stories of UIC hockey in the early 1970s or the Chicago Sting soccer team or whatever relic from the past would come to his mind. You just let Les keep going and going.
Les cherished his audience, whether you were a caller at 4 a.m. or a colleague in the press box. The beauty behind him was he never changed once the red light went off. He was an icon and institution in our city by being authentically himself.
Whether you listened to Les on the radio or were fortunate to know him personally, you heard the same stories over and over again. And you listened to every one like you had never heard it before, because he loved sharing them.
“And I was there,” Les would say at the end of each story.
Yes, Les was always there -- and so uniquely himself.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.