RIP Grobber

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Cyclone90

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If you have any northern Illinois or Chicago roots, longtime Score 670 overnight host Les Grobstein passed away Sunday. He was an odd duck, but nobody knew more about Chicago sports history. Listening varied from you had to turn it off, to you couldn't get enough. Certainly not because of breaking down Xs and Os of games, because he just didn't get it at times, but because of his eccentricity you couldn't get anywhere else. The perfect host for the early morning hours and those working mid shifts. Started listening to him on WLS in the late 70s and early 80s. He will be missed.
 

cyfanatic

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Oct 18, 2006
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Listening to the tributes this week of him make me long for those "local" radio DJs/hosts that stood out as being one of the best. Chicago radio was so good in terms of local talent! Les was very unique and as you said...fit the overnights perfect. Not easy to stand out in the Chicago radio market during his career but he certainly did!
 

Cyclones1969

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If you have any northern Illinois or Chicago roots, longtime Score 670 overnight host Les Grobstein passed away Sunday. He was an odd duck, but nobody knew more about Chicago sports history. Listening varied from you had to turn it off, to you couldn't get enough. Certainly not because of breaking down Xs and Os of games, because he just didn't get it at times, but because of his eccentricity you couldn't get anywhere else. The perfect host for the early morning hours and those working mid shifts. Started listening to him on WLS in the late 70s and early 80s. He will be missed.

Dude had an amazing memory. Literally remembered anything and everything related to Chicago and Illinois sports.
 

burn587

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Wow, that makes me sad. I had a couple of years living in Chicago but traveling back to Iowa for work. I’d get up super early on Monday mornings to drive to Cedar Rapids and his overnight show got me through those early morning drives. The way he dealt with the morons that called in (most people that call sports talk at 3:30 am tend to have at least one screw loose) was pretty admirable. And as another poster stated his memory was insane, he could recall the most mundane details about obscure games 40 years prior.
 

Cyclone90

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Listening to the tributes this week of him make me long for those "local" radio DJs/hosts that stood out as being one of the best. Chicago radio was so good in terms of local talent! Les was very unique and as you said...fit the overnights perfect. Not easy to stand out in the Chicago radio market during his career but he certainly did!

Ya, he was a time machine of local radio in the 70s and 80s. Would read the weather forecast and current temperatures. Had no problem carrying on for 5 hours with no guests.
 
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drlove

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Bummer always listened to Les heading for the pool at 4:30am before the dark times.
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Funny. My memory of him is quite vivid from the mid-80s as I was going to swim practice early in the AM and WLS was the only station worth a darn that could get its signal to eastern Iowa.
it seemed like everymorning I would hear "Les Grobstein, WLS Sports. It was a big night for Jordan at the Stadium last night as Michael pumped in 35 against the Knicks (choose your team name)." I think they would replay the same update 12 hours later as I was leaving swim practice.
 
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cyfanatic

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