RIP

Take it from someone who knows, journalism is a lousy profession. The hours and the pay are generally crappy, the job security a joke that nobody laughs at but everyone gets. As for a personal life, the job gets in the way. I walked away after two stints wrapped around a PhD. The journalist’s obit is a kind of consolation prize for anyone who put in the time and may or may not have had the awards to show for it. Right now in Chicago, the papers and air waves are filled with accolades for longtime sports’ journalist Les Grobstein. Because of Grobstein and his tape recorder, the rant of Cubs’ manager Lee Elia lives on. Elia went ballistic after a loss at home to the Dodgers early in the 1983 season dropped the North Siders to 5-14. It was F-this and F-that for a good three-plus minutes as Elia addressed reporters after the game. Listen to the tape on YouTube, and decide on a favorite line. Mine is Elia saying, “Fifteen percent of the F-ing world’s working, the other fifteen comes out here” to Wrigley Field. Elia called the ballpark “a F-ing playground for the c-ers.” The thing of it is, he was right. Wrigley Field—and Comiskey Park, for that matter—was home to a bunch of “fans” who lived to get drunk and boo. They were like Harry Caray, without the polish or self-control. In his own F-ing, fumbling way, Elia was trying to protect his players. In fact, he invited these “fans” to boo him, which I’m sure they took him up on. It was a different time, a different game. It costs a lot more to get drunk at the ballpark these days. Those who can afford it tend not to get so loud. But the reporters still have to meet their deadlines.