Rozner: Hall of Famer Verdi still best there is

Bob Verdi was the best writer in Chicago 40 years ago and he still is today as the Blackhawks team historian. Now, he's been properly honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Courtesy of NHL.com

In the early 1990s, a young beat writer sought out longtime scribe Ron Rapoport in the visitor's dugout in Los Angeles.

When he heard the words, "I grew up reading you," the veteran laughed and said something along the lines of, "Kid, someday it'll happen to you."

It has, and while intended as a compliment, it certainly makes you glance at the calendar.

Nevertheless, I grew up reading Bob Verdi and can say with complete affection I've never read anyone better.

He was great when he covered the Blackhawks, he was great when he covered the Cubs and he was great when he became a columnist.

He would still be just that good if his newspaper hadn't taken away his space in the late '90s after 30 years of brilliant service, but Verdi was hardly done.

He went to work for Golf Digest and Golf World and became the best at covering that sport, which wasn't difficult given his love of the game.

In 2004, he received the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, which honors members of the media for their steadfast promotion of golf locally and nationally.

In 2005, he was named to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

And in 2012 he was given the Memorial Golf Journalism Award at Jack Nicklaus' tournament in Ohio.

Let's face it, there isn't a writing award that Verdi shouldn't own or a Hall of Fame he shouldn't be in, and after the Hawks came calling in 2010, offering Verdi the chance to become team historian, it gave the NHL its chance to honor him.

Last week, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Verdi as the 2016 recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism, having started his career as the Hawks beat writer and back at it again crafting for the Hawks' website and magazine, and producing championship books for the franchise.

But as good a writer as he is, Verdi is a better friend, mentor and confidant.

He is always there for younger writers and there's still nothing like getting a note from Verdi applauding a phrase or an idea. He has always been giving in that way.

But that's Verdi, self-deprecating and without ego, doing his job quietly and always offering to share or help.

He was never the type to preach, only to nudge. He would make fun of columnists who used the word "I" so often that Verdi would point to the newspaper and say, "Must have a broken keyboard. It's stuck on the I key."

His point was made and only on rare occasions, like today, do I stray from a personal dislike and use it frequently.

The first time I saw him at a golf tournament, he made sure to tell me that writers used to walk 18 holes with leaders, rather than simply sit comfortably in the press tent, eat free food and watch on the TV until the 18th hole.

Watching him walk out the door and toward the course, I did the same, and have covered every golf tournament that way.

Verdi would mock those who sit in a press box and never visit a clubhouse, a reminder that the best insight sometimes comes from those who play the games.

Unlike so many who live and die with their own words, their very identities wrapped up in their opinions, the absolute need to be right transcending even the need to breathe, Verdi has never taken himself seriously.

It's why he's so beloved and so much fun to be around.

On top of that, he's still the best writer in Chicago -- and we're lucky to have him.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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