Blackhawks team historian Bob Verdi moderates the discussion between former players during the Blackhawks Convention at the Hilton Chicago Hotel July 20, 2014, in Chicago.
When the incomparable Bob Verdi used to call the Tribune sports desk to check on his columns, several questions routinely followed.
Self-deprecating to a fault, Verdi liked to ask if his work was running in the back of the section by the tire ads. He would quiz copy editors about Chicago's breaking news or screaming headlines. He might challenge the slightest changes to the version he filed with deft diplomacy every columnist needs or draw chuckles with wit drier than vermouth. Almost always, Verdi wondered the same thing aloud before hanging up.
"How did it read?" Verdi asked sincerely, according to several former Tribune colleagues.
More times than not, Verdi was told his column read fine.
No, Bob, it was good. Very good.
The answer, once and for all, came last week, when the Hockey Hall of Fame announced Verdi will receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism.
Has anybody in Chicago sports journalism ever written any better than the man named Illinois Sportswriter of the Year 19 times over a Tribune career that spanned from 1967 to 1997?
In conversation and print, Verdi playfully referred to himself as a typist/clerk, but truth is, he was a Picasso pecking away at the keyboard, using words to paint pictures and sculpt meaning, artfully crafting prose that always distinguished him from the rest.
Since 2010, Verdi has worked for the Blackhawks as the team historian, added to the payroll without affecting the salary cap. It represented a natural transition for a former Hawks beat writer who also inimitably entertained readers in this space as an In the Wake of the News columnist.
Many recall Verdi famously wrote that Chicago was “a city of broad shoulders and narrow trophy cases.” He also called it “a city of sporting potholes,” among other things. He dubbed late Hawks Chairman Bill Wirtz “Dollar Bill” in 1972 after Bobby Hull bolted to the World Hockey Association for $1 million, a nickname Wirtz later thanked Verdi for in a 2005 interview.
About the Cubs' appeal as lovable losers, Verdi chided in a 1989 column that "there are 51 states that embrace the Cubs, including the state of confusion."
About Walter Payton, he suggested No. 34 "not only ran to daylight better than any back in professional football history. He slipped through the seams of time, too, without anybody laying a hand on him."
About Phil Jackson's departure from the Bulls in 1998, he applauded it as "the most dignified in the sloppy and sorry sports history of Chicago, where coaches and managers routinely depart amid a backdrop of hiss and vinegar."
About Chicago sports, Verdi commanded respect and carried relevance in every press box he walked into and every news hole he filled.
No matter the topic, Verdi knew exactly what to say and how to say it — until, of course, the subject changed to him. Then the understated gentleman suddenly develops writer's block. So with that in mind, rather than ask Verdi to sum up his Hall of Fame honor for readers who still remember him fondly, we enlisted some of the people he covered on his way to hockey immortality.
Verdi might kid you usually can't get this kind of coverage without a hearse and a eulogy. But each member of the hockey family was asked the same, simple question about sports journalism's living legend: What made Bob Verdi so good at what he did?
Scotty Bowman: "Bob is always capable of putting some humor into prose even if the story is quite serious. The manner he gains trust from star athletes is unique, thus he is so capable of capturing the moment. He is so confident in his abilities to get the right story and does it in such a correct and honest manner."
Chris Chelios: "No nonsense. He is going into the Hall of Fame because of how talented he is as a writer, but he also has an incredible knowledge of sports and always has been a great judge of character. I think he loves golf more than hockey. It's nice to see a member of the media always acting like such a professional get such deserved recognition. ... There are not many writers you can sit down with today and have a beer. You absolutely can with Bob. He loves Chicago."
Tony Esposito: "He was a confidant and we often went to dinner. Once Bob came to my house in Elmhurst for an article. He took his typewriter in my office to do it there. Said he needed 30 minutes. About three hours later, he finished. He was such a perfectionist. He threw in that little bit of humor too. As far as I'm concerned, he's in a class by himself."
Wayne Gretzky: "Bob was one of the first pro sportswriters I met, and I knew from day one how nice he was. What I didn't know at the time is that we would end up talking hockey, talking golf, playing golf together and having a lot of fun. When he covered golf, every year he sent me a golf shirt from the Masters — just a nice man who is well-deserving of the Hockey Hall of Fame."
Patrick Kane: "He's very personable with the players. When you're talking to Bob, it's not like you're doing an interview. It's more like a conversation with someone who can make you laugh and ask unique questions at the same time."
Steve Konroyd, former Hawks player and CSN analyst who named Verdi godfather to his five kids: "Bob writes what we think ... but we can't quite articulate the way he can. He's not afraid to poke fun at owners or star players because he pokes fun at himself. Bob has absolutely no ego and realizes the game is the thing.
"I once asked Bob if he ever had any regrets in life. He said one: that he never served his country in the military. He is fiercely loyal — to his country, to his friends, to his employers, to anyone he cares about."
John McDonough: "Subtle brilliance. Bob is enlightening with a unique and humorous perspective. He always respects the subject and the reader. He has a very calm approach that tends to relax the interviewee. Fairness and balance are two of his most admirable characteristics. He makes his point without a sledgehammer."
Eddie Olczyk: "There is mutual respect there that 'Verd' has earned. I remember being in a compromising spot, he would not jump to any conclusions. Instead, he would ask the proper questions. He has extreme knowledge of everything. When I talk to him, I hope he gets into his amazing ability to be a storyteller."
Bobby Orr: "He was one of the guys. We all loved Bob. He'd have dinner with us and go out but did his job as well as anybody. I don't know if I've ever seen anybody with more of a passion for what he did than Bob. He loved hockey more than anybody I've ever met."
Joel Quenneville: "Bob is very in tune to the situation, be it the mentality of the sport, the strategy of the game or how we go about our business. ... I enjoy when we are on the road and going out to the team bus before we play a big game, and Bob is standing there by the bus ready to go, smoking a cigar as calm as can be. He keeps it light and fun, just talking hockey, life or about the nice cigar he is smoking."
Denis Savard: "Bob is a great friend, an incredible person in many ways and his talent in writing is unbelievable. When I think of what makes him great at what he does, it is for sure his honesty. He is brutally honest but does it in the right way. It is also his sense of humor, generosity and loyalty. When I think about Bob's work, I think about how you always trusted him."
Jonathan Toews: "Bob is a great writer firstly because of the relationships he maintains with the players. He never intrudes and is respectful of the players' space. He's able to come up with his stories in a very relaxed conversation, and over time, he pretty much becomes a part of the stories he writes."