You might think sports talk show hosts are a dime a dozen, but in a provincial market like Chicago, a good host can become an enduring and popular one. Such is the case with Laurence Holmes, a multi-talented broadcaster who recently added newspaper columnist to his resume. Holmes just began a weekly one with the Chicago Sun-Times. Holmes began his career at Homewood-Floosmoor Community High School where they had a state of the art radio and television station. “It blew my mind all the things that were available … I got my FCC license at 16.” After high school came internships and a chance to work at WSCR “The Score,” the city’s first all sports station. “The crazy thing is I walked in the door at ‘The Score’ on May 8th, 1998 and I’ve been there ever since.”
Holmes has held a variety of jobs from producer to weekend host and now shares a midday slot with long time “Score” host Dan Bernstein. A proud moment came when he was told he would be hosting a weekly half-hour interview with then-Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon. “I was in Mesa (Arizona) for spring training when I was told and I wanted to introduce myself to Joe and he couldn’t be more into to doing the show and making me feel comfortable. It elevated me. People saw me differently than they did before.”
Holmes was also invited to try out for the White Sox play by play job after their long time voice Ed Farmer passed away. “Len Kasper was interested in the job. … I Really wanted the job but told the Sox ‘hire Kasper!'”
He also inspired host George Ofman to do the “Tell Me A Story I Don’t Know” podcast, as you’ll learn in this conversation.
