|
 |
Rick Telander Says Goodbye to the Sun-Times—but Not to the Storytelling
The Sun-Times, like many legacy newspapers, is facing significant financial headwinds. Telander was just one of more than 30 staffers who accepted voluntary buyouts.
| |||||||||||||||
After nearly three decades as one of Chicago’s most distinctive voices in sports journalism, Rick Telander is moving on from the Chicago Sun-Times. The longtime columnist and Sportswriters Hall of Fame member announced that he has accepted a buyout from the newspaper.
Rick Telander Says Goodbye to the Sun-Times—but Not to the Storytelling John Howell / Rick Telander |
Listen on Apple | Listen on iHeartMedia | Listen on Amazon | RSS Feed
Thanks for reading News Sidequest! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The episode, co-hosted with self-described “almost broadcast legend” John Howell, was equal parts reflection, frustration, and humor—an impromptu farewell from one of the city’s most revered writers who insists he’s not fading away, just turning the page.
“I started in April of 1995,” Telander said. “And nearly 30 years later, it just felt like the right time. But let’s be honest—it was either take the buyout or wait to see if you were laid off.”
The Sun-Times, like many legacy newspapers, is facing significant financial headwinds. Telander was just one of more than 30 staffers who accepted voluntary buyouts. Others included fellow columnist Rick Morrissey, White Sox beat writer Daryl Van Schouwen, and longtime movie critic Richard Roeper.
The departures, while voluntary, signal a dramatic shift in the identity and capabilities of the newsroom.
“We’re losing a lot of institutional knowledge,” Howell said. “Writers like you and Morrissey—readers don’t subscribe for wire copy. They subscribe for the columnists.”
Telander, whose work often blurred the line between sports and deeper social commentary, estimates he wrote between 4,000 and 5,000 columns for the Sun-Times, totaling more than 3 million words. But he says he never wrote a throwaway piece.
“I can’t write bad,” he said. “I can write fast, but it has to be good. It has to say something.”
Interestingly, Telander chose not to write a farewell column for the Sun-Times.
“I just didn’t want to make a big to-do about me,” he said. “I’d rather drift away quietly.”
The episode wasn’t entirely somber. There were warm memories, like the time Telander introduced his mother to Dennis Rodman at a Bulls game, and moments of philosophical musing on the state of journalism.
“What is journalism anymore?” Telander asked. “Everyone has the means of production in their pocket now. It’s more dangerous—and more powerful—than splitting the atom.”
He also addressed the importance of editors, which Howell pointed out are disappearing alongside the columnists.
“You have to trust editors,” Telander said. “If you don’t, if everyone’s just making it up as they go along, then we have no shared truth. And that’s how republics fall apart.”
Though no longer with the Sun-Times, Telander has no plans to retire. He hinted at new writing projects, continued work on The Chicago Smokehouse, and a deeper dive into stories from his remarkable life—including, as Howell joked, his past “as a hobo riding freight trains.”
And there’s always golf—or in Telander’s case, more golf-related mishaps.
“You almost killed me,” Howell teased, recalling a wild backswing that sent Telander’s club flying.
“I apologized then, and I’ll apologize again now,” Telander laughed.
The conversation wrapped with Telander describing his post-newspaper plans: a bike ride, a trip to the fish market, and mixing up three kinds of rum for a quiet evening in the sun.
It may be the end of an era at the Sun-Times, but Rick Telander’s voice—and his stories—aren’t going anywhere. Follow Rick Telander’s journey beyond the Sun-Times. Subscribe, share, and light up a cigar with The Chicago Smokehouse.
Thanks for reading News Sidequest! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
| ||||||||||
