Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 03, 2008 at 08:01:03:
Mike North says his career is far from going south
Ex-WSCR host mulling 4 offers to stay in town
Mike North says he will remain in Chicago for his next gig, but WMVP-AM 1000 afternoon host Dan McNeil joked Wednesday that North will not be joining his show.
"Mike is a friend of mine," McNeil said during one of three segments that featured North. "But we don't have him here so we can do any favors for him, as some people have suggested.
"I know what the budget is right now. I'm trying to get a budget of $2 million for this show in two years. I want you to land somewhere, but there's not enough money for you, Mike."
North, who split with WSCR-AM 670 last week after 16 years, said Tuesday on Comcast SportsNet's "Chicago Tribune Live" that he has "four wonderful deals on the table and they're all radio, TV and Web. These are the four that we've whittled down to from about seven."
Many believe North's career peaked long before he took over mornings in 2004 at the Score. His best ratings came when he teamed with Dan Jiggetts, now a CSN anchor.
North said on "Chicago Tribune Live" that he did not engineer the breakup with Jiggetts.
Industry sources dispute that, and McNeil, a former WSCR host who teamed with Jiggetts, said he did not believe North: "You wore a path in the carpet to [then-general manager Harvey Wells'] office the month before that change was made and you walked on air for the following month after the change. If you asked for the change, just say so."
"If you want me to say something I didn't do," North replied, "that's not going to happen."
The "Mac, Jurko & Harry" interview ended on a somewhat contentious note.
McNeil offered North advice, saying: "You're a great American success story. Don't be afraid, however, to listen to others."
North: "Where were you for the first seven years to listen to advice? You can poke holes into any personality you want. I can poke holes in your deal for an hour. The bottom line is this: I never broke a contract. You did [at the Score]. Did you not?"
McNeil: "You're right."
North: "And yet you'll talk about players that break contracts. … Let's not have revisionist history here. Every one of us can talk out of school and talk about what happened in the locker room. The bottom line is that my 161/2 years were strong. Proof of that is that the Score still wanted to hire me and do mornings."
(Greenstein)