Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 20, 2009 at 14:02:07:
North settling into 'comfort zone'
It hit Mike North as he walked down North Orleans Street before dawn one especially frigid morning last month on the way to the TV studio. "Why am I doing this?" North remembers wondering to himself. But to hear North tell the story Thursday, that was merely a fleeting moment of doubt about his now five-week-old daily television sports show "Monsters In the Morning" on Comcast SportsNet.
North will admit it hasn't exactly been a total joy ride so far, but he and co-host Dan Jiggetts are beginning to settle into what North calls their "comfort zone."
There have been near constant tweaks to the TV show. After doing radio for so long, North must grapple with the larger staff of a daily TV show and the need to make sure every person in the crew is on the same page about what's going to happen on air each day.
Though it's a show ostensibly about Chicago sports, North said he and his co-host have veered from the expected core local topics to talk about hot-button national subjects such as the Alex Rodriguez steroids scandal.
And North likes how television allows him to employ visuals to help amplify whatever he and Jiggetts are talking up.
"That makes it easier than doing radio," explains North, who, as our conversation progressed, hit on another good reason why he's doing a three-hour daily morning sports television show. "My 79-year-old mother likes seeing me on TV," said the veteran broadcaster. And it's looking as if North's mother soon will be able to see even more of him. Comcast SportsNet is about to greenlight an encore presentation of the best hour of each day's "Monsters in the Morning" from 11 p.m to midnight every day -- proof, if any were needed, that his bosses at the station are happy with North's performance so far.
(Lewis Lazare, Chicago Sun-Times)