I always enjoy getting up-to-date news from Robert Feder regarding local area news stations and related journalists, however, I was quite dismayed at learning that Mike North is going to be profiled nationally.

According to Robert Feder, Mike North (WSCR 670 AM) is going to be profiled on “Bob Costas Now” on HBO.

A crew from HBO’s “Bob Costas Now” will turn up today in the studios of Mike North’s morning show on CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR-AM (670). North is being profiled among the most influential sports talk show hosts in the country.

Really? Most influential? Obviously, Bob Costas didn’t ask people in Chicago. If he did, he’d find quite the contrary. Its amazing that Mike North is even on the air anymore.

Back in the day, I used to listen to the guy (mostly due to the fact that the SCORE was really the only dedicated sports station around in Chicago on 820 AM) and thought it was a nice touch having a “Chicago Guy” reflecting on Chicago Sports. It didn’t take long to realize that this was simply a guy with limited education, an embellished Chicago accent, and someone filled with racial and gender specific overtones.

To be fair, Mike North is simply a guy who got lucky. He went from being someone wearing an apron and dishing hot dogs, while giving his side of the story of Chicago sports, near Schurz High School to a well-known (unfortunately) morning sports radio host.

Unfortunately, things started to go downhill for North starting in 2002 after he signed a million dollar plus contract. The mega contract further inflated his ego his deameanour on the air got even worse. In 2004, he moved to mornings to compete with ESPN (Mike and Mike) which was a huge failure due to the fact that no co-host was even remotely able to keep him on track and with anything relevant to sports. In 2006, North decided to make a racial slur referencing Cubs pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu. North tried to defend himself (in his most usual, uneducated, and non-politcally correct way) and even got his former high school involved when they were trying to recognize his attendance by naming a field after him.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I grew up in the streets, and we used to say that all the time. I’ve got buddies living in Chinatown who are Italian. Wait, can I say ‘Chinatown’?

That’s right. Mike North never gets it. In May of 2007, he even went a tad farther to stir the pot with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. To North’s defense, he was dead on for reprimanding Guillen for his tirade and vulgar language; however, North went out of bounds declaring that Guillen “show him respect”. Not to say that Guillen is anybody special, but who the heck is Mike North? Unfortunately, he forgot that he’s just a guy that got lucky after a stint selling hot dogs.

Add North’s “Jagbag” and “Who Ya Crappin’” to the mix and its clearly easy to see why his show is simply nothing more than just a complete waste of time to any Chicago Sports fan.

Unfortunately, I’m sure Bob Costas and his crew had a hard time finding another sports radio host to pick from in Chicago, but I just don’t see how a bumb like Mike North can even sit in the same room as an accomplished professional like Bob Costas. Obviously, North was picked due to being the most controversial in Chicago, not the best or most influential.

In either case, North continues to laugh all the way to the bank, regards himself as a local “celebrity” in the Edison Park neighborhood, and brags about his days as a pretty good 16″ softball player back in the day (just ask anyone who remembers him when he played for Furman Funeral Home:).

I’ll make sure to miss his usual chance to look stupid on television and make Chicago look bad when he’s on HBO.

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