I'll answer the question. (Coast, you got that one, too)?

I am "pissy" because it seems nothing pleases a good number of you. I don't need the so-called ALS to convene regularly. I don't need rose petals tossed at my feet. I would love, however, the incessant whining over minutae to disappear.... or at least be diminished greatly.

Since I began reading these forums more than three years ago, Mike's reluctance to talk sports, his insistence on dated entertainment diversions, his lack of willingness to take direction, have been perhaps the most consistent theme Those issues were addressed and there weren't softballs lobbed at him. I told him I didn't believe that he orchestrated the Score's overhaul (and susbquent death) in August of '99. I believe, if I had the court reporter read it back to me (another one, Coast) my exact words were "You wore out the carpeting in the hallway leading into Harvey Wells' office. Nobody walked on air more than you did when those changes were made."

I called him out for the billboards excuse. I said being the highest rated Score morning show ever is a tall midget award.

Conversely, Mike hammered me for breaking a contract at the Score. And for my history of suspensions. And for being from Indiana.

It was give and take and mix it up. That's what makes it compelling/ That's what's been missing from Mike's show and your thousands of posts over the past three years validate that opinion.

More phone calls. Silly. Sometimes this baord reminds me of the scene in "Cuckoo's Nest" when Cheswick is complaining about having his cigarettes rationed and Scanlon wants to know why the drom doors sometimes are locked on the weekend. The mental defective league.... in formation, as McMurphy said.

... didn't believe HIM that HE didn't orchestrate the Score overhaul... because I believe - and and always will - that he did. Editing is a skill.

Mac, I think you did a fine job with the interview. You will never please all of the people around here. Some would not have been happy unless you slit his throat on the air and they could listen to North breath his last breaths on the air.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I thought it was a pretty cool segment.

_________________

Agree. It's easy to be a negative pissant when anonymous.....

_________________

I didn't get a chance to hear the interview the first time so I'm listening now. So far I'd give you a good grade Mac. I could be wrong, but interviews depend as much on the interviewee as much as the interviewer to be a success. Mike seems to either dodge the questions or simply not tell the whole truth. Obviously he's not gonna go on the air and call himself an idiot. This is a chance for him to get his voice out more and get himself another gig, no way is he gonna admit any mistakes.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the attack style interviews that Mike North is/was known for. It gets old. Sometimes it takes 17 years to get old, but it eventually does get old.

Mac, it's the internet. This is TAME compared to some other boards out there...check the IMDB site sometime. You wanna see incessant ripping for no good reason and just inane blather?

I thought it was an honest segment, and that's all I think pretty much everyone wanted. Some more than others.

"We are men of action. Lies do not become us."

This is a assumption, but I am pretty sure most of the Managment teams at the score were scared of Mike for some reason, but if a Mgt, team was in place that didnt take that type of crap, he would have been suspended plenty of times.

It was a good interview, but Pappy did come off poorly IMHO.

Mac,
I congratulate you for not blowing North. From all the posts, it sounds like a decent job interviewing the HAS-BEEN. Hopefully, this will be the last time the lying POS known as North ever pollutes the Chicago airwaves.

Dats exactly right!

Mac did a fine job. The people complaining about wanting more phone calls, as Mac put it, are stupid.

The 2nd caller they took - Peter - didn't make sense. He was speaking for this board and said "more internet people would like you if you talked to them on CSFMB.

What? Nobody here dislikes North cuz he didn't talk here. People just thought his show sucked. If Mac was gonna get calls like that then it would have been stupid to put them on the air.

Mac asked good questions. When North avoided a question or lied it showed a lot. Not answering the questions actually speaks volumes. Sometimes he answered quesions and sounded stupid. Like saying "Hey, we'ze was 5th. Best morning show da Score ever had." They paid you 1.5 million Pappy. They expected more Pappy. I doubt "The Bear and the Bull", combined, got that much money. Probably not even half of that combined.

It wasn't a lic fest. Mac, as much as he could, took control and didn't let Pappy spew bullshit like Kaplen did on Comcast. Kaplen just let Pappy take control of the show.

I tried listening to this today, but between the normal static I get from the signal and the crackling due to the storms, I couldn't really pick out words...however, I could still pick up the tone and it sounded fairly confrontational...it seemed like the only words I did manage to pick out were three or four mentions of "revisionist history" by North...

I enjoyed the interview. But it was clear that North is not aware of the huge mistake he made in breaking uo the pairing with Jiggets. Jiggets himself has said that he knew it was Mike who orchestrated the break-up. It was the worst mistake he ever made. North kept defending his bad decisions, by repeating the fact that he has been on the air for 16 years and made a lot of money. That doesn't mean he wouldn't have been on the air longer and had greater success had he not made some very bad decisions. I loved Harry asking how many dogs he was responsible for finding homes for. North did not even realize that Harry was making fun of that segment of the show. It was a worthwhile interview, but I wouldn't think there was any real need to do it again.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

MacMurphy, I think Nurse Ratchet needs to pay you a visit.... Hopefully electro-shock therapy and a lobotomy aren't in your future.

I enjoyed the interview the second time around almost as much as the first.

You guys were your usual jovial selves, and Pappy (for whatever reason) seemed very cold and rigid...... Almost Nurse Ratchet-like....

Mac , I really don't know what you expect from the board. You choose to bring Mike on and people had thoughts here and presented them too you. I don't understand why you become upset with guys who have thoughts about what you do on your show.Your time on the board is appericated but you become thin skinned with some of us and I'm perplexed as to why?

I would of liked the segment to go on a bit but it felt like it was an airing of dirty laundry between you two and I'm sure your partners felt a little uncomfortable.

I thought you suger-coated a few things with Mike about it not being personal with you two guys but that axe you both were grinding was pretty sharpe after 10 minutes.

I give you a ton of credit for Mike being on and I'm really not sure what you were gaining by doing that except some media coverage and if you felt good about , then I guess we all can too.

_________________
"lET ME , Worry about Luca Brasi"

I guess I just got ahead of myself. I heard the opening parts of the interview, and Mikey was on the defensive from the get-go. When I heard that you guys would be taking phone calls, I was just licking my chops. I was a little disappointed.
Overall, I believe you guys did a great job -- and I don't believe I stated that the lack of phone calls switched my overall opinion of the interview.
I'm a B and B fan, but this was a must-listen. Fine job.

_________________
President of Blake Shetlon fan club

I though the interview went well. North was starting to really self destruct when you ended it. Another 20 minutes and he woul dhave been in total meltdown mode.

_________________

Will the interview be available on the web site? I wasn't able to listen 2day.

I didnt hear the interview Mac as I was out golfing today for my birthday. I cant wait to hear what you said to North on the podcast. Should be good listening tomorrow. Keep up the good work, and dont let the bitches on the board who would complain about getting a blow job get to you. Some guys will just cry and whine about anything.

_________________

Mac, it was great radio. I would guess that most people on here would crap themselves in a similar situation.

_________________
"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

First let me say that I am a B&B listener, until today I haven't listened to MJH for more than 5 minutes before 6 pm since B&B were moved to afternoon drive, tomorrow, that pattern will continue, today with Mike, however, was must listen radio.

Second I don't like Mike and I hated his show, WSCR mornings are a much better place without him. Hopefully his departure will make it easier for WSCR to take the Mustachioed Moron and put him out to pasture for the general sanity of every sentient being under the age of 60 and every one of his coworkers at 445 N City Front.

Mac, I feel for you. There's a fine line between asking tough questions and having a guest end an interview or completely explode in such a way that's just as bad for the interviewer as it is the interviewee and I think you walked that line extremely well.

It's impossible to expect Mike to go into a situation where he's just going to get pissed on, and based on the answers he DID give, it's impossible to believe that any amount of questioning was going to make Mike give you any of the answers a lot of people aparantly wanted to hear. He wasn't going to admit he blew up the station in 99, he wasn't going to admit how badly Mike and Mike beat his ass book after book.

Mike gave everyone all the answers we wanted, if not because of what he said than by what he DIDN'T say.

Mac, hope you read this thread tomorrow.

Let me start with some bias disclosures. First, I always liked Mike. Didn't care much for the content of his show in the recent years, but listened every day with rare exceptions. As far as Mac's show goes, the level of programming refinement that he practices combined with about 600 lb of unnecessary man meat that he keeps in the studio makes the show rather uninteresting to me. Besides, I really like Boers.

Now to subject at hand. I did jump the gun today and predicted a slurpfest and butt-slapping during Mike's visit with Mac. Mea culpa and I apologize to Mac for the harsh wording based on premature and unwarranted calls.

Well, the slurpfest didn't happen. Mac and the crew (the how many dogs question was absolutely priceless) brought up items that took Mike completely out of his comfort zone. He got defensive, pulled out personal attacks, kept throwing out disjointed phrases, praising himself, etc. In all the years of listening to this guy I've never had a chance to see him this much out of his element. He is incapable of finishing a sentence or providing a response remotely close to the question asked. He eerily reminded me an xgf who I broke up with for this exact reason. Every conversation that contained elements remotely questioning her opinion or judgment turned into a scene that Mike made over at Mac's studio. Mike completed a case study as to why he is not only unhirable but also an undesirable individual to engage in any kind of a dialog with. He is exactly a kind of guy that one should deal with only through representatives and collateralized penalty clauses in contracts.

_________________
"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

What he said....except for "always" liking North, or listening with "rare" exceptions

Cujos Danny.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Nope. I have never thought you were ever "pissy" and not today. Now, some of the guys on this board? They live pissy. On that point, we agree. I understand how some of the nonsense here can wear a guy down.

You and North had the kind of conversation I'd expect you two would have sharing a beer in a saloon. You are a couple of passionate guys with a history. It came off quite natural to me....well, as natural as any conversation with Pappy can be. You each got in your shots and digs at the other. And yes, I'd agree with you that it was "compelling" radio. Thumbs up.

I streamed it live (not the best of audio) and caught the replay at 6:00. Got a phone call from an old school south side baseball fan (and former outing attendee) who had been out of town and didn't know North had been canned. He had stopped listening some years ago and over a commercial break I gave him the known facts of the situation.

Mac, you did one hell of a job! You got it as close to as where everyone here had wanted it to go and you didn't lose your dignity nor credibility. I hope you have him back because judging by the number of people online at this board at 3:00 p.m., . . . well it proves that Pappy has some kind of appeal. In a twisted car-wrecky type way.

The caller who pointed out about North listening to his fans, he hit it on the money and North showed that the many nights tagging along with Ditka has given him a recognizable swagger to Senn High tough talk.

Mike, I wish you the best in whatever you do, and I'll likely come around if you go back to selling hot dogs. Then again, a constant diet of hubris on a bun doesn't seem like it would suit you. You're an American success story but you're also a tragic story of show business and bad business. You say you don't know computers but watch TV, listen to music, hang out at the mall (well, you didn't say but I would imagine it would fit your line of reasoning) and that's how you keep in touch? Too bad you're the last one to figure out what's going on.

You were what most (if not all here) once listened to. Then you decided that you knew what we really wanted to hear. Wrong.

It's not that you forgot where you came from, you just didn't recognize anywhere else you've been. You let us grow beyond you, and then you decided that you needed to remind us that your excuse is that you've never been anywhere. Thanks for the ride.

I think it's cool that it was done, but now I know for sure that Mac and North would never work, my head hurts

What appeal would there be in another appearance by Mike with MJH? I said in another thread that Mike is a one-trick pony and he did that trick yesterday afternoon for about 20 minutes. He lied about several things and fired on WSCR management. That's all he has anymore. What's he gonna do, give an informed, intelligent opinion on sports or current events?

There is no need to be so "pissy" Dan. A lot of posters here are dopes (me included) but most here are very insightful. Mike brought out anger in me for years for countless dumb comments and very bad preparation. Mike was a clown and he got to do the job I always wanted to do. Talk Sports and get paid for it. Before the Score, all we had were THE SPORTS WRITERS on TV, Coppock, The Swirsk, and Five minutes of Johnny Morris every night. The Score excited me. I was 24, broke, married with two kids and I didnt care who was talking. MIke changed that within a couple of years. I always wondered how a guy could come in Five minutes before his show, hungover (10 am) and get away with it. I became tired of his act and assumed everyone else did too. I must have been wrong. It seems now that most have come to their senses. However, the monster (no pun intended) had been created and his head got too big for his pasty body. The longer he lasted the more annoying he became. At least to me. I listened to that station since the first week of its existence and because of Mike and now Bernstein, I grew to despise it.

Mike is gone now so I celebrate. No more speaking for ALL Of Chicago with his phony BULLSHIT accent. We can now enjoy the Score for part of the day again and thats a good thing.

I'm just suprised that Dan Mcneil wasnt more offended by Mike North. Mike dumbed down an art that people like Dany McNeil took very seriously. And he got rewarded for it. Dumb questions were considered tough questions and that made him a good interviewer? Thats an insult to people like Coppock and Dan McNeil. But I guess he made Danny some money along the way too.

I have yet to hear the interview. I wish North would've been grilled by several callers. Danny did run the risk of wasting time with poor calls so I respect the fact that he asked a lot of questions that we wanted him too. I hope Dan doesnt have him on again. Mike has an agenda in everything and I wouldn't give him the pleasure.

There's a very large number of North haters on this board. I'm sure they were hoping for/expecting North to take a beating, but know that you two have a history and are currently friendly.

The moaning about only taking two calls most likely stems from people wanting to hear North get grilled. Not that you guys were lobbing softballs, but being friendly with the interviewee will make you ease off the gas pedal when you could go for the kill.

I'd assume the thinking is that callers would "call out" North and provide the grilling they think he so deserves. Since you took two calls and neither were particularly intriguing, they were left wanting more.

_________________