From:
www.chicagotribune.com
Teddy Greenstein
Score 1 for North in verbal scuffle
Cubs' Dempster made false allegations against radio host
Published May 24, 2006
Mike North deserved to get slammed when he imitated a dying Terri Schiavo. And the Score's morning man often sounds like a Neanderthal when he delves into politics.
But don't blame North for causing the latest Cubs-White Sox controversy, the one that involves Ryan Dempster, Ozzie Guillen's children and Joey Cora's teeth.
North actually is innocent.
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" he said Tuesday during an interview.
Dempster lit into North on Monday, saying he no longer would make weekly appearances on North's radio show because the host "misquoted me three times."
North fired back Tuesday morning, telling his morning listeners Dempster had not been truthful in his accusations.
Later North was more blunt: "Hey, he was lying. If he doesn't want to come on [the show] again, that's fine with me. But don't be a B.S. artist. We have it on tape here, that's the bottom line."
By late Tuesday afternoon, peace and love had prevailed. After North called the Cubs closer to seek an explanation, a conciliatory Dempster said he would continue his weekly appearances, for which he's paid $150 per show. (Dempster says he donates the money to charity.)
"He apologized to me," North said. "He said he had been bombarded with information, some of which was wrong."
North, in turn, apologized for a misleading news update the Score ran Monday. More on that later.
On Monday, Dempster said North had misquoted him on three topics: 1) The Cora biting allegation; 2) That Cora should not have been on the field; 3) That Guillen's sons were on the field.
The issue of Guillen's sons never came up in the interview. Meanwhile, Dempster clearly did accuse Cora of failing to play peacemaker. And Dempster, assuming he heard the question correctly, confirmed North's belief that Cora, the Sox's third-base coach, had bitten someone during the fracas.
North: "We're hearing that Joey Cora might have bit somebody. I mean, he's a coach, I don't know …"
Dempster: "Yeah, I thought that was one the most bush things I've ever seen. You're on the other side of the white lines now because you can't play anymore, so don't come swinging in fists. Just break the fight up. Don't act like you're a player any more because you're not. If you're going to do that, you're going to get yourself hurt one day.
North: "So Joey Cora, as a coach, in your opinion, definitely went over the line."
Dempster: "Oh, absolutely. Harold Baines even grabbed him and said: 'Hey, we're coaches. We break this up' and pulled him off."
Later North says: "I heard he bit, what, [John] Mabry? There were like eight-nine guys on Mabry."
Dempster: "Yeah, I don't really know what happened. I don't know why they decided to gang-tackle Mabry. Brian Anderson thought it was a melee. So 'let's just start a fight with whoever's next to me.' All 'Mabes' is trying to do is break that up and get [Michael] Barrett out of there and the next thing you know he's getting gang-tackled."
Here's where the Score did err: Based on the information he was given, update anchor George Ofman reported Monday that Dempster had "expressed dismay and anger that Joey Cora not only got into the fray Saturday, but that he also bit Jacque Jones."
Was that entirely accurate? No. But it's not as if North wrote the news update.
On top of blaming North, Dempster said the incident was typical of sports radio, where controversy sells.
"Keep it on the radio and talk about it and let it brew up," he said. "It's good for the ratings. Maybe some advertising companies will pay more money."
WSCR-AM 670 program director Mitch Rosen acknowledged "it's great when you see the station mentioned in the sports pages," but doubted one incident would make a difference in the ratings.
North belittled Dempster's accusation: "Hey, [the media] didn't start the fight. It's not like we said: 'Hey can you get into a fight so we can talk about it?'
"Look, Dempster had a bad week. What I don't like is that he threw me under the bus. I can take it, but don't act like you're Mr. Innocent."
North might sound like he's whining, but he's actually one of the few Score hosts with thick enough skin to take criticism as well as dish it out.
Consider this: North took a beating in the winter ratings, losing to WMVP-AM 1000's syndicated tandem of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.
"Mike and Mike" earned a 3.6 rating among adult men compared to North's 2.8. And an April "trend" rating was only slightly more encouraging for the Score: "Mike and Mike" beat North 3.6 to 3.0. The addition of the White Sox has not given North the bump he expected, and he knows it.
"I've always discussed athletes who aren't earning their money," North said. "Considering what I'm making ($1.5 million per year), I should be hitting .315 with 30 homers and 125 RBIs. Instead I'm hitting .280 with about 13 homers and about 55 RBIs.
"I have no shot at making the all-star team. But I've been in the majors, the morning drive, for less than two years."
North's tepid ratings frustrate him, even though he believes Arbitron's system for estimating listenership is flawed. Though details are kept under wraps, insiders say the company gives diaries to 7,000-8,000 Chicagoans each month and asks them to report on their listening habits.
"I'm a polarizing guy," North said. "There may be someone who listens to me but says: '[Forget him.] I'm not going to put him down.'
"Look, I went and got the money; they didn't have to give it to me. I have two years left on my deal. If they want to go in another direction after that, fine. If they want to re-sign me, that's great too. But whatever happens I'll know I've given it everything I've got."
tgreenstein@tribune.com
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