http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mike-north-webio-15-jun15,0,4623381.story

Fate up in the air for Web site that fired Mike North
Chet Coppock says he'll show up for his show Monday despite bounced check

Chet Coppock, the longtime Chicago sportscaster, said he plans to show up for his scheduled 3 p.m. program Monday at the Morton Grove studios of Internet-based Chicago Sports Webio. That's despite the fact that he said one of his latest paychecks bounced and the other hasn't arrived.

What else happens at Chicago Sports Webio, the sports-talk Web site created by host Mike North, is up in the air.

On Friday, investor David Hernandez fired North and others as executives from their Internet start-up. The same day, the FBI executed search warrants on the Chicago office of NextStep Medical Staffing and NextStep Financial, two ventures with ties to Hernandez.

The FBI confirmed the search, which was in connection with an ongoing investigation. No arrests were made.

Hernandez's Spectrum Entertainment is parent of Chicago Sports Webio, which North established last year while sitting out the remainder of his contract with CBS Radio's WSCR-AM 670.

NextStep Medical Staffing, which Hernandez owns, is the title sponsor of "Monsters in the Morning," the show hosted by North and Dan Jiggetts that made its debut in January on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, with an audio simulcast on the Web site.

Hernandez said Sunday that the FBI action was connected to the actions of a "disgruntled ex-employee who I caught misappropriating funds" and fired several weeks ago. He said that he was cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office, and that if checks bounced, it was because the investigation led to accounts being frozen. He added: "None of our companies are having any troubles."

North said that when he learned checks were bouncing, he tried unsuccessfully to reach Hernandez for an explanation. He said Sunday he was unfamiliar with the scope of the FBI investigation.

Chicago Sports Webio debuted with media fanfare and what appeared to be a sizable financial commitment by Hernandez, whom Coppock remembers handing out $500 checks at a launch party.

"His reason was, 'I know for some of you this is going to mean a longer drive, so let me help you out with your gas money,' " Coppock said Sunday. "I thought, 'This guy really gets it.' "

Then came Friday, with reports of numerous bounced checks and the firings.

"This whole thing more and more is becoming like a Stephen King novel," Coppock said.

I'm not say'n he is but if Hernandez is telling the truth, then North must have pissed off Hernandez thus the firing. If they siezed his accounts, that would explain the rubber checks. Since there is an obvious strain, something must have been done or said to Hernandez that nmade him tell North, bebe and Space to go fuck themselves. Now he wants North anywhere near HIS ventures. This may be all on North afterall. We'll see.

I just wrote a very similar post on the 16 pager. I predict this thing will get continually worse for North as more comes out. Hernandez already fired him, North better watch what he says in public about DH because you just know the guy is looking for any possible way to pursue legal action on North for anything possible knowing he was had. This isn't North trashing management at the Score, this is the head honcho and he has to be out for some payback.

I said, in one of these threads, that the checks bouncing might have been because of the FBI freezing his accounts. That's what Hernandez is saying here. That happened to some MLB players.

Still, even if the payroll account was frozen, this thing is leaking bad. North, Space and Bebe being fired are indications of that.

Those of you who are wishing and hoping that North is somehow dirty, are pathetic.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I would like to say that nobody - I mean nobody - has shown more symapthy and compassion for April Rose than I have. I wonder if April Rose realizes that.

because you know he's not. How'd your Dondfuckme.com account go. Did you win some dough wwith the help of a bookie priest? Kirk- you lost this one. Admit it.

There's a difference between 'wishing and hoping' and speculating based on the facts that have been reported...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRRJ6mMsVBc&feature=related

When it comes to eating pizza off your belly while laying down, you do it like no one can!

Boy, this story doesnt die by the fucking hour.

From the looks of it, both sides are in complete spin mode, whos telling the truth?

FACT- Mike Nort is a liar.

How come ppl whos checks have bounced are still going to work?
DH comes in and tells a realistic story as to why the money dried up, whats Norts reply to that?
Nort has a meeting at his house rallying the troops, cutting checks out his own pocket, yet, those who HE paid are still going to their gigs today.....WTF?

This doesnt make sense.

The rift between Nort and DH is the key.
Suddenly, the sympathy goes back to DH, with Nort looking like a fucking liar who prolly promised advertisers he couldnt produce.

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yup, sounds fishy. Sounds like someone is trying to weazel their way into looking not responsible for this whole mess.

The key thing here is the "gaining control" element.

Pappy owns the domain, but the domain is not a broadcasting platform. All this stuff originates on Takzone's platform in Morton Grove and I suspect they won't be giving out freebies. If Pappy figures out a way to carve out enough cash to keep the owner of their broadcast platform happy, they'll be in biz. The talent... he could always find new talent if DH suddenly claims that Hood, Chet, et al are under contract and should show up and work for him.

Pappy's new station's biggest challenge would be to survive and remain relevant without promotional campaign that DH paid for, since I think even Mike would be a little contrained to underwrite an effort like that. With DH pressuring Comcast and the latter giving in, free promotion of Mike-controlled internet station on Comcast will stop.

Most importantly, the economics of internet radio on the scale that Mike seems to be interested in are not there. My quick and sloppy research didn't reveal any significant professional equity investors funding single station efforts out there. There seem to be some that fund various platform-type operations that involve studios and datacenters, but not a Webio-Station. This may be a good barometer of the true state of affairs in the biz. If this was profitable the bankers would be triping over themselves trying to find a guy who wants to broadcast on the internet.

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

I find Hernandez's lack of concern over the FBI coming in to be interesting. He said something like "This happens every day in Chicago." In the above article he is saying his companies are fine and he's cooperating.

Could it be that he called in the FBI to investigate something or somebody? Maybe that's why he's so confident in the papers?

According to the papers, it said the FBI had a search warrant for his office and the SEC was looking into him, so i doubt he called the FBI to investigate. Maybe he has nothing to hide so he is coming of as confident or he knows he is screwed and his launching his own PR campaign to counterattack North's PR campaign.

This is what I was thinking from a "every point of view" type drunken stupor.

Does anybody really think the FBI would come out and say "Its Mike Nort were after" even if it was? Come on.And if it was DH, wouldnt they have taken him on Friday? It was the financial books they wanted, and nobody knows what it is they are looking for.


Somethings telling me that Norts in waaaaay over his head, hes either going down on something serious, or hes a complete uber fool who got took.

Him getting fired, while everybody else is still going to work doesnt look good for him, tho.

How the fuck does Comcast allow this idiot on the air without knowing whats going on?Say he is dirty, they come off looking like complete fools over this.

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[quote="Supercup"

This is what I was thinking from a "every point of view" type drunken stupor.

Does anybody really think the FBI would come out and say "Its Mike Nort were after" even if it was? Come on.And if it was DH, wouldnt they have taken him on Friday? It was the financial books they wanted, and nobody knows what it is they are looking for.


Somethings telling me that Norts in waaaaay over his head, hes either going down on something serious, or hes a complete uber fool who got took.

Him getting fired, while everybody else is still going to work doesnt look good for him, tho.

How the fuck does Comcast allow this idiot on the air without knowing whats going on?Say he is dirty, they come off looking like complete fools over this.[/quote]


I think it is going to come down to him being a complete fool who got took. The thing I keep going back to is if North did do something serious, what would he have to gain from it? I know he wanted to get Webio off the ground because he thought he was going to revolutionize internet radio, but DH was the money man and North got what he wanted. He MITM going as well, so I just have a hard time believing he did something illegal to jeopardize that stuff. And if he did do something illegal, he would have to me the dumbest man alive.

I do agree that that Comcast is crazy for allowing him on the air until this settles, unless they have info that has not been made public yet.

I did notice the Mike is no longer on the CSW site.

http://www.chicagosportswebio.com/shows.aspx