North by northeast
Mike North spent part of his Wednesday show at New York's WFAN discussing politics. At one point he half-jokingly said he never would vote for Mitt Romney for president because: "Do you know anyone else named Mitt?"

North wasn't moved after a caller said that Mitt, Romney's middle name, comes from a relative who played for the Bears.

"Nah, that ain't good enough," North said. "I need better than that."

North takes a similar view of a potential move to New York. If WFAN wanted him to replace Don Imus permanently, would he go?

"If they make an offer, I would listen," North said. "But they're not going to get me there for what I'm making here. Everything costs 2 1/2 times as much. And you want me to leave morning drive in my hometown, plus my friends and family? That's pretty tough."

North has 14 months left on his contract at WSCR-AM 670, which pays him more than $1 million per year. An industry analyst in Chicago predicted last month that if North stayed at the Score, his salary would be cut in half.

But that outlook might have changed after North's successful two-day stint in New York.

"Mike did a great job," said Mark Chernoff, WFAN's vice president of sports programming. "He was well prepared and very engaging."

Chernoff then talked about finding a long-term solution. When asked if North could be part of it, he paused.

"Mike has a great situation in Chicago, and he works for the company," Chernoff said, referring to CBS Radio. "I can't say that it was anything more than him coming in here for a couple of days to have some fun and give us some juice. I think that's how he looked at it as well."

That comment did not deter North.

"Mark Chernoff came up to me right after the show and said: 'We've taken calls on you good and bad. It's the first time we've had a reaction like this in a month,' " North said. "He can say anything he wants now. He's not going to tip his hand."

Wait. They said Pappy was going to have to have his salary cut in half if he stays here. Then Teddy writes that this two day NY stint might change things. Why?

He still will have poor ratings here. They are not going to give him the NY job.

North lives in a dream world, if he thinks anyone is going to pay him more for the crap he has produced over the last few years, he is crazier then I thought.

Did he also say he wanted more then 1MIL to work in NY? Is he insane?

extrapolating from this...

and based on the generally accepted figure of $1.7 mil/year for Mikeys current contract, you'd have to assume that to go to NYC Mikey would be looking for someting in the neighborhood of $3.4 - $4.25 mil/year

North would never fly in NY. Who said the two days were successful anyways?

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Arguing with a fool proves there are two.

An outrageous salary demand is a perfect excuse for why a contract was not offered. They could not afford me.

I think if you read the article closely the answer is pretty clear that this was another in a long list of tryouts. This was a courtesy job interview, like when the NFL is forced to bring in a minority candidate. Nothing is going to be offered.

The prestige of this tryout is lessened when you hear that not only John McEnroe but his lesser known brother both had opportunities before they brought in Pappy.

Courtesy, hell. His salary is a high pressure, vis-a-vis his ratings. If he makes the NY show, then that relieves the money that thus far has been poorly invested.

Plus,if North proves that he can succeed doing some sort of general-interest radio, then they _could_ use him elsewhere. E.g., a major market like LA, or a more general "talker" in Chicago. (Bwa-hahah: you could blame the lack of success as a general talker on the Score's listenership being so insular in their demands for all-sports product. And our demands for less suckage )

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry