With the Super Bowl back in New Orleans and so many memories of Big Games’ past, it was time to finally summon Chicago sports radio legend Mike North back to fill in the holes of that one night on Bourbon Street on our first of 27 Radio Row Week memories. The former hot dog vendor turned airwaves barker lays on the condiments of humor and passion for The Windy City he loves.
Nestor Aparicio and Mike North reminisce about their experiences at Super Bowl radio rows, particularly in New Orleans in 1997. North, a Chicago sports radio legend, shares his journey from being a hot dog vendor to a prominent sports broadcaster. They discuss the evolution of sports media, the impact of NFL control over messaging, and the challenges of maintaining authenticity in today’s scripted environment. North also touches on the Chicago Bears’ struggles and the recent hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach. Both reflect on their long-standing careers and the changes in the sports media landscape, emphasizing the importance of accountability and integrity.
Chicago sports radio legend Mi…Super Bowl past in New Orleans
Wed, Jan 29, 2025 5:11AM • 24:51
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Super Bowl week, charity events, radio row, New Orleans, Mike North, Chicago sports, ESPN 1000, podcasting, NFL control, media changes, sports legends, hot dog vendor, Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Mike North
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive is Super Bowl week, but it is a cup of soup or Bowl week. It is our biggest charity week of the year. Next week, come on out see us on Monday, Costas. Tuesday, will be at Faith, Lexington market. Wednesday, we’re going to be at Cocos. Thursday, at State Fair in Catonsville, and on Friday, at Coopers, will be there from noon until five, in lieu of going to the Super Bowl, where I’ve been 27 times. I broadcast 27 years all week long. You go back see it all on the internet and all that stuff. But I met so many interesting people at these Super Bowls in all sorts of walks of life and all sorts of places around the country, and I’m trying to reach out to some old friends this week, as well as Super Bowl champion show Flacco has been here and Mike Nolan has been here. We’ve had tons of Hall of Fame voters as well through all of this. But the week began at 6am with Luke Jones and Luke and I got to talking about New Orleans, which of course, is very special to anybody with the ravens, and 12 years ago, and Joe Flacco and I brought him on and all of that, and I started to think about my first real radio row. And I did attend the Super Bowl in in Minneapolis in 92 and then in Phoenix after that, for the the Neil O’Donnell game in Tempe, but it was the first Super Bowl I really set up as nasty Nestor. We didn’t have the radio station yet, but it was 1997 January, 1997 in New Orleans, and I went down with Scotty P and we did the whole week long slog, and took all of this equipment down, and we set up in the Hyatt, and I got to meet some really cool people. And this is one of the people that I met that week, and it was I told the story on Monday morning about me vomiting because of this man two minutes before showtime on the Friday of Super Bowl weekend. I think I almost vomited on so on. George Young shoes, who was the general manager of the New York Giants at that point, John Steadman came by that day. I think Scott Garcia and Keith Mills visited, but Mike North came to me and said, you don’t have a suit deal. You don’t have it. I’m going to take you out. I’m going to make a man out of you. And we drank little cups of beer on Bourbon Street. And I was 28 years old. North, I’m still my stomach is still nauseous thinking about vomiting at the Hyatt radio row week at Super Bowl because I was such an amateur and it was all your fault. Mike North is a Chicago legend. You will hear the accent, his accent. He doesn’t have an accent because he’s from South Chicago. It is so good to see you. How are you? How is life in in the Windy City? It’s
Mike North 02:35
great. Nestor, good to talk to you. It’s been a long, long time. Man, we had a good time when we met up. I haven’t been to radio world for a long time. I did 17 of them. I never went to a Super Bowl game. I just couldn’t wait to get out of there after doing the week, you know. But those memories are great. We started out on I remember radio world when we had, I don’t know 2020, maybe different radio stations there at the beginning, and now they got hundreds, I understand. I mean, you know, they got whole warehouses full of radio stations podcasting everything else. But we were like pioneers back then. I mean, sports radio was just getting started back then, and we were loosey goosey the whole thing. I don’t know how it changed now, but, you know, one minute. I mean, it was a dream come true for me, as I’m sure for you, your kid growing up in Chicago. And, you know, the next thing you look up, there’s Joe Namath waiting to talk to you. Joe Montana waiting to talk to you. You know, guys like that, of that elk and Marshall Faulk. I’ll never forget Marshall Fauci walking up to me as a rookie, you know, and they asking, Would you like to interview this guy, I go, Yeah, sure, he had the gold chains on and everything else. So yeah, it was special. It really was. And radio world was a good time, where I met not only you, but a bunch of great radio people. I don’t know if it’s changed or not, but I know that the media has changed quite a bit, and the NFL has taken more control of things, but I’ll tell you what it was fun. It really was. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 04:01
I mean, you did it forever in Chicago, and your background as a hot dog vendor, famously, I’ve never had a deep dish pizza with you. I’ve never been to peak wads with you. I gotta change that. I gotta affect that. Um, are you still in the how many years did you did it every morning? I mean, you were a sensation in Chicago. Oh, my friend. Check cop against some others. And when I was syndicated and went out there at the turn of the century, I would see you guys, and I was a little part of Chicago for five minutes in that period of time at the turn of the century. But so many of you and it was just such a great sports town, and it was sort of the back end of Jordan and Dick and all that had been built there.
Mike North 04:37
Well, I mean, I don’t know if you’ve had the same situation, but I grew up in Chicago. I grew up on the north side. I ended up being a high school. I was a high school drop, but I took my GED, went into the Army, got out. I sold hot dogs. I had three hot dog places. We had stand standing, stands there. And eventually they said they were going to start a jazz day. Chicago, I ended up the owner. You came in to the place that was I had, and I told him, I said, you should start a sports station, of which they did, and that station is going to be 33 years old. I’m still, I’m working at ESPN 1000 now I do a wager and show on Fridays and Saturdays there you could get me on ESPN 1000 I do some podcasting with the bar room. And I I have something that I do special. Somebody big just died. Bob Buker, we just did, whenever somebody of ilk dies, passes away, we do like, 1520 minutes on him. So I do it for fun. But the ESPN job is a very serious job. I’m only on once a week. Now, I used to do four hours a day. I did four hours a day for 16 years. Then I went to Fox, and now I’m with ESPN. So I’ve, I’ve made the circuit. I’ve survived. I’m still on terrestrial radio when a lot of my guys, in fact, the guys I started with, for the most part, I’m doing terrestrial radio anymore. So yeah, it’s been great. It’s been a great career. But I wasn’t, I was 39 when I met you. 39 or 40 when I met you, I didn’t get into business. So I was in my 40s. And you were, you were only 28 at the time. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 06:11
it’s interesting at that point. And 97 you went on the air when Mike, I went
Mike North 06:15
on to your 92 so so did. I was 91 I was the symbol of 91 right? We were in New Orleans a few years after that. I think I want to say it was 97 we were there. Yeah, yeah. It was a great time. And, you know, hope everything goes well. Did I end up? I used to go to New Orleans two, three times a year, but I will say this to actually grow up in Chicago and to actually do shows with Gail Sayers, who I idolized, and to Dick Bucha, who became a friend. And Walter Payton and I were like this. We did shows to just actually Ernie Banks, to know Ernie, I used to run home from school to watch him back because they played just a baseball and to become his buddy, to become friends with all these guys. Bobby hall of the black Lux, you know, then later on, Jeremy ronick, you know, I Frank Thomas. I mean, just to be a kid from Chicago and to do Chicago sports, and to have the biggest stage in Chicago for a long time was a dream come true. I don’t know if I fully enjoyed it, because there was always pressure back then. Back then, it was all about ratings, as you know all about making money, bringing in, which we did, but you know you always came to play, always gave 100% and I’ve never missed a day, never missed a day of work in 33 years, never took a day off. They had to force me to take vacation. I go. This isn’t work. This isn’t work. I did this on the street corner six hours a day after school and stuff with my buddies. So it’s been a blessed thing and get to meet people like yourself. But the venue’s changing. The talk shows are on TV now, you know, and there are a lot of scripts, lot of scripted things, which I don’t agree with. I we always
Nestor Aparicio 07:56
I 100% agree with you. Well, like I got syndicated after I met you, I met you 97 and I had that crazy newsletter that I sent to everybody else, right? Yeah, Chicago, up on the north side, in Northbrook. It was one on one sports. I remember at sporting APA Joe, oh, my heart. He still owes me a steak at burn state, so I love him. You know, I wrote a you. I wrote a beautiful tribute to Papa Joe when he died, and it’s still up on the internet. It’s really the only tribute that was written to him. And people, once a year, somebody will find it and say, Oh, my God, I knew Joe loved Joe, whatever, so. But I went to Chicago, and I was syndicated in 9899 and then in late 99 i They told me, You’re going to broadcast from NFL films in Philly. You’re going to drive up and do the show with Brian Baldinger every Monday. We did NFL monster Monday. Steve sable Jaworski, Greg cosell was on the show this week. He was a part of it. Ray did injure great writer from the Philadelphia choir. Was a he was a guy who wrote all those John facenta scripts. He was the writer of the voice so, whatever. So I get up there to NFL films, and the first day I’m there, I’ve been doing radio maybe eight years in sports, and I I own the station by then. So I own a radio station. Remember, I’m actually syndicated. I go up to and there was a guy there. He’s a beautiful man, and I’m not picking on him. And I’ll even say his name. Name is George Krieger. He’s a he hired me. He was a television guy. He hired Jimmy Johnson. Terry Bradshaw, how he was the original Fox. JB, was on Fox. He was the original guy that put Fox football in 9596 97 together, and now he was like doing radio. He came up to me, Northy, I’m in I’m at NFL films. I’m about to do this show. And Steve Sable, and he had note cards, and he was writing out the script for me. And I swear to God, to this day, it’s the funniest thing ever. Here I am doing live radio, four hours a day, 51 weeks a year. I. 20 hours a week, and I come in and this guy is now handing me note cards, and he’s writing me the script for what I’m good. Hello everyone. My name is Nestor Aparicio, and welcome to our first edition. Right of literally, he’s right. And I looked at him and I’m like, Dude, I can’t work like this. You gotta be kidding me, dude,
Mike North 10:23
you know what? What happened was I saw something not too long ago where a guy went out on on Twitter, and you could check me out on exit north to North, n o r t h, number 2n, o r t h, and he said, me and my buddies are meeting tonight, and I have a list of things we’re going to talk about, I’m going hold on. No, no, I never took a script. In fact, when I went to work at Fox Sports Radio with the great Andy Furman, I did with Andy for three years, and we did the morning show. I took somebody’s place, and Bruce Gilbert, who was then the boss, says, you know, just take over, Mike. I know the other guy was he wasn’t showing up and blah blah, no problem. I hear from Andy Furman. He goes, I’ll send you a script in the morning. And I said, Don’t ever send me a script. And he never did. And we did it just like natural. You didn’t go to the street corner, you didn’t go to the bar, you didn’t go to the restaurant. And say, All right, in our first part of our talk before, before coffee comes, we’re going to talk about the Super Bowl. Then we’re going to talk about the NBA ratings once the bacon and eggs come. And then after the bacon and eggs are done, we’re going to probably order another coffee, maybe some orange juice. Then we’ll talk about realignment in the NHL. No, you just show up. You do the show. That’s the way I always wanted it. And even when I did TV in Chicago, I won a couple Emmys because I didn’t have the teleprompter. I did it all straight off my head, because back in 92 we didn’t have computers. In fact, the best thing ever happened in 9293 when the station I was at started, were car phones. Work, our phones. And the best thing that ever happened was no Twitter, no social media, because I wouldn’t be here with some of the antics that I know I pulled and a bunch of other guys pulled, if you did something, and then 10,000 people would type in, and then the next thing you know, the bosses are alerted and everything else. So we were mostly left alone. We were we held people captive with the car phones, and that’s how it went. But as far as scripting goes, we never scripted. Now they do all the time. I guess
Nestor Aparicio 12:34
when I got the gig at Sporting News and one on one sports every morning, I would have cliffy Saunders or Matt and Hagee in my producer, right, right. They would hit me. And this is when rich Johnson had sports pages, which was the first internet place where you could read the Chicago Tribune in the morning. And I, I didn’t want to read Jay Mariotti, but he was there nonetheless, and I wound up working with him, but we would do these meetings in the morning, and I’m like, Guys, I’m not doing my show for you at nine in the morning. And they would come to me and say, we got to talk about Patrick Ewing in golf today. And I’m like, and so like, that was 24 years ago. Now I look they threw me out here three years ago because they didn’t want me asking questions last week. Mark Andrews doesn’t even show up at the podium when he drops the ball with the season on the line Northy, things have changed. The accountability is still there at the hot dog stand. The Accountability still there at the bar stool. On Twitter every the accountability is there, but isn’t really there if the player doesn’t accept the accountability. Well,
Mike North 13:40
no, and the problem is that a lot of the newspapers now, a lot of the which are dwindling because, you know, legacy media isn’t what it was. But now, when you see somebody like Mark Andrews do something like that, the NFL controls the message now, and I’ve always said in the last 1015, years, the thing that’s changed is one, they don’t want hosts to do shows that are going to work at flagship stations. Because if the team, for instance, if the team that you’re flagship station off is the White Sox, and they’ve won 41 games, it’s not going to be a lot of fun. You know what I mean. The bottom line is that the newspapers now for football teams, the writers are more PR arms for the team. Now, okay, there are stories that go unsolved. There are stuff that happens in in Chicago that, you know, we had a couple coaches fired last year. We still don’t know why they were fired, because if the man, if the team, tells you there’s a guy that’s been on the beat in Chicago at Alissa in Lake Forest for 20 years, wow, you’re not working for the for the paper anymore. You’re working for the bears. If you’ve been there 20. 20 years, and you’re going to do probably just about whatever they tell you to do. If they tell you not to run a story, you’re not going to run a story. See, I think that reporters should rotate out of those jobs every two three years. You get too familiar with the people, you get too familiar with the lunchroom. You get too familiar with the team. So that’s the thing that changed. I think the teams now and the NFL control most of the message, where before it was more or less the media. And I here in Chicago, if a guy wrote a band, I remember George Alice, there was a guy named Ed Stone. He wrote a column he didn’t like. He was off the beat back in the day off the beat. You’re talking you’re messing with George Alice, you know, back in the day. So things have changed, but then again, things haven’t changed all that much. There’s ways to get your word out. There’s ways to to make your point. You just can’t make it the way you used to, but that’s starting to change too well. I think the accountability
Nestor Aparicio 15:57
of who gets to even ask the questions when they throw people like me who are qualified out that there’s no one there to ask a qualified question, and if they and if they do, har ball stink eyes them to the point where you’re intimidated to not even ask an appropriate question, like, where’s the tight end to be accountable after he drops the ball With the season on the line that that is, if you’re not asking that question, you’re not doing your job on behalf of the people or behalf of your organization, or really on behalf of yourself, because you’re asking someone to not do their job, you’re demanding or forcing them to not do their job. And I’ve watched all of that changed, and you know, I’m going to be the dog that’s going to bark about that northeast. Well,
Mike North 16:44
that’s why podcasting and everything else has become big. That’s like why radio stations aren’t as powerful as they used to be. I never dreamt back when, in the heyday, there was nobody that was going to take over our show, nobody that was going to beat our show, nobody was going to beat our station. That’s we were a highly rated station and we never, you know, I brokered time to get into the business, right? You had to pay. I had to pay 200 bucks for the hour, and then I had to pay. I paid 100 to bring my own producer, and I didn’t want one of theirs, so I paid 300 a week. I did one hour show it at eight in the morning on Saturday. They ran it on a brokered channel at night, you know. And I was wedged between the Father Justin rosary hour and, you know, a couple religious shows for God’s sake, but anything to get on the year back then. And then I listed in the sun times. Now you can get a podcast up. And now there’s 1000s of guys, and now podcasters are making money, so it’s more more stretched out. Now the money isn’t all going to the to the traditional radio stations, and that’s been a problem. And you know, if you have a station with no bite and you have podcasters in the same city, Wolf bite, it’s tough to it’s tough to compete.
Nestor Aparicio 17:54
Mike North is here. He has been competing. It’s not it’s
Mike North 17:58
almost serious. There for a minute. 34
Nestor Aparicio 18:02
like a PD, you know, this is good. We’re grown ups now because we were gunning down vomiting in the streets of Bourbon Street, 27 years ago. Mike North is here. He covers all things Chicago sports. You know, I’ve been collecting, I had, this is my childhood belt buckle from 1971 I collect rock and roll, the old rock and roll Bell Bucha is my thing, because I had a Led Zeppelin one. So I have 100 of them now, and they’re cool and they’re valuable and they’re neat to wear whatever. But I had this cold one, and I’ve gone back in time to like, I have a bears one now. So I’ve been thinking these, these guys up. So for you, with the state of football and Lamar and running and the way the game has changed in Josh Allen and what Patrick mahomes has pulled up, we’re really in a different era of football. And it’s a bit of glorious era in Baltimore to win championships since the time I met you, and to go through Joe Flacco and get to Lamar Jackson, but the bears are still like, I mean, and it’s a great football town. It’s a great sports town in a lot of ways. And it’s the comings and going to the Cubs and the White Sox and giving my last name right for five minutes on the south side, I love it. They get traction for sports in Chicago. Um, it’s been a little while since the bulls sort of owned a piece of it, but the bears are such a disappointment, right? Just perennially, right? Well,
Mike North 19:17
I have the same ownership I had when I was born, 72 years of owners, the same owners, George hallis, and now his daughter, Virginia. She’s 100 years old. The last time she had sex, I think she was in a covered wagon, for God’s sake. I mean, that’s how old she is. And they have a family structure that just hasn’t worked. We have a we just hired Ben Johnson, which not everybody’s crazy, but I was a guy that wanted Pete Carroll. And now Pete Carroll ends up going to Raiders. Only has to answer to one guy in Chicago. Yes, they have to answer to a GM who’s 817, and 36 Ryan falls. Kevin warned the president, George McCaskey, Virginia mccaski, they’ve never changed their their situation there. They won an 80. Five with the old regime, and then Michael mccaski came in and got rid of guys like Wilbur Marshall, Mike Ditka. Eventually, Willie got all our stud players, and we haven’t won since we went back in 2006 with a quarterback named Rex Grossman, almost knocked off Peyton Manning, but we’ve only been to one Super Bowl, and I won’t see another one. This is a bad football team. I don’t know. Ben Johnson cannot bring the Detroit Lion players with him. Ben Johnson did not change the Detroit Lions. Dan Campbell changed the Detroit Lions, just like Dick could change the bears. But, you know, he sounded a lot to me like he was going to be the offensive coordinator the other day for Caleb Williams, not the head football coach of a charter franchise who’s going to have to worry about special teams, who’s going to have to worry about defense, who’s going to have to worry about offense. So he’s green. Pete Carroll, 73 I heard he was too old. Well, I said I’m 72 and I go all night long like Lionel Richie. But you see, there’s those ageism process, the last four bear coaches, 4654 38 and now 38 so that’s what youth will get you. A lot of aggravation. I mean, we’ve had coaches every three years. Now I reached my Cadillac when the bears get rid of a coach every three years, because we haven’t been able to decide on one now this Ben Johnson will find out first time coaching the team not going to be in a dome Nestor. He coached 11 games, or 10 to 12 games in a dome this year, you’re going to be outside at Soldier Field in November, December. Plus, we have an away schedule this year. The AFC, you guys. We got Pittsburgh, we got Baltimore, we got Cincinnati, we got we got some, some teams that we’re going to be playing that’s not going to be it’s not going to be pretty, it’s not going to be pretty. It’s going to take a couple years. But Your guess is as good as mine, he’s 5050, I wanted Carol. I wanted somebody, maybe like Kingsbury, like Mike McCarthy, somebody who’s been there, done that, and to clean up the mess. Because it’s not just a mess on the football field. It’s a mess permeating the whole situation there, as far as farm, office and stuff.
Nestor Aparicio 22:18
I’m an Oriole fan. I’m familiar with this, my brother, you know, I’m saying we, I remember we’re really close to the Washington football team to see how that’s changed here on the other end of Maryland
Mike North 22:28
as well. What I heard was, what I heard was all Caleb Williams is, is generational. I go, you know, I watched him against Notre Dame. I don’t have to watch a whole lot of football. I’ve been watching football quarterback since 1961 I said from watching he didn’t look that good to me, yeah, but he does good against Fresno State and again. I go, No, no, I go. What about Jayden Daniels? Well, he won the Heisman trophy. Goes, Yeah, but Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy the year before. I go. What does that even mean? I go. So they decided to take Caleb Williams not even entertain trades. Nobody was knocking down the door. They knew that Drake May was out there. They knew that there were other quarterbacks out there that that could play and Bo nicks and so Washington Jane Daniels, Fauci Davis. The bears take Caleb. They get Jane Daniels. The guy wins 12 games, and he says, good as any quarterback, rookie quarterback I’ve seen period,
Nestor Aparicio 23:24
well, I mean, as accomplished as anybody ever to your game, right? Mike North is here. I love it when you say that, I like Mike North here. Mike North is here. Scott, it’s been too. I don’t think we’ve done radio together this century, which is kind of crazy. I did your show a couple of times at the Super Bowl you did mine. But it’s, it’s been, it’s been a while for sure. And hey, I appreciate you. I hope you’re doing well. I at some point I got to get a hot dog with you. I mean, you know, when
Mike North 23:51
you’re in Chicago, I don’t travel too much anymore, you know? I mean, I It’s a, I heard they were in Atlanta sleeping overnight at the airport. You know what? I made for the for the football game you didn’t go to that, did you? No,
Nestor Aparicio 24:03
no, no, no, no. So I, when I come to Chicago, it’s usually a concert involved, and my friends on the north side, my dear friends, Dan Jablonski lives up by O’Hare, we go to pequods and we get that proper caramelized pizza, none of that deep dish. I mean, that’s fine, but it’s not my thing. It’s good, but it’s not great. I get the PE quad. So I’m going to invite you up to Pete quads up on the north side. It’s got to be one of the weeks of summer. So either June or July, buddy, I ain’t going anywhere. Kid, one of the two weeks of summer they get there in Chicago. Mike, North Chicago legend, man of the people and and freezing his ass off because he’s in Chicago. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, just seeing your face makes me think of that back for more right after this.
