Already a member of multiple Chicago area sports organizations’ Hall-of-Fames, broadcaster Mike North, a Sun City resident, added another accolade recently.
“It was unbelievable,” said North about the Barrett Media Lifetime Achievement Award presented to him May 9. “I’m still an outsider, so I was shocked when Barrett Media owner Jason Barrett called me. At first, I wasn’t on their list, but Barrett said he wanted to talk.”
Barrett explained why North was chosen for the coveted honor.
Broadcaster Mike North and wife, BeBe, after North receives the Barrett Media Lifetime Achievement Award. (Photo provided)
“With three-decades of contributions in sports including hosting and thriving in the third market (of the country), becoming Chicago’s first seven-figure sports radio talent, branching out into television, and hosting the morning timeslot for Fox Sports Radio, North’s body of work puts him among the best to operate in the sports talk format,” Barrett told My Sun Day News.
Currently North and Carmen DeFalco co-host “The Odds Couple,” a weekly podcast about sports and sports gambling produced by the ESPN Chicago app posted each Friday.
“Our Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for difference makers in the sports media industry,” according to Barrett Media. “North’s impact helped earn him this recognition.”
North has also been honored by the Softball Hall of Fame, the Vienna Hot Dog Hall of Fame, and the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame.
The Norths are happy to be Sun City residents. They moved from Park Ridge several years ago.
“We had heard about Del Webb,” he said. “But when we found out this house was for sale, we knew this is where we wanted to be, away from the traffic of the city.”
North, 73, recalled how his radio career began in the early 1990s.
He is known for helping to start the sports radio station WSCR, in 1992. He partnered with Dan Jiggetts for “Monsters of the Midday” show and worked there until 2008, then had a gig at Fox Sports Radio with co-host Andy Furman.
“Danny Lee, the owner of WXRT, used to be one of the customers at the hot dog stand,” North said. “One day he said he was going to start a jazz radio station. But I suggested to him that he start a sports radio station instead. I suggested to him to look at the ads for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times weekend editions. There were 30 ads for sports but only two for jazz. So the sales staff switched from selling ads for music to selling ads for sports.”
His broadcasting style stems from talking sports with people “off the cuff” on a street corner. North dislikes the current trend of scripted sports radio shows. North is proud of the Emmy Awards he and BeBe have won.
It all began with the establishment of the successful BeBe’s Hot Dog Stand, from 1984-93, on the north side of Chicago.
North’s younger days
North is the son of Jessie and Don North, and has two brothers, John and Dan. He attended Senn High School in Chicago, but chose the world of work and earned a GED. According toa recent tribute video, competition, from basketball to softball and football was the main priority and always seeking to come out as the winner.
North mentioned his love of sports began early, when uncle Joe Larcella took him to the NFL Championship Game at Wrigley Field. The Bears beat the New York Giants, 14-10, on a frigid Sunday afternoon.
“I was the oldest child, so I got the perks,” North said. “It was the coldest I have ever been in my life. I did not dress right for the day, and we were in the upper deck, four blocks from Lake Michigan. I think that game was colder than the Ice Bowl in Green Bay four years later.”
North worked as a vendor at both the Cubs’ Wrigley Field and the White Sox’ Comiskey Park. His Wrigley Field days included the near miss of the 1969 season.
“My friends and I wanted to get into Soldier Field,” he said of the Bears. “Security chased us out, but we waited for an hour. We met Dick Butkus and Doug Buffone and later, when I worked with Buffone, he still called me ‘little buddy’.”
At his home, there are photos of North with the famous. These include ex Bears coach Mike Ditka (the tight end in 1963); Chicago Bulls’ NBA legend Michael Jordan and pro bowler Dick Weber. From politics, Chicago mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley and from entertainment, actor Warren Beatty. He has known the late Bears legends Walter Payton and Gayle Sayers.
About Barrett Media
Barrett described that their coverage focuses on music, news, advertising and sports media.
“Our writers are industry professionals and we provide content both online and in-person at our events aimed at educating, celebrating, challenging, connecting and inspiring industry professionals and those aspiring to work in the business,” according to Barrett. “Our tagline is ‘covering the media industry from the inside out’ and it summarizes what we’re trying to do, making broadcasters and the industry itself better, smarter and raising awareness for great things the industry does regularly.”
