Posted by Sauganash Golf Course on June 18, 2009 at 10:16:31:
Mike North lashes back at critics, slams Shaer
by Ed Sherman
Mike North is getting pounded in many circles for not knowing more about David Hernandez, whose company NextStep Medical Staffing was the title sponsor of Mr. North's "Monsters in the Morning" show on Comcast SportsNet. Mr. Hernandez then provided the financial backing for their big project, Chicagosportswebio, an Internet sports talk station.
The station shut down Tuesday after the SEC alleged Mr. Hernandez ran a Ponzi scheme, bilking investors out of $11 million. Criminal charges were filed against Mr. Hernandez on Wednesday.
Since then, it has been revealed that Mr. Hernandez was sentenced to 34 months in jail for bank wire fraud in 1998.
Critics have said Mr. North should have known more. There are numerous ways he easily could have gotten more information about Mr. Hernandez.
Mr. North contends he didn't believe it was necessary. Late Wednesday night, he e-mailed me a statement that he said were his last words on the matter.
"Since this past Monday my wife, Be-Be, and I have been accessible to the electronic and print media in this town. But because someone has fled who committed serious crimes and has seriously damaged people's lives, not only here but reportedly in 12 other states, we have been left holding the bag. This is not from a lawyer, agent or from anyone except me.
"If someone knowingly had any information about Hernandez's past and didn't come forth until now about this, then we hope you can sleep tonight. That being said, my wife and I are guilty of one thing: trying to help and make people's lives a little better. We are sorry for our friends who got had.
"It seems like people have an agenda. The misinformation is mind-boggling, but I get it. This is my last statement involving this matter. Don't call, don't write, don't bother. Start concentrating on the real story.
"I know how the business works and I helped you guys out. But the North trial is over.
"You are missing some big fishes because of who I am. I understand this, but all we care about is the people who worked for us
"Thanks for caring, thanks for writing, now on to the real story."
Are those really Mr. North's last words? Hardly.
Thursday he slammed Tom Shaer on "Monsters in the Morning." Wednesday, Mr. Shaer told Crain's he knew Mr. Hernandez was convicted of wire fraud in 1998 and served time in prison. However, he didn't share that information with Mr. North because he didn't think it was his business.
Mr. North said: "Tom, if somebody is getting raped on the street, you don't butt in? You knew David Hernandez was involved with us, and you let all these people, a lot of your friends from Chicagosportswebio, a lot of people here at Comcast, Dan Jiggetts, who knows Tom Shaer . . . 25 people are going to go down because you were afraid to mention it to me?
"Then you should have called my wife. Don't call us friends when you did something like this. You knew information about a bad guy. While he was dealing with me, you went to talk to him about a business venture. . . .You're dealing with people's livelihoods. I don't know how you feel about this, but it's not a good thing.
"I would have said to Tom, 'What are you doing? Why are you coming out now?' All it would have taken was a heads-up. . . .You sat on information about a bad guy because you thought I would be mad. If I'm mad, so what? I wouldn't have gotten mad at you. I would have gotten mad at him. . . .You're not a friend. A friend would have called someone."
For now, those are Mr. North's last words, until his next last words.