O'Donnell: Resilient Mike Leiderman set to leave Chicago an unquestioned victor

MIKE LEIDERMAN IS finally leaving this town.

More than four decades after a resolute young man from Great Neck, N.Y., set out to conquer Chicago sportscasting, he and wife Hermine are retiring to Florida.

By some standards, the conquest was never completely attained.

But if dignity, talent, remarkable versatility, good fellowship and amazing family are the criteria, Leiderman departs an unquestioned victor.

"I loved telling stories," he said. "I loved being on-air. I hope I transmitted those qualities to the audience. I wanted to give the viewer substance, not simply schtick."

Leiderman did.

So much so, that when he was fired - by registered mail - from the news operation then known as "Nuthouse Channel 5" in 1980, no less than John Schulian and Gary Deeb both stepped to the keyboard to lament the astounding absurdity.

"Leiderman found himself upsetting the same old status quo," wrote Schulian, who would leave newspapering for a notable career in television writing and producing ("Xena: Warrior Princess," "JAG," "Midnight Caller," et al).

"He had grace and wit and intelligence and his higher-ups couldn't deal with it."

Said Deeb, the city's greatest media columnist ever: "Naturally, just as Leiderman was beginning to gain widespread acceptance among Chicago TV sports fans, Channel 5 fired him."

It was an epoch of weird (1974-83) at Channel 5 News. Within a decade, besides Leiderman, the station's mercurial confusion in sports would chew through Johnny Morris, Tim Weigel, Greg Gumbel and Chet Coppock.

Then Leiderman and wife - an attorney - made a critical decision.

"We might have traipsed around the country looking for the right 'market,' " he said. "But as I said when first hired here, 'I live in a city, I don't work in a 'market.'

"Chicago became very important to me. Our family made our home here, our kids had a stable environment and my wife grew to love the area.

"So family won out."

To survive and stay, Leiderman became a master of many genres.

He produced. He hosted. He wrote.

Many things fell under his expansive command, from a local version of "P.M. Magazine" to recurring work for Midwest Sports Regional (now NBC Sports Chicago) to TV assignments for the Chicago Jewish Federation ("Yideo Video," in Leiderman's classic phrasing).

He and Hermine never lost focus nor left their North Shore home.

And their two kids - thoroughly stabilized by environment and influence - also turned out pretty well.

Daughter Jill Leiderman is executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Son Eric Leiderman produces NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

Leiderman himself will be celebrated Wednesday afternoon with a luncheon organized by longtime pal Dan Dorfman at the downtown Harry Caray's.

And his legacy will be a simple one:

He came. He stayed. The Leidermans - and television - won.

STREET-BEATIN': Rob Stone, host of Fox's Women's World Cup coverage, has emerged as the new Broadcast Hero of the Month for his solitary studio criticism of the sickening 13-0 U.S. win over Thailand. The self-righteous American meanies are positioned to bully through another field of vanity Sunday vs. cold-footed Chile (Fox-32, 11 a.m.). … Frank Thomas isn't listed among the analyst armada that will swarm Game One of the White Sox-Cubs two-nighter beginning Tuesday at Wrigley Field (NBCSCH, 7:05 p.m.). The "scheduling conflict" will do nothing to quell swirl that The Big Occasional is not exactly all-in on his "Hurt"-come-home gig at the revamping regional sports network. … HBO real-timer Bill Maher went into detail about his minority interest in the Mets - he can only sell to other partners - during a lively X-change with Howard Stern. Twenty minutes of listening to Stern on Sirius/XM always underscores what a dead-ball era it is in Chicago radio. … Aesthetically, NBC Sports scored a clear TKO with its superb production of the Stanley Cup Finals over ABC/ESPN and its haunted presentation of the NBA Finals. A rare loose feather on The Peacock was the over-chatter of disruptive Pierre McGuire; dour Doris Burke gassed a predictably fun-busting tone on ABC - she could make a MegaBall win sound funereal. … Greatest "swipe" so far in the TV sports year might have been NBC getting Charles Barkley as a panel guest after Period 1 of St. Louis's Cup-clinching victory in Game 7. Sir Chuckles was admirably "hockey smart," so much so that a newcomer might have thought he grew up next door to Fergie Jenkins in Chatham, Ontario. … Has a friend told David Kaplan how brand-diminishing his continuing association with audience-flee WMVP-AM (1000) is? Lost bossman Jim Pastor and his ESPN snit-and-beggar dipped all the way to No. 27 in the May Nielsen Audios, besting only one classical, two religious and three quacking ducks in the market. … Strong "get" by the Blackhawks with the addition of Chris Kuc to their digital content team (blackhawks.com). The classy craftsman joins career good-guy Fred Mitchell and graceful patrician Bob Verdi on the staff of Adam Kempenaar. … Steve Kashul's "The Golf Scene" begins its 26th consecutive season on NBCSCH Sunday (6 p.m.). Some segments are already archived in The Museum of Broadcast Communications. … And Hawk Harrelson, to David J. Halberstam of Sports Broadcast Journal, on Don Drysdale's regular "breakfast of champions": "Liver and onions with two Heinekens. I kid you not."

• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.