Mike Stone is in his final season as cohost of the morning show on 97.1 The Ticket, he announced Wednesday on air. Stoney will maintain his current post next to Jon Jansen through the upcoming NFL season, stepping down into a reduced role after the Super Bowl.
Which means that, yep, the Lions could send him out in style.
"There is nothing like an NFL run and nothing like knowing your team has a legitimate chance to get to the Super Bowl," Stone said. "I don’t know if they do, but I think it could be the start of a yearly thing. Them getting to the Super Bowl in my last year of doing the morning show, it would be unbelievable."
"I’d consider myself the lucky charm," he added in jest.
A jocular tone has always been a part of Stoney's style on air. He joined The Ticket in 2009 after a 15-year run with WDFN, the first sports talk station of its kind in Detroit, and has also hosted mornings with the late Jamie Samuelsen, whose legacy lives on at The Ticket in the form of The Jamie Samuelsen Studio and, originally, Bill McAllister.
Stone, who turns 65 in December, will stay with The Ticket as a regular fill-in host for at least the next two years and, starting this season, as cohost of the Lions postgame show with Fox 2's Jennifer Hammond. Stone's replacement on the morning show will be announced at a later date.
"I’m still gonna be around," he said. "People are still going to have to put up with me for probably half the year, if you add up all the vacation days that everybody has. And I’ll be doing Lions postgame the next three seasons hopefully."
A native of Philadelphia, Stone has spent most of the last 30 years interacting every day with Detroiters. He has adopted the city's sports teams as his own, his loyalties sealed in 1997 when the Red Wings beat the Flyers for the Stanley Cup. Two years prior, Stone recalls, the Wings were preparing for a potential Finals matchup with the Flyers when "the late the great Shawn Burr" had asked him, "If we make it to the Finals and we play your Flyers, who you gonna root for?’" Stone said he wasn't sure.
"(Burr) goes, ‘Let me ask you a question: If the Flyers win the Stanley Cup and beat us, would Eric Lindros let you drink from the Cup?’ I said, ’No.’ He goes, ‘Well, you know we will.’ I said, ‘That’s a good point.'"
Following the Wings' championship parade in 1997, Stone drank from The Cup at the old Post Bar across the street from Joe Louis Arena.
Asked what he's learned about Detroit sports fans through a conversation that spans four decades, Stone said, "They are passionate, they put up with a lot, they are very patient and they are very loyal."
"And to the people in our industry, if you’re around for a little bit, they’ll always be with you," he said. "That is something that I will hold near and dear to my heart forever. Part of what I did, I let my life become public. And I became part of the sports landscape of Detroit for a really long time, which I don’t think I realized until a few years ago. I still consider myself just a regular schlub with a microphone."
On the mic, and in person, Stone is honest to a fault. He's been known to ask forward, even uncomfortable questions of his interview subjects, often for answers that his listeners crave. He said he's particularly enjoyed interviewing the likes of Jim Leyland, Larry Brown and more recently Dan Campbell -- but no one more than Tom Izzo: "Izzo is the best. I could talk to him forever."
As he prepares for a different role with The Ticket, Stone said he's grateful to "just be a part of people's lives" and thankful that "people have adopted me as one of their own — despite that I fact I root for Michigan in football and Michigan State in basketball." And if he has a parting message in the mornings, it's this: "Just be a nice person. It’s that simple."
"I want people to be passionate about their teams. It’s OK to cry if you lose, it’s OK to boast if you win, but even if it’s Michigan-Michigan State, just be human," he said. "Like anything in life, there’s too much vitriol going on. Just be a good person."
Of course, Detroit isn't done hearing from Stoney. He might be moving on from the mornings, but his voice will still ring from the radio.
"I’m gonna be like Vinnie Johnson or Lou Williams," he said. "I’m the sixth man and I’ll be a great utility player, your Black Ace who will probably play more in the playoffs. That’s what I’m gonna be. And I had a great run. Starting this format in 1994 to now, I couldn’t ask for anything more."
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