26 | MARCH 7 • 2024 
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ike Stone was a fixture on Detroit 
sports talk radio for more than 30 
years before signing off as a full-
time show host last month.
“Stoney” also was a fixture in the Detroit 
Jewish community during his three-plus 
decades on the air.
He emceed the always-enlightening sports 
panel discussion at the Hank Greenberg 
Golf, Tennis and Pickleball Invitational and 
the opening ceremonies at the JCC Maccabi 
Games. He served on the board of directors 
of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation.
He did speaking engagements at syna-
gogues, talking sports with men’s club mem-
bers and other audiences.
Stone isn’t leaving the airwaves. He’ll be a 
fill-in host at WXYT-FM (97.1) The Ticket, 
continue to host the station’s Detroit Lions 
postgame show, and do podcasts for the 
station.
The 65-year-old Philadelphia native also 
will continue to be involved in the Detroit 
Jewish community in the same ways as in 
the past.
Stone’s family lives in West Bloomfield 
and attends Temple Israel. Korman Hall at 
Temple Israel is named for his wife’s paternal 
grandparents, Harry and Anna Korman.
Stone co-hosted the morning show at 

WXYT for the past 14 years after being an 
afternoon drive-time co-host at WDFN-FM 
from the station’s launch in 1994 until 2009.
He burst onto the Detroit media scene in 
the late 1990s at WDFN when he co-host-
ed the popular “Stoney and Wojo Show” 
with Detroit News sports columnist Bob 
Wojnowski. 
Stone came to Detroit from Washington, 
D.C., in the 1980s to be a sports producer 
at WDIV-TV
, recruited by WDIV sports 
anchor Bernie Smilovitz.
He began his radio career in 1988 on “The 

Sunday Sports Album” on WLLZ-FM (98.7) 
with Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch 
Album. The two were roommates here while 
they were bachelors.
“When I came to Detroit, I thought I’
d 
be here a few years,
” Stone said. “I was a 
behind-the-scenes guy who had a dream of 
doing play-by-play.
”
Stone said his decision to step away from 
being a full-time show host boiled down to 
the 4:30 a.m. wake-up time for work that 
was a necessity to do the morning show on 
WXYT. The show airs from 6-10 a.m.
“It’s tough to live a normal life when you’re 
waking up that early, especially after watch-
ing the games you need to watch at night,
” 
he said. “I had to take a lot of naps.
”
Stone said the best athlete he covered 
during his time as a full-time show host 
in Detroit was Lions running back Barry 
Sanders.
“There’s nobody like him,
” he said.
Among his favorite people to interview, 
he said, were Lions coach Dan Campbell, 
former Tigers manger Jim Leyland and 
Michigan State University basketball coach 
Tom Izzo. 
A conversation with ex-NBA players Bill 
Laimbeer and Charles Barkley at a celebri-
ty golf tournament in Nevada remains his 
favorite interview, he said.
Among the greatest moments he covered 
were the Detroit Red Wings winning the 
Stanley Cup in 1997, the Detroit Pistons 
winning the NBA title in 2004, the Detroit 
Shock winning the WNBA championship in 
2003, and the Lions’ playoff run last season.
The 2020 death of WXYT morning show 
co-host Jamie Samuelsen from colon cancer 
hit Stone hard. He said that was the saddest 
time of his career. 
Mike and Cyndi Stone have been married 
for 27 years. They have twin daughters, 
Jessica and Marissa, who turned 24 last 
week.
Jessica graduated from Michigan State. 
She transferred there from the University 
of Georgia, where she was a member of the 
equestrian team. Cyndi and Marissa gradu-
ated from the University of Michigan. 

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

Mike Stone steps away from being a full-time 
sports talk radio show host, but he’ll still be busy.
He Won’t Be Silent

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

PHOTOS: MIKE STONE

LEFT: Mike Stone has been the public 
address announcer at West Bloomfield 
High School football games for more than 
a decade. BELOW: Meet the Stone family: 
Mike and Cyndi Stone and their twin 
daughters Jessica and Marissa.

