Mike Francesa gave an emotional tribute for the ages yesterday upon hearing about the death of Stan Lee. Live on the air, Francesca kept it together and paid his respects to the legendary founder of Marvel.
The news was delivered by a caller who asked Mike what he thought about the passing of Stan Lee and if he had ever met him. After carefully planning his response, Francesca delivered a touching line that I will never forget. “Stan Lee?” he asked. “Yeah Stan Lee….you don’t know who he is”? the caller asked. “I don’t know who he is, no”. At that point, the caller let out a Bill Burr style “jeeeeessus” that will make your day.
https://twitter.com/BackAftaThis/status/1062163939046367232
There was not a dry eye in the room. It brought me back to Rich Eisen’s tribute for Stuart Scott (that shit actually was sad/powerful, so be warned if you click this).
When informed that Lee was the founder of Marvel, Francesa blurted out the most memorable line of the segment. “Oh who cares. Is that who he is? Stan Lee? I mean I’m sorry, I’m not a comic book guy.” Powerful radio right there.
Now, Francesa did say “I apologize” at the end of his sentence; but next time, maybe “who cares” isn’t the best choice of words if you just learned that someone has died. Even if the name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s just a bad look. The only time it would be acceptable to say that after someone died is if they’re one of those “Cowboys fans” that were born and raised in the Philadelphia area.
L for you Mikey. “Do better”, as some condescending douche on Twitter would say.