Following the dismissal of his longtime partner, radio host Tom Tolbert was understandably upset on Thursday afternoon. As he began his first show without Ralph Barbieri by his side, "Mr. T" choked up numerous times addressing his listeners. Here was a transcript of his introduction, courtesy of Bay Area Sports Guy:
"It is The Razor and Mr. T ... actually it's not The Razor and Mr. T anymore, it's, it's just Mr. T. For those of you that do not know, have not been on the internet or have not heard from a friend, not been on Twitter ... my partner of 15 years, Ralph Barbieri, is no longer with KNBR.
"You know, it's tough when you've, when you've been with somebody that long ... (long pause) ... 15 years ... (long pause) ... I knew this was gonna be tough ... (long pause) ... I mean you come in here ... every single day and you just kind of take it for granted that it's going to go on forever and you know things don't. We all ... (long pause) ... hold on a second ... as much as we watch sports and we see careers come and go, you're never really prepared for when they end."
Here is a link to the radio segment from earlier today.
The sudden departure of Ralph Barbieri surprised many, and it was tough to listen to Tolbert, who is known for being a very nice guy, struggle to get through his show today. I'm sure we'll continue to get reaction like this in the coming days.