Griz and Lady Griz Hoops

“Grizzly Bill” Schwanke is a UM journalism grad and Missoula native.  He spent 21 years doing play-by-play for Griz football and men’s basketball, winning sportscaster of the year six times, and working in Grizzly athletics for 15 years total. He’s enjoying retirement, especially the chance to spend time with his three grandsons. His wife Lynn and he have been married for 42 years.  Read “Grizzly Bill’s” current blog posts below.

Click here to see Griz and Lady Griz Hoops archive.

Photos & Multimedia: Griz Win the Big Sky Conference Championship

By PATRICK RECORD - Griz Nation filled the Adams Center and cheered the... more

Photos & Multimedia: Griz Beat EWU, Advance to Finals

By PATRICK RECORD - It was déjà vu all over again for the Griz on Tue... more

Multimedia: Griz Beat Weber, Win the Big Sky Conference

By PATRICK RECORD - Last Tuesday, the Griz showed up to win, and win th... more

Lady Griz Basketball Pre-Game Rituals

By KRISTA REDPATH PYRON - I've been reminiscing about Lady Griz memories and pre-game rituals. Routines, rituals, superstitions... call them what you want, they formulate after years of playing together.... more

Skyla Sisco Goes From Griz to Zebra

By SKYLA SISCO - In my college days, I was definitely the passionate, competitive type. Upon graduating, I had the suspicion that a self-imposed penance of officiating was in order.... more

All Things Lady Griz: Reintroducing Shannon Cate

By KRISTA REDPATH PYRON - Shannon Cate is Montana-made and proud of it. And she's even more than just the most talented Lady Griz player to ever don the uniform.... more

Lady Griz Tradition: Some Get to Wear It

By LINDA WEYLER - Every year, the Lady Griz team has new faces, but, in my eyes, the honor of being a Lady Griz is forever.... more

NCAA Final Four Contest

ENTER TO WIN! MakeItMissoula.com Final Four Bracket Contest. Join us for ways to make March Madness more fun. Ongoing contests will be announced here. ... more

Lady Griz Did Montana, Big Sky Conference, Proud in 55-47 Loss to UCLA

By BILL SCHWANKE. Anybody who watched the Montana Lady Griz struggle until midway in the season to earn an NCAA Tournament berth shouldn’t have been surprised by what they saw from the team against UCLA in Sp... more

Can’t Let Up Against Such a Quick Team

By BILL SCHWANKE. Wednesday night the Griz found out they can’t shut down at all when they’re up against easily the quickest and most athletic team they’ve probably seen this season, even on your home cou... more

How About Those Lady Griz?

By BILL SCHWANKE. Who’da thunk it? Come on now, don’t sit there and tell me that - back in December and January - when the Montana Lady Griz couldn’t even get the ball over half court in less than 20 sec... more

Too Many Odds Against Griz

By BILL SCHWANKE. There was just too much for the Montana Grizzlies to overcome Wednesday night in Greeley, Colo. Thanks, BQ, for some wonderful memories, and best of luck to you down the road, wherever it take... more

Early Easter for the Griz

By BILL SCHWANKE. It is the Easter season, after all, and the Montana Grizzlies seemingly rose from the dead in the second half Tuesday night to stun Weber State and move into Wednesday night’s championship g... more

Dajavu All Over Again – NOT!

By BILL SCHWANKE. The Montana Lady Griz must have felt like they had been there before. That’s because Saturday afternoon, just like Thursday night at Portland State, they fell behind 9-0 at the beginning of... more

One That Got Away

By BILL SCHWANKE. It was another one that got away from the Montana Lady Griz. In fact, it got away from them twice, but they got it back after the first time.... more

More Sour Grapes

By BILL SCHWANKE. The front end of my car got smooshed in Lot Z so I missed the first few half of the first half of Saturday afternoon’s Lady Griz game against Eastern Washington at Dahlberg Arena. Apparent... more

Griz Men One Step Closer, Lady Griz One Step Farther Away

By BILL SCHWANKE. Welcome back Will Cherry, and howdy do Matthias Ward. Unfortunately for the Montana Lady Griz, at least early on, too many of the threes belonged to Portland State and too many of the telegr... more

A Montana Road Split

By BILL SCHWANKE. coach Wayne Tinkle summed it up when he talked about Montana’s inability of late to perform well on the road. With the final two league games at Portland State and Eastern Washington next ... more