“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.
Griz and Lady Griz Hoops
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










