Saw this news yesterday and it brought a tear to my eye. Radio play-by-play announcers Tom Stage and Dick Slater are retiring from calling Lady Griz basketball after 25 seasons. Not only were they entertaining to listen to, but genuinely the nicest couple of Missoulians you could ever meet.

On a personal note, I have known Tom Stage since middle school when he was a teacher at Rattlesnake. Through the years I'd run into him at Red's Bar or the Western Montana Fair and he'd always be so truly interested in how I was doing, just a kind soul. I had the honor of producing the radio side of his final Lady Griz game on March 10th, I was filling in for my teenager as the game was being held during the school day, glad I could do it. I will really miss hearing Tom and Dick's off air antics that we could listen in on through the radio end during broadcasts, they never ever took themselves too seriously.

The 2019/20 Lady Griz basketball season came to an end with their loss to Northern Arizona, with a final score of 68-65. The team has announced Mike Petrino as interim head coach as Shannon Schweyen is out, they have yet to announce replacements for Tom and Dick. Here's the full article from the official Montana Grizzlies website.

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