Mariners News

The longtime voice of the Seattle Mariners is calling it a career.

The team announced today that radio play-by-play announcer Rick Rizzs plans to retire at the end of the 2026 season.

Rizzs is coming up on his 41st season as the Mariners’ broadcaster, the most in team history. He’s been on the call for many of the club’s biggest moments, including their run in 1995 and their historic team in 2001.

Rizzs celebrated his 72nd birthday in November and says he wants to spend more time at home with his grandkids.

This upcoming season will be the Mariners’ 50th anniversary as a franchise. It comes after they made their deepest run in franchise history last year, coming within several outs of their first-ever World Series appearance.

NFL News

The NFL’s coaching carousel had a few new developments today.

The Buffalo Bills announced that they’re promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach on a five-year deal. He’s the Bills’ first new head coach in nine seasons after Sean McDermott was fired following their divisional round loss to the Broncos.

With his hiring and the Steelers’ recent hiring of Mike McCarthy, the Browns, Raiders and Cardinals are the only head coaching vacancies that remain.

The NFL Network has reported that Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is one of the Raiders’ top targets.

 

Meanwhile, the NFL world was shocked after learning today that a coaching legend won’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

ESPN reports that 8x Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick fell short of the votes needed to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility. Belichick needed support from at least 80% of Hall committee members. 

He won six Super Bowls as head coach of the Patriots and two more as defensive coordinator with the Giants.

The inductees are scheduled to be formally announced next week.

Kraken News

The Kraken are wrapping up their homestand tonight against the Washington Capitals.

Seattle split the first four games of its stand at Climate Pledge, most recently with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. They’ll now face a struggling Capitals team that’s dropped five of its last six.

The Kraken will look to avenge their loss from earlier this season in DC.

Coverage begins at 6:30 and puck drops at 7 on KGMI.

HS Basketball News

Taking a look at high school basketball scores from last night…

The Lynden boys beat Mount Baker 75-39.

The Lynden girls beat Baker 76-25.

The Sehome girls topped Sedro-Woolley 59-40.

The Sehome boys lost to Sedro 76-60.

The Nooksack Valley boys lost to Anacortes 65-59.

And the Nooksack girls also fell to Anacortes 46-44.

 

Coming up tonight, we’ve got more high school basketball on the radio. The Ferndale girls are looking to pick up their third straight win when they host Meridian.

Coverage begins at 7:00 and tipoff is at 7:15 on KPUG with Jason Upton and Rick Todd on the call.

Elsewhere across the county…

The Meridian boys host Ferndale.

The Bellingham boys host Squalicum.

The Squalicum girls host Bellingham.

The Blaine girls are on the road against Lakewood.

The Blaine boys host Lakewood.

The Nooksack Valley girls host Cedar Park Christian.

And the Nooksack boys are at Granite Falls.