Norm Hitzges

Norm Hitzges (born July 5, 1944) is an author and sports talk radio host at KTCK (1310 AM / 96.7 FM, "SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket") in Dallas, and a Texas Radio Hall of Fame member. Hitzges pioneered radio sports talk in the morning at KLIF radio at a time when sports talk was mainly on in the evening. Hitzges moved to (former rival) KTCK in early 2000 after 15 years at sister station KLIF when the latter removed sports talk programming from its lineup.[1][2] Hitzges also serves as the television play-by-play voice of the Dallas Sidekicks.[3][4]

Norm Hitzges
Born
Norman Richard Hitzges

(1944-07-05) July 5, 1944
Dunkirk, New York
ChildrenTwo Stepsons
Career
ShowThe Norm and D Invasion
Station(s)KTCK 1310 AM Previously KLIF
Time slot10:00 AM-12:00 PM (M-F)
StyleSports Talk, Humor
CountryUnited States
Previous show(s)The Norm Hitzges Show

He has also provided major league baseball commentary for ESPN.[5] Hitzges is known for his enthusiasm and knowledge of sports trivia and has been compared to Dick Vitale for his energy and love of sports.[6] Hitzges has been honored by the Dallas All Sports Association and the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.[7]

Hitzges also hosts "Norm-A-Thon", a yearly 18-hour marathon broadcast to raise money for the Austin Street Center, a Dallas area homeless shelter.[8] Hitzges has also been a long-time supporter of Texans! Can Academy, an organization that provides at-risk youths with education and training.

Weekly segments on his show include “The Birdhouse,” “Shuttle Run,” “The Meatheads of the Week,” and “The Weekend-around.”

Since 2010, Hitzges and his wife have lived in the Dallas suburb of Little Elm, Texas.[4]

On August 7, 2020, Hitzges celebrated his 45th anniversary of sports talk radio. During a call-in, Mark Cuban related that Norm's KLIF show was the first radio program streamed on the internet on his original radio simulcast platform, AudioNet (later Broadcast.com). This required recording the show on an 8-hour VCR tape and then encoding the tapes onto a Packard-Bell PC to upload to the internet.

Partial bibliography
  • Horizons in the Mirror (1971, Naylor Co., ISBN 978-0-8111-0410-4)
  • Norm Hitzges Historical Sports Almanac (May 1991, Taylor Publishing, ISBN 978-0-87833-621-0)
  • Essential Baseball: A Revolutionary New Method for Evaluating Major League Teams, Players, and Managers (with Dave Lawson, December 1994, Dutton, ISBN 978-0-452-27184-5)
  • Greatest Team Ever: The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty of The 1990s (August 2007, Thomas Nelson, ISBN 978-1-4016-0340-3)
gollark: [REDACTED]
gollark: I knew a Ben who was also a "sysadmin" of sorts. Very mysterious.
gollark: Is this about Incident 112-ρ? Focus groups? The mysterious "Ben"?
gollark: "Theory"? This is mysterious.
gollark: *You* are one of my alts.

References
  1. "KLIF to halt sports programming; Longtime host Norm Hitzges to move to a morning show on sister station". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 8, 2000. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  2. Horn, Barry (April 25, 2014). "The Ticket signs Dallas radio icon Norm Hitzges to 3-year deal". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  3. Barron, J. David (October 31, 2012). "Keep your shirt on! Sidekicks ready to draw again". Allen American-Star. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  4. Glaze, Tim (February 6, 2015). "Local Legend: Norm Hitzges, Radio Hall of Famer, calls Little Elm home". Little Elm Journal. Little Elm, TX: Star Local News. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. Modoono, Bill (May 11, 1990). "Hiitzges Gives ESPN Distinctive Voice". Pittsburgh Press. Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  6. "For ESPN, a Mouth That Roars; Norm Hitzges Brings a Vitale-like Flair to Baseball Coverage". Miami Herald. June 29, 1990. p. 5C. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  7. Aaron, Russ (April 8, 2008). "On-air and off, it's the same old Norm". The Daily Campus. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  8. Tomaso, Bruce (December 14, 2008). "'Norm-A-thon' to benefit Austin Street Centre". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
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