BERNIE FRYER
By Marc Blau
Special to the Sports Paper
Led by Seattle Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs, four individuals will be inducted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame on Monday, August 26th at T-Mobile Park prior to the Yankees-Mariners ballgame.
The other inductees are former National Basketball Association referee Bernie Fryer, longtime Gonzaga University basketball coach Dan Fitzgerald, and Megan (Quann) Jendrick, a double gold medalist in swimming in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
An Illinois native, Rizzs joined the Mariners broadcast crew in 1983 and his only absence was from 1992-94 when he was a broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers. Rizzs did both TV and radio for the Mariners for years but switched exclusively to radio in 2007 and became lead announcer in 2010 when Hall of Fame announcer Dave Niehaus died. His signature calls include “Goodbye Baseball” and “Happy Totals” (for postgame wrap-up of M’s victories.)
A Port Angeles High School graduate, Fryer was a high school All-American in football and basketball his junior and senior seasons. He played guard at BYU where he was an All-WAC First Team selection from 1970-72. He played one year each for Phoenix and Portland in the NBA and then spent 28 years as an official in the NBA where he worked 12 NBA Finals games and the 1998 NBA All-Star game.
Fitzgerald was the head coach at Gonzaga University for 15 seasons between 1978 and 1997 and compiled an overall record of 252-171. He led the Bulldogs to their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1995 after leading them to their first post-season tournament, then NIT in 1994. Fitzgerald also spent 19 years as the athletic director at GU and is credited for forming the foundation for the Gonzaga program that has made 21 straight NCAA tournament appearances in men’s basketball, 1999-2019.
Jendrick of Puyallup won an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke in Sydney as a 16-year-old and won another gold medal as a relay member. Eight years later she captured a silver medal as part of the 4 x 100 meter medley relay. Jendrick set 27 U.S. records and four world records in her swimming career and was a ten-time national champion and a 15-time U.S. Masters national record-holder.
Other 2019 honorees to be inducted at a later date include Seattle Seahawks broadcaster Steve Raible, Washington State University and Detroit Lions standout placekicker Jason Hanson and 1972 Olympics boxing gold medalist Sugar Ray Seales.
The addition of the seven-member Class of 2019 brings the total to 222 individuals in the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame. The organization was founded in 1960 by longtime Tacoma-based sports broadcaster Clay Huntington. A panel of sports media from throughout the state makes the selections. Information about all hall of fame members is available atwww.washingtonsportshof.com.