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The Ticket’s Norm Hitzges announces he is retiring from radio

Fans of the longtime sports talk host will have one more week to listen on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 AM.

The end of an era in D-FW sports radio is coming.

Norm Hitzges, longtime host at Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket [KTCK-AM], announced just after 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning during the “Norm and D Invasion” with Donovan Lewis that he is retiring on Friday, June 23.

“I don’t know how to say goodbye to you,” Hitzges told listeners over the airwaves. “I’ve thought about this for weeks now, and I don’t know how to say goodbye to you. Today, I am announcing my retirement. ... I want to assure you this is not health-related. So many of you have helped carry me through the last three years or so in which there were some serious health minutes, but it’s not health-related.”

Hitzges, 78, announced in 2020 that he had begun treatment for bladder cancer.

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“Strangely, after telling my showmates yesterday morning, and then telling - must have been 70, 80 people in the staff room yesterday afternoon - I feel pretty content about this,” he said.

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He went on to say he will continue to write, start a podcast in September, travel with his wife and occasionally return to The Ticket as a special guest or as a temporary fill-in, if needed.

“I’m so proud to be a part of what The Ticket has built, a ratings dominator in a fantastic sports city,” he said. “I shall so miss the daily rush of being on the air. But after 48 consecutive years on the air in Dallas doing sports talk, it’s time to move on to the next phase of my life, whatever that may be.”

Flashback: The day Norm Hitzges left KLIF for 1310 The Ticket

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Hitzges hosted the “Norm and D Invasion” with Lewis since 2015, and his run at The Ticket has lasted more than 20 years. After working evenings and pioneering morning sports talk, he landed in The Ticket’s 10 a.m. to noon time slot in January 2000, replacing Chris Arnold.

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