Last Wednesday was the final day for Baltimore Sun Orioles reporter Dan Connolly after he "took a buyout" to "move onto something else." Connolly: "Exactly what that something else is, I don't quite know yet. I may stay in baseball writing/commentary. I may write another Orioles book. I may finally finish that half-written novel. I may leave the business entirely" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 12/23). Meanwhile, longtime Dallas-area columnist Randy Galloway on Sunday penned the final piece of his 50-year career. Galloway. who has spent the last 17 years at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram after 32 years with the Dallas Morning News, wrote, "No more columns after this one. Ever." Retirement "was actually two years ago, but then came an agreement with this paper to keep stirring it up for some 30 Sunday columns a year." Galloway addressed Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones by writing, "You suck as a general manager, but you are always an interesting and entertaining guy to talk to over a cold beer" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/27).
YO JOE: In St. Louis, Ben Frederickson wrote of late St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Strauss, "Bulldog. Tough. Fearless. Edgy. Unafraid. Acerbic." He "cut through the spin" in the writing style "he perfected." Frederickson: "He pushed buttons. He stayed away from and ahead of the pack. Readers could disagree, but they had to admit he always made them think" (STLTODAY.com, 12/28).
