Good Bye P-I

On the eve of its last day, it is hard to say good bye. The paper that helped spark my interest in sports will be no more as of this time tomorrow. And it won't be the last paper to go. I have many memories of the Seattle P-I, all the way back to my childhood when I learned to read. I probably could have shined more in school had I not focused so much on the sports page, but heck I wouldn't have the knowledge I have now either. When I grew up the P-I was a morning paper and the rival Seattle Times came in the afternoon. My Mom wasn't a morning person so we got the Times, but it didn't stop me from finding the P-I. She still gets the Times by the way, and she reads it cover to cover. I have spent most of my adult life in Eastern Washington and I can't imagine being without our hometown paper, the Tri-City Herald. I remember Sonny Sixkiller, D.B. Cooper, Warren Magnuson and Moon, and of course Dixie Lee Ray. Warren "Maggie" Magnuson once said about the former Governor, "She's cute, if she'd shave I might kiss her." I vividly remember former Husky coach Jim Owens and the three yards and a cloud of dust. Boy have things changed. Now they might get two yards. I probably should write books on serial killers like Anne Rule does, because it's somewhat of a passion for me to read about psychos like Gary Ridgway, Kevin Coe, and of course Rule's former friend and colleague, Ted Bundy. If it weren't for the Seattle P-I we probably wouldn't have the t-shirts that read, "Ted Bundy was a Husky". Although I read three to four newspapers a day on-line, there's nothing like reading the hard copy of a daily newspaper with a fresh, warm cup of coffee, at least for me anyway. While I'm writing this many of the journalists at the Seattle P-I are meeting deadlines for their last assignment with the legendary paper. I can't imagine their tears, their pain, their memories, and most importantly, how the Seattle P-I has made all of them better people, and me too. Thank you Seattle P-I, you will be missed. The coffee just won't taste the same anymore.