A long time member of the Register-Guard's staff, most recently as the Sports Editor, Ron Bellamy will retire Friday. His final column can be found here. He's the guy who's held the standard of writing at the Guard to be above and beyond what you'd see at many other mid-to-large market sized papers, and has been responsible for covering the Ducks since the mid-80's.

To me, Bellamy will always hold my utmost respect and appreciation, because it was Ron who sparked my interest in journalism in back in the fall of 2005 when I did an 8 week job shadow with him as part of an 8th grade project. He's been a mentor and role model for me ever since then as I've become more and more enamored with the profession; I'll be entering the University of Oregon in a couple of weeks as a journalism major. He's helped me to further my knowledge and passion for writing since '05 in more ways than one; He introduced me to Rob Moseley in 2008 for another project, and Rob's guidance and mentoring since then has proven invaluable. It's fair to say that without his guidance, I wouldn't have followed, if not found the path that I've traveled in following the only professional field I want to enter.

This post may seem a bit self-serving, but I believe that we all owe the man a standing ovation for his 36 years of unyielding service and coverage of Oregon athletics. He's a pro, and "one of the good guys" in every sense of the phrase, a standard to which many should look to, and will be dearly missed. Thanks Ron.