How Can We Live In A Sports World Without George Solomon?

After 21 months of gentle tsk-tsking and slight, bemused wags of the finger, ESPN ombudsman George Solomon said goodbye in his last column yesterday. Surely, he dramatically changed the landscape of ESPN and ... uh ... well ... all right, maybe it was a mostly inconsequential and tame column that never took any real strong stances, but at least he tired .... oh, fine, OK, maybe once Sean Salisbury clicked on his column, but only because he thought it was porn. That's some impact, anyway!

In his sendoff, Solomon briefly tries on a pair.

I would suggest ESPN.com do more editing of its Page 2 columnists — some of whom seem to shoot from the hip for the sole purpose of shooting from the hip. ... [It was difficult] having a conversation with Sean Salisbury on how some viewers might misinterpret his inane ramblings, and trying to explain the duties of an ombudsman to a some of the network's biggest stars.

And then, as if just to remind us why his column was never a must-read in the first place, Solomon signs off with a "Boo-yah."

Sigh. George Solomon seems like a very nice man, which is why we won't much miss his column. See ya, George; hope the new lady's got a little more fire in her belly.

ESPN Reflections: The Good, The Bad And The Boo-Yah [ESPN]