It is never easy to say goodbye to a long-time colleague who finds himself, or herself, jobless.

It is especially difficult when that person works at a place that helped put your own kids through elementary school, high school and college.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer put food on my table, and a little wine in my glass, for nearly 14 years in the 1980s and ’90s, and the reality that the trademark P-I Globe no longer will be spinning, and more than 150 journalists — including John Hickey — no longer will be pontificating in print is a sad, sad day for a lot of people — inside and outside the sports world.

As might be expected, when Hickey-son received the news this morning that the P-I would be published for the final time on Tuesday, it had to feel like he had been struck out by a high, hard one delivered by Randy Johnson in his prime.

Best of luck to John, and the other P-I scribes who have worked so hard for so long (146 years worth) to make newspaper readers in the Northwest smarter, wiser and better informed.

Here’s a tip of the baseball cap to ’em all….

— Jim Street