Two decades of stories later, it's time for a change.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

One of the very first columns I wrote for this newspaper, in the summer of 1987, focused on a young, cerebral, soft-spoken Oregon quarterback, Bill Musgrave.

I'd like to say that I anticipated the impact he'd have, on Oregon football and, through the vast improvement of that program, on Oregon athletics, but I'm not sure anyone did.

It's been an amazing evolution over the last two decades, a story of triumphs and disappointments, of celebrations and controversies, of success and silliness. It's never been dull, not ever.

It has been, fundamentally, a story of change, and that brings us to the purpose of today's column, to discuss a change in the sports section of The Register-Guard.

Beginning this week, George Schroeder, a highly regarded sports journalist who comes to our staff from The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City, will become our featured sports columnist, moving into the role I've filled for the last 20 years.

George will write at least three times a week, generally on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and he will write an active blog for our Web site, www.registerguard.com.

The genesis for this transition goes back to early last December, as we began dealing with the eventual retirement of reporter Bob Rodman - that conscientious gentleman whose farewell reminiscences appeared in Friday's newspaper - after 42 years in journalism, 30 at The Register-Guard.

The challenge was to fill the ensuing void in a way that would have the most impact on our sports section and that would provide readers with more - more opinions, in an era in which reasoned opinions and analysis are vital. More content. More to read and talk about, both in the print edition of the newspaper, and on our Web site.

As I began considering some of the options, in my role as sports editor, I determined, with the support of my supervisors and my colleagues, that the best way to do all of that would be to hire a new featured columnist.

I've been blessed to have been the sports columnist here for 20 years, and as noted above, much has changed, and this community is undoubtedly ready for a new voice and a sharp new perspective.

Moreover, for the last five years, since the death of our boss and friend, John Conrad, I've combined my role of columnist with the duties of sports editor. I've come to realize that, much like football coach and athletic director, those really need to be two separate jobs in the modern era, so that the columns maintain the kind of consistency and quality that our sports section and our readers deserve.

So last January we commenced a national search for a columnist, which drew more than 80 applicants, many of them extremely impressive, but none more so than George Schroeder. He's an aggressive, principled reporter with backbone, and a talented writer. He's passionate about finding facts, and reporting news, and developing opinions based on facts.

That George is new to Eugene, having grown up in Arkansas and worked most recently in Oklahoma, will be both a challenge for him and an asset. (In fact, this is the first time we've hired an outside-the-building sports columnist since Blaine Newnham - who, I'm proud to say, became my role model and mentor - joined The Register-Guard in 1971.)

George will wonder about things we take for granted. He'll see things with fresh eyes, and that's good. As a reporter and a writer and a commentator, George Schroeder will make us better, both in the print version of The Register-Guard, and through a blog on our Web site.

That blog will reflect our increased emphasis on providing content for our Web site. Earlier this month, beat writer Rob Moseley began his own blog on Oregon football; in the coming week, Bob Clark, who covers Oregon State football and whose weekly packages of national football notes and Pac-10 Conference notes during the fall and winter are must-reads, will launch a blog on college football.

When the prep season begins in September, reporter Steve Mims will begin a blog to supplement our coverage of high school sports, and soon after that, we'll create a blog to enhance our coverage of track and field leading toward the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

For my part, this is not a farewell column, not at all. I still intend to write one column a week, and you'll see my byline on news stories and features, and I'll be heavily involved in writing about track and field leading toward the Olympic Trials, coverage of which will be a major undertaking for this newspaper.

And I'll continue to work, with my talented and dedicated colleagues, to make this sports section the very best it can be, in every way possible.