Thank you, 'Entourage' fans

Coming up in the business of journalism, I always thought farewell columns written by departing writers were a somewhat cheap way to fill 800 words or so of newsprint.

But that was a while ago. And that was before I began writing this "Entourage" blog some six years ago. Of course, it's the show that's leaving, not me.

In the time since I turned to my boss and said "Why aren't we blogging about this show?," there was blog reader Deb dropping a Best Printable Line on me for one of my ExploreTV videos. There was my boss at the time being called "my cameraman" (by me) on the red carpet of an "Entourage" season premiere (and his mouth agape the entire time I interviewed Emmanuelle Chriqui). (P.S.: In my mind, my mouth was agape, too, but I had to stay professional what with being on camera and all.)

There was coming across of the Canobbio brothers, he of CompuStrike and KTFO, at the World MMA Expo, introducing myself as an MMA writer and him saying he loves my "Entourage" blog. There were the dozens of emails and phone calls asking me last season why I stopped writing the blog. Well, like the show itself, we all falter at times.

There were the numerous red carpet events for "Entourage," a place where I really had no place being, not with my Billy Batts T-shirt underneath a sportcoat. There were the 100-plus readers who played along with "The List" of five celebs they could get a free pass from their significant other to be with.

There was the time Eric Murphy, err, Kevin Connolly called me from the set in Los Angeles for an interview while I was at a bar in Manhattan with an old college friend having a burger for lunch. The friend got uppity, and Connolly said, "Put her on the phone." I don't know what he said, but the situation was handled.

There were those of you who emailed me every time Doug Ellin and Rob Weiss name-dropped someone they grew up with and you knew it. Man, Long Island is everywhere, right, Kenny Dichter and Chantelle Luttenberger, or however you spell her name.

There was asking the actor who played Adam Davies why he hip-pocketed Johnny Drama. There was interviewing Connolly as E on the red carpet. And of course, there was interviewing Jaqueline in French, when the only thing I remembered how to say was "I failed my French test." (Please don't ask me to write that in Francais.)

There are more things that I can't remember now. But there all things never thought possible when I graduated from Syracuse with dreams of being New York's next great sports columnist. But they became possible because of all you out there then and now. No way my bosses would have put up with my antics with this blog if the readership wasn't there.

But it was.

And for that, I say thank you.

Victory!