Nov 11, 2017 4 min read

I’m a bit of a sports fan, like most other people residing in Washington County, so it is with a touch of sadness that I read Dale Lolleys’ piece in the Observer-Reporter on his semi-retirement from the newspaper. You see, while I couldn’t consider Dale a close friend for we have never spent any time in a hunting camp together, nor have we worked a pristine trout stream as fishing partners, I have always respected his work and thought he was a pleasant fellow to be around. How often has anyone said that about someone who could be referred to as their boss?

Actually, I have felt a bit sorry for Dale over the years that we wrote articles published on the same page. He had to put up with my old fuddy-duddy ways and correct my poor English. And while we often disagreed on a subject, it was always in a manner of respect. Perhaps that is why I often defended what Dale had written, even when I disagreed with him. I like to think he did the same for me and I don’t have any reason to think otherwise.

While previous editors often wouldn’t print what I wrote because the subject was controversial, Dale rarely did that and I must thank him for it. I remember so well when I wrote a piece that was in defense of the National Rifle Association and it was rejected by one of the people that edited my work. I had written it because there was an overwhelming bunch of half-truths in the Pennsylvania papers and I felt it was time to inform people just who the National Rifle Association is. I stormed the newsroom and demanded to know just who the person was that had rejected my article. The man who garbage canned it confessed. I was in shock for he was a life member of a local sportsmans’ club and also a life member of the National Rifle Association. The article was too controversial he said. Dale never would have done such a thing. I have worked for many companies and small businesses alike, and I have to say Dale was the easiest to get along with. He always showed me more respect than I deserved and treated me as an equal.

In all truthfulness Dale’s strength is in football. That was really his main job to cover the Steelers and nobody in Pennsylvania did that as well as Dale. I will be caught now and then listening to sports talk shows and Dale’s name comes up. More than once I have heard the big-name radio talk-show hosts mention or quote that informative writer from Washington County. No, not George Block but Dale Lolley.

Recently, someone from a local club was criticizing Dale for a stand he took on a bill allowing the Game Commission to raise license fees, and while I did agree with what the speaker said I didn’t agree with his criticism of Dale. He is entitled to his opinion.

I hope the new journey Dale is taking is good to him. Thankfully, Dale is staying in this area and he is still writing a column about the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter. He does know his football, and if there is a better writer on this subject I have yet to read his work. At my age, I have read a lot of them. We will miss you when we read the outdoors page on Sunday.

• Perhaps it was the warm weather or the recent incidence of EHD, but it seems that the harvest of deer has been a bit off. There is little doubt that the Hemorrhagic disease has cut into the number of bucks to choose from, but on the other hand some hunters, much like me, are afraid to take a shot at a buck when sickness has already trimmed the herd.

As I said, the harvest seems to be off so it was good news when I heard from a friend, Bret Wishner of Canonsburg, that he took a 9-point buck in the southern part of the county near Amity. Congratulations, Brett, you earned it.

George Block writes a Sunday Outdoors colum for the Observer-Reporter.