Very sad news in the Asheville community with the passing of longtime sports columnist Keith Jarrett. WISE Sports Radio host Pat Ryan and his guest co-host Mike Gore knew Keith well and devoted Thursday’s show to their friend. Asheville Citizen-Times columnist John Boyle wrote a wonderful tribute to his colleague. If you want to know what Keith meant to Asheville, John says it all.

Since we usually talk about the NFL on Thursdays, we still discussed some topics like Urban Meyer’s continued mishandling of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Buffalo Bills’ struggles, and Bill Belichick returning the New England Patriots to prominence. But really, the show was about Keith.

As I said on the air, I didn’t know Keith well. And frankly, if I wasn’t already scheduled for Thursday’s show, I doubt I would’ve been asked to say anything about him.

But I was familiar with Keith’s work even before moving to Asheville. As John Boyle said, he could write anything: news stories, features, and columns. And he was what a columnist should always be: Tough but fair, funny, and thought-provoking.

I met him at a couple of Asheville Tourists games when I covered the team during the 2014 season and chatted with him when he co-hosted The WISE Guys with Pat. But I know how much he meant to his family, friends, and Asheville. Passing away at 62 years old just seems unfair. What a loss.

You can stream The WISE Guys from 3 to 6 p.m. ET on wisesportsradio.com or the TuneIn app. Locally in the Asheville area, you can listen on 1310 or 970 AM and 102.9 FM.

Thanks to Mars Hill University for sponsoring WISE’s streaming broadcast and the NFL segment is presented by D.C. Creasman Jewelers.