It's the end of an era for Fighting Illini sports and we're not talking about the demise of "War Chant". The Alton Telegraph reports the athletic program's unofficial historian, Loren Tate, is stepping away from the keyboard, ending his Tatelines column based out of the Champaign News Gazette. Reports out of Champaign say Tate, a longtime fixture on Illini broadcasts here, will continue some radio duties. The 86-year-old Tate played basketball at the U of I after graduating from Monticello High School. He left the area in the mid 50s to serve as Sports Editor for the Hammond Times in Hammond, Indiana then returned to Champaign to work for the News-Gazette in 1966. He continued writing for the paper while he served as sports director of WICD TV through the late 70s. He later migrated to radio working on WDWS, he moved up to Executive Sports Editor of the News-Gazette in 1987. He also is a member of the IHSA Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame, and the Monticello High School Hall of Fame and he received the University of Illinois honorary Varsity I award. He also authored the book "A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball".