After 126 years, The Sporting News, the wise old man of sports journalism, will cease publishing as of Jan. 1, 2013. The longtime sports newspaper will continue as a digital-only brand.

It's a story we in the news business have heard all too often lately.

After 126 years, The Sporting News, the wise old man of sports journalism, will cease publishing as of Jan. 1, 2013. Editor-In-Chief Garry Howard and publisher Jeff Price made the announcement in a letter to readers Tuesday.

Established in 1886, TSN, as it has come to be known, became the dominant American publication covering baseball. It later expanded its coverage to most other major U.S. sports. For much of its history, TSN was a decidedly nonglamorous, black-and-white newsprint publication considered the place serious sports fans went to follow their teams.

It was only in October when the publication announced it was ending its biweekly publication and going monthly, but in the print world the situation changes fast. And as Howard told readers:

"Having spoken with many of our longtime subscribers, we recognize this is not a popular decision among our most loyal fans. Unfortunately, neither our subscriber base nor the current advertising market for print would allow us to operate a profitable print business going forward."

Don't get out the bagpipes quite yet, however. The Sporting News will continue as an all-digital brand with its AOL-partnered website, as well as its iPad and Android apps.

Howard also told Poynter in an email that its yearbooks for baseball, NFL football, college football and fantasy leagues will still find their way to newsstands.

TSN's Matt Hayes tweeted the publication's final print cover. The two college teams on the cover, Alabama and Notre Dame, didn't even exist when TSN was first published.

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