By his appearance it is impossible to guess that George Riba is actually 65 years old. He looks 50, if that. The veteran sports reporter for WFAA/Channel 8 remains in fantastic shape, likely because he is a veteran marathon runner.

George will continue running, but his days reporting on DFW sports are about to come to an end. Riba said he plans to retire in February 2015, thus ending a remarkable run that began at the station in 1977.

“Why not? Can’t work forever,” he told me. “It seemed like a good time to do something else. Not sure what that will be.”

Riba began his career at WFAA in 1977 and served in nearly every single capacity the sports department could offer — anchor, director, producer, reporter, etc.

He has an unmistakable cadence and delivery that will be missed.

A graduate of University of Texas-Arlington, George has covered pretty much everything sports related since coming to WFAA, from the Cowboys’ Super Bowl runs to SMU’s brightest, and darkest, days.

I asked him to recall his favorite story and, as you might imagine, picking one is not possible.

“There are so many. I know when we went with SMU to the Toyko Bowl was a lot of fun. I think that was 1983,” he said. “We were there for a week and that was a blast. It’s something you don’t get every day. The Super Bowls are always fun, but there is so much media there.”

George has not given too much thought as to what his post-WFAA career will look like, but bet he will continue running and some other work.

George and his wife, Maggie, are both avid runners and coach the weekend warriors hoping to complete their first, or second, marathons.

He is as congenial of a man as could be created, and it will be odd to attend a press conference without his presence. A great career for a great guy.