Dave McKenna Leaving 'City Paper,' Takes Parting Shot At Dan Snyder

WASHINGTON -- Dave McKenna, the veteran Washington City Paper writer, is leaving the paper after 25 years penning the alt-weekly's Cheap Seats column:

This will be the last Cheap Seats column. In our 25 years and 51 weeks together, City Paper and I have gotten everything out of each other we’re going to get. I’m grateful for all the people who told me their stories, and anybody who ever read my attempts to retell those tales in this space, and, well, anybody who didn’t read but sued me anyway. Be well...

That last bit is, of course, a reference to Dan Snyder, the Washington Redskins owner who sued City Paper and McKenna for skewering column from November 2010: "The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder."

While Snyder would eventually withdraw his defamation lawsuit, the Redskins owner took a public relations beating and was accused of bullying McKenna and the newspaper into backing off its biting criticism.

But in his farewell Cheap Seats column, McKenna takes a final parting shot at Snyder, declaring him the Unsportsman of 2011:

Throughout 2011, Snyder and his enterprises showcased all the unsportsmanly traits that brought him home the hardware in the past. The Redskins, who on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks sold Pentagon hats for profit, commemorated this year’s 10th anniversary of the tragedy by taking out a full page advertisement in the Washington Post showing a drawing of the Pentagon with a big team logo pasted right about the spot where the plane hit.

Crass act, indeed.

Read McKenna's final column here.