Let’s face it: John Romano had huge shoes to fill as the chosen successor to the inimitable Howard Troxler. And let’s be honest: Nobody thought he’d be this good. But he consistently makes strong arguments in columns on Bay area issues. No one is saying “Howard who?” yet, but they are wondering why it took the Times so long to move this former sports columnist into the big leagues of the Times metro page. As for Joe Henderson, though he doesn’t look it the former sports scribe has been working at Mother Trib for 38 years. He ascended to news during the upheaval at the paper last December that resulted in the terminations of many of his longtime colleagues. Henderson is one reason why it’s still good to read the Tribune.
