Gary Baines was a journalism student at the University of Colorado when he got his first taste of sportswriting with an internship at the Camera.

His talent landed him an offer of a part-time and then full-time job by longtime sports editor Dan Creedon, starting what turned into Baines' 25-year career covering sports for the Camera. Baines, who became sports editor in 2002, worked his last day at the paper Saturday.

"I love sports and I love writing," he said. "It was a great job. One of the things that kept me going were the people in the sports department. They'll go above and beyond the call of duty. It makes it a lot easier to crank out the hours. I'll certainly miss those people."

One of Baines' proudest moments came this year, when the Associated Press Sports Editors named the Camera's sports section one of the top 20 in the country for newspapers with circulations less than 40,000. Baines is also known as one of Colorado's leading experts on golf, a sport he's covered from the start.

"He's certainly the most knowledgeable person in the Denver area when it comes to golf," said Creedon, who retired from the Camera in 2001 after 39 years.

Creedon described Baines as a "terrific" journalist who was a good and accurate writer and a "great leader" as the Camera's sports editor.

"He's very conscientious," Creedon said. "He's cool under fire. He deals with the problems. As a reader, I'm terribly disappointed to see him leave."

Baines said one reason he stayed with the Camera for so long was how much he enjoyed working for Creedon, who he said "had no ego. All he cared about was putting out a great product."

Along with covering golf, Baines also wrote about high school sports at the start of his career, CU women's basketball during the 1980s and then the Denver Nuggets basketball team for about a dozen years.

"I saw more Nuggets losses than anybody should be allowed to," he said.

Part of the fun of sports writing, he said, was tight deadlines and the variety.

"Every day was something new," he said.

Camera sports columnist Neill Woelk called Baines a "consummate journalist."

"More than anything else, Gary cared about the reader," he said. "He was a tireless worker who put his heart and soul into giving the readers of the Camera the sports section they deserved. He never quit striving to get better, even in an era of shrinking budgets, reduced staff and smaller papers."

Up next, Baines said, is starting a sports Web site and freelance sports writing.

"Running your own business is something I've always wanted to try," he said. "I'm giving it a shot."

Camera editor Kevin Kaufman said the paper is in the process of trying to find a sports editor "to fill Gary's big shoes."

"It's been my privilege to work with Gary for the past 13 years," Kaufman said. "While he is embarking on a wonderful and exciting new adventure, the Camera and its readers will miss his tremendous contributions and institutional memory.

"I'm hopeful we'll continue to see his work in our sports pages as he grows his freelance business."

Contact Camera Staff Writer Amy Bounds at 303-473-1341 or boundsa@dailycamera.com.