Let me start with my headline tonight: I’m retiring. This is the last Hardball on MSNBC. And obviously, this isn’t for lack of interest in politics. As you can tell, I’ve loved every minute of my 20 years as host of Hardball. Every morning I read the papers, and I’m gung-ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege. I love working with my producers and the discussions we have over how to report the news. I love having this connection with you, the good people who watch. I’ve learned who you are, bumping into you on the sidewalk or waiting in an airport and saying hello—you’re like me! I hear it from your kids and grandchildren, who say, “My dad loves you,” or “My grandmother loves you,” or “My husband watched it till the end.”

But after a conversation with MSNBC, I’ve decided tonight will be my last Hardball, so let me tell you why. The younger generation’s out there, ready to take the reins. We see them in politics, in the media, and fighting for their causes. They are improving the workplace. We’re talking here about better standards than we grew up with—fair standards. A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK, were never OK. Not then, and certainly not today, and for making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.

I’m very proud of the work I’ve done here. Long before I went on television, I worked for years in politics, was a newspaper columnist, an author. I’m working on another book. I’ll continue to write and talk about politics, and cheer on my producers and crew here in Washington and New York, and my MSNBC colleagues. They will continue to produce great journalism in the years ahead. And for those of you who have gotten in the habit of watching Hardball every night, I hope you’re going to miss me, because I’m going to miss you. But remembering Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, we’ll always have Hardball. So let’s not say goodbye, but till we meet again.