It's one of the greatest scenes ever filmed: two men crossing the the busy streets of Chicago as their rival newspaper delivery trucks pass by, dueling over whose writing is closer to the truth.

Siskel and Ebert show--accompanied by a catchy Windy City jazz tune--will never be the same. Rowan and Martin. Laurel and Hardy. What those duos were to comedy, Mr. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert brought to film criticism.

I am not a native Chicagoan, but as a serious teenager moviegoer, their appearances on television in their regular syndicated program or on morning news shows influenced where my $6 would go.

Then I decided to attend Northwestern University -- to be a journalist, a writer. My passions included sports, film, television and music. I then came to understand Siskel and Ebert's great presence in print.

Although I was always partial to the Chicago-Sun Times in college (I often debated the paper's quality with student Tribune loyalists in a manner Ebert would be proud of), I always took Mr. Siskel's Flick Pick of the Week very seriously.

Sometimes, Ebert (who had the Pulitzer Prize among the two) would like something ridiculous--A Walk in the Clouds made one of his year-end top-ten lists. I would have to look to Mr. Siskel to find a different perspective, and to keep me away from Keanu.

A couple of years ago, Mr. Siskel raved over Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, a film I enjoyed thoroughly. It was a poignant look at affluent couples in '70s Connecticut and their troubles--but it was neglected by the Oscars.

The special "If We Picked the Oscars..." was made for Mr. Siskel and Ebert. They had their forum to rate the year's best--after all, they probably had seen more films than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will ever see. They would often mention films that I had forgotten about and make me run to the theater or video store.

My senior year in college, with a lighter schedule that left my Friday open, I started up a mini-tradition called the "Friday matinee" (which was my version of the Flick Pick).

Friday mornings meant two things--reading the Tribune and Sun-Times entertainment/film sections. I would peruse what Mr. Siskel and Ebert had to say about the new releases that week. Even though Michael Wilmington and Mark Caro take up more space in the Tribune, I was only interested in the column off to the side.

I would pass the information to my friends--using the Flick Pick and Ebert's star rating to decide which was the best film bet for the afternoon. Two thumbs up was all I needed for a green light.

In the several weeks I led a group to the matinee, I remember only being disappointed once. While preparing for the outing, I had the opportunity to read two great film critics each week and thus improve my writing sense and film awareness.

I come from a one-major-newspaper-town, where the lack of competition I feel effects the overall quality of the paper. The Sun-Times and Tribune have completely different designs and formats, but the content was made for tete-a-tete.

It's appropriate to make an analogy to the movies here--Deliverance. Not that whole terror in the country thing, but the idea of "Dueling Banjos" comes to mind.

Mr. Siskel forced Ebert to write at a higher level, and vice-versa--giving both their regular readers a treat each week. Though rivals, they also had a certain chemistry when they translated their duel to the small screen. Together they showed equal passion for both movies they loved and hated.

Watching Tom Shales for the past few weeks just seems wrong. Shales, a quality TV critic in his own right, didn't belong, in stature or as a counter-presence to Ebert.

I don't know how the show will go on, but I'll be tuning in as Ebert remembers his colleague this week on the television program. I'll probably rent Mr. Siskel's top ten favorite movies in the next few months.

The matinee came to an end when I left college, and moved away from Chicago. But I'll keep the spirit of film watching and moviegoing alive -- which Mr. Siskel did for about three decades.

And I won't forget to leave him an aisle seat.