" ... We've lost our quarterback."

I stayed up kind of late after work Friday night. In this business, that's a pretty regular occurrence ... get out of the office around midnight, then I usually need at least a couple of hours to wind down.
I'm always hoping for a late game on TV, and last night I was lucky enough to see a good portion of the Braves' much-needed win over the L.A. Angels.

Not too long after Atlanta's Jeff Bennett recorded the final out, I switched over to another of my favorite pastimes ... political coverage. I'm a junkie for the stuff around election seasons. As far as TV news goes, I'm an NBC/MSNBC fan. I've generally always liked that network's stable of reporters better than the alternatives. But last night something big was missing. On Sunday mornings, something big will be missing ... NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press Tim Russert, who passed away due to a massive heart attack on Friday.

I can't say I've always planned my Sunday mornings around Meet the Press, but when I catch it I usually watch. Russert's interview style was a big reason for that. You always knew he was going to ask the hard, tough questions, but you never got the feeling he was out to get who he was interviewing. To paraphrase a few of his colleagues last night, he just wanted the truth. You could hear and see the sadness of Chris Matthews, Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, Keith Olberman, etc. last night. But it was interesting and heart-warming to hear some of the war stories about being out on the campaign trail and in the newsroom. NBC News is big time, but they have to work together as a team just like any news entity.

You've also got to admire his deep-rooted sense of family. I'm planning on picking up, "Big Russ and Me," Russert's book focused on his relationship with his father, soon. I'm not from Buffalo, but I always appreciated Russert's love for the Buffalo Bills. I'm a Bills fan too ... for some reason.

On this blog, I guess it's appropriate to stay with the sports theme ...

Olberman called Russert, "a player/coach." When Matthews was finishing up his segment in the early hours of Saturday morning he said, "I believe we've lost our quarterback."