If It's Sunday...

the landscape of sunday morning will never be the same...

yesterday afternoon, at the age of 58, tim russert passed away. he was the longest serving moderator of the longest running program on television: meet the press.

those loyal readers will remember when i used to have a "meet the press quote of the week." but then i got a little lazy... and a little burned out on politics.... but i never stopped watching.

meet the press was a highlight of my weekend... and while i know it's odd to mourn someone you never knew... i'm sad all the same.

the bigger a political junkie i became, the more i hung on every word russert said. he was a giant in political journalism...

russert came from modest roots in south buffalo, ny and remained a loyal bills fan to the end...often wishing his team luck before he closed out his show on sunday. his days as a lawyer would surely influence the way he depositioned his guests. he entered politics when he volunteered for senator pat monyhan's senate run... soon, he would move to nbc and head up their washington bureau.

and no one will forget tim and his dry-erase white board on election night 2000. "florida, florida, florida."

a politico like russert was having the time of his life during this once in a lifetime political cycle. during the debates, every sunday... every time he appeared on nbc nightly news or msnbc - you could see the excitement in his eyes, hear it in his voice.

this year is more exciting than anything most political junkies can remember... and russert's absence will be greatly felt.

not many journalists receive condolences from sitting presidents and ex-presidents and senators and rivals....but tim has received them all.

nobody did it like russert... and when tom brokaw broke into msnbc yesterday afternoon (an afternoon i just happened to leave from work early) - i couldn't believe it. i had to call people... everyone was shocked.

i'm not sure who will take over meet the press... david gregory was a regular fill-in. andrea mitchell seems an ideal fit if she weren't a bit uneasy in the anchor chair. i suppose i could hope for one of my favorites and russert protege chuck todd.

but whoever it is.... my sunday will never be the same without hearing tim close the show with:

"if it's sunday...it's meet the press."

e.