Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thank You Meet the Press

Watched my recorded "Meet the Press" from Sunday last night and saw the following montage celebrating the 60 years of MTP on TV.

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21861231/&fg=&from=00&vid=b494e09f-1058-42a2-a66a-8edbfd150b2e&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:News_Editors%20Picks:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A

Think this was a brilliantly produced piece which shows the importance and gravitas of this show through the years.

MTP has had over 3000 episodes in that 60 year span, and has been the standard for the Sunday Morning Talk Shows during that entire time.

I was struck by the names of people interviewed on the show. All Presidents and Vice Presidents since JFK and LBJ to epic figures like Martin Luther King, Jimmy Hoffa, Newt Gingrich, and foreign leaders both friendly like Tony Blair and adversarial like Fidel Castro.

Now I don't know what MTP's reputation was back in the early years. I may be a geek, but I wasn't watching the show much in the 80's when I was just a young kid. Since the 92 Presidential Campaign I have loved catching the longest tenured host in MTP's History Tim Russert prove himself as the toughest interview in town.

While Russert is humble in the clip attached above he has taken MTP to far and away the 'can't miss' show for politics and news of Sunday morning. With all due respect to fellow short Greek guy George Stephanopoulos and Bob Schaeffer Russert is the man when it comes to Sunday.

While Russert's background is with the Democratic Party working for Pat Moynihan and Mario Cuomo one can hardly tell during his interviews and forums where his partisanship lies. Russert will ask the hard questions of both parties and unlike many does not let candidates away with scripted answers to questions that don't answer any question.

In an era where unbiased news and tough interviewing is far too rare, Tim Russert and Meet the Press provide an outlet for those of us that want to get straight news, talk, and opinion. Happy 60th MTP and here's to 60 more!

Other thoughts and musings:

  • Pissed at Major League Baseball for dicking around with the sale of my beloved Chicago Cubs as it cost the team big time today with the resignation of Team President John McDonough to take over the Chicago Blackhawks. If the Cubs sale had gone through already the new owner would have had the choice to keep John McDonough who in my opinion was the best man for the job.
  • As upset as I am the Cubs no longer have McDonough as President I wish him nothing but the best. Agree with WSCR 670AM's Mike North who said that no man has been more important to the growth of the Cubs than John McDonough.
  • Also think this is a brilliant move for the up and coming Blackhawks. Rocky Wirtz smart moves continue to pile up and impress. While the Hawks will not supplant the Cubs or Bears at the top of the city's sports heap, they may challenge the Bulls and Sox if things continue to go well and with Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough and Dale Tallon running the show the NHL and Chicago sports landscape better watch out. The Blackhawks are coming!
  • Think the White Sox/Angels trade yesterday was an odd one for the Sox. While I think Cabrera is a big upgrade over the awful Juan Uribe, I worry about shortstops over 30. Plus hard to replace a pitcher who has thrown for over 191 innings for 6 straight years and 208 innings for the last four years.
  • Heroes was absolutely fantastic last night. The show's writers have some growing to do on some of the one on one dialogue but the story is coming together and the ending was great. While this show has been criticized a lot, think it has had a strong year and has been getting better and better over the past couple weeks

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