SwampD Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 It's not hyperbole to say that Timmy from South Buffalo was a critical component in the operation, or at the least the hope of, our free and open democracy. He was the only guy on the national scene who had the requisite combination of intelligence, integrity and everyman-ness (???) to make our leaders address the facts and grapple with reality and then address us in an intelligent fashion regarding what it meant. A loss for Buffalo, to be sure -- but even a greater loss to the nation. interesting story, swamp - and i fully believe that people at work perceived russert as super intense and even a little scary. i had the chance to knock back a few in russert's company on two occasions - both at functions/events relating to his (our shared) faith (one was in d.c. and the other in buffalo) - i get the "intensity" thing, but you'd never meet a more personable and genuine guy either. I think that is why he was so effective. If people didn't like him, they either would have not come on his show or they would have been more combative. Because he was likable and real, he was able to get people to answer things that they probably didn't really want to, and wouldn't have if it was someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Ted Koppel made an interesting observation on Friday, basically saying he thought NBC worked Tim Russert to death. Not in so many words, but that was the message. Workaholic+family man=remarkable guy. Let's hope it's true. It's hard to know the real truth of the life of celebrities. But it seems like if anyone could have pulled it off, it was Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Ted Koppel made an interesting observation on Friday, basically saying he thought NBC worked Tim Russert to death. Not in so many words, but that was the message. Workaholic+family man=remarkable guy. Let's hope it's true. It's hard to know the real truth of the life of celebrities. But it seems like if anyone could have pulled it off, it was Tim. I'm certain Ted said it far more eloquently than I would have or could have, but it definitely looks like the qualities that made his candle burn so bright (hard work, little sleep, really caring about issues and the people behind them and effected by them) and make us care about him are the same qualities that made it burn so briefly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Aud Smell Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Ted Koppel made an interesting observation on Friday, basically saying he thought NBC worked Tim Russert to death. Not in so many words, but that was the message. Workaholic+family man=remarkable guy. Let's hope it's true. It's hard to know the real truth of the life of celebrities. But it seems like if anyone could have pulled it off, it was Tim. if he was in fact worked to death, i don't necessarily blame nbc (although what do i know) -- russert seemed every bit the guy who wanted to carry that workload. it definitely looks like the qualities that made his candle burn so bright (hard work, little sleep, really caring about issues and the people behind them and effected by them) and make us care about him are the same qualities that made it burn so briefly. agreed. :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 if he was in fact worked to death, i don't necessarily blame nbc (although what do i know) -- russert seemed every bit the guy who wanted to carry that workload.agreed. :cry: Yep. He definitely chose that workload. He was high up enough to only do what he wanted to do. And to a lot of people like him in the business, they don't really see it as work anyway. Their jobs are their lives and he was just lucky enough to love his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted June 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Newsweek did a pretty interesting piece on "The Science of Sudden Cardiac Arrest" and from the way I understood the article, there are a lot of risk factors -- age, gender, diabetes, obesity, genetics, smoking -- and while Russert had several of those issues, including coronary artery disease and diabetes (and on autopsy they found he had an enlarged heart) doctors still don't know why one person is predisposed to sudden cardiac arrest and another isn't. This part of the article is interesting, though: They also do not know if stress plays a role at all; the data is unclear. "Most of us do not think it is terribly relevant," says Steven Nissen, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and a past president of the American College of Cardiology. After all, he notes, "many people in this world have stressful jobs," and they don't all die of of heart attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersabre Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 To all Buffalonians and to Tim Russerts family I extend my deepest sympathies........RIP Tim you will be missed. :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FogBat Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I always feel bad for a devoted fan of the Bills and/or Sabres who did not get to see them win they Super Bowl and/or Stanely Cup. It happened to my grandfather. Hopefully both of the teams will one in our time not only for us, but for the ones who have passed on as well. Buffalonians, not just fans, are special. You can take the kid out of the Buffalo, but you can never take the Buffalo out of the kid. Sorry I'm walking in on this so late. It's the first chance I've had to get on here. The section I bolded is so true. You hit the nail on the head, thanes16. We could live as far away as Antarctica, and we'd still hold our allegiances to the Sabres and the Bills -- as well as to the Niagara Frontier. I don't think the same could be said about cities such as LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, or Miami. No matter what people say about WNYers, the ambiance of this town is not easily described to visitors. It just has a special feel about it. One thing that I could discern about Tim and the way he handled himself was that he certainly didn't inject his political beliefs that noticeably -- which is more than I can say about Keith Olbermann. (Those men were like night and day.) I get the feeling that he may have been a Democrat, but he certainly wasn't "in your face" about it. On a sidebar, I'll never forget where he moderated a debate between Dr. Richard Land of the SBC, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Rev. Al Sharpton (who was hotheaded as usual), and Dr. Jerry Falwell of Liberty University shortly after the 2004 POTUS elections. Things got rather heated between the four of them, and Tim stepped in and said, "Gentlemen! Peace! Peace!" As much as I like Land and Falwell, that snapshot right there had so much irony in it that I still get a chuckle out of it to this day. My condolences to the Russert family. R.I.P. Those are going to be some irreplaceable shoes over at Meet the Press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 For those who didn't see the Kennedy Center memorial to Tim, I'd highly recommend it. The speakers were exceptional. Takes a good 90 minutes to go through, but worth the time if you have it. CNN has it. The quality and sound were poor at times. Check out MSNBC. I'm sure they have a better video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 For those who didn't see the Kennedy Center memorial to Tim, I'd highly recommend it. The speakers were exceptional. Takes a good 90 minutes to go through, but worth the time if you have it. CNN has it. The quality and sound were poor at times. Check out MSNBC. I'm sure they have a better video. The audio was a problem for a few minutes even on the MSNBC broadcast. I imagine there was a pool camera and microphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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