Luke Russert (left) developed his Buffalo Bills fandom through his father Tim, the late NBC News Washington bureau chief and moderator of Meet The Press. A graduate of Boston College and St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., where he played football and baseball, Luke currently hosts "60/20," a weekly sports show on XM along with co-host James Carville. The show airs Fridays at 1pm ET on XM Channel 144/XM Sports Nation. Below, he tells SI.com about how sports served as a bond between him and his father.
What's my favorite sports memory between me and my Dad? Well, there are so many. One of the things I really cherish was if there was a game big enough and we both wanted to see it, we would go. Geography and distance meant nothing. But the bond we really shared was almost every night when I was in high school or when I came back from college, we would go watch a game together after dinner. We might not watch the whole thing but whatever was in season, we would watch it and talk about it. My Dad loved college and pro football so the weekends always centered around that. Nothing was better for him then going home and watching the Bills after a long and tough "Meet The Press." My Dad got the Sunday Ticket the first year it came out in 1994. I'll never forget a guy had to drive down from Baltimore to install it because no one knew how to install yet. As soon as a satellite package was available to show the Bills games, he got it. He would go to sports bars to watch the Bills games before DSF came around. I'll never forget spending time on the couch watching the Bills with him.
My sport in high school was football. I was a guard and defensive end. I also played baseball for two years and golf for two years. One of the stories I like to tell about my Dad was all throughout my athletics, from the time I was 5 to 18, he probably missed maybe six games in all my sports. He would make it to all of them and rearrange his schedule to make it. He was always there. He wasn't a screamer or yeller but he definitely had his opinion about decisions coaches made and he would tell us later. He was definitely engaged, but he wasn't a Boston hockey Dad.
We went to a lot of baseball All-Star Games together. In 1999 in Boston, we got the opportunity to meet Ted Williams, which was really special. It was a few years before he passed away and he still had his sense of humor and was still very alert. My Dad got a real kick out of that.
If you went into my Dad's office, you would see a huge Buffalo Bills soda machine and he had a autographed Jim Kelly helmet and spikes. There was Bills stuff everywhere. I think Russell Athletic sent him in 1994 a would-be Super Bowl champions hat. He had one of those on the wall. My Dad really liked Darryl Talley and Steve Christie. He loved Kelly and he loved Don Beebe. He was really good friends with [the late] John Butler [a former GM] and Scott Berchtold [the team's vice president of communications] and would call them to talk about the draft picks. But Steve Tasker might have been his alltime player. He loved how Steve Tasker played the game, hard-nosed and someone who really reflected Buffalo. My favorite player in more contemporary times was Doug Flutie and I went to Boston College, obviously. It's Jesus, then Flutie for me. I also loved London Fletcher when he was a Bill and also Jay Riemersma. Now I'm on Paul Posluszny so I hope he comes back from his injury. And I like Marshawn Lynch a lot. I'm down with him and Lee Evans.
What was my Dad like on a Sunday? When the Bills were winning in the 1990s, he took it extremely seriously. It was like life and death and he would scream at the TV. I don't think he ever got over the Rob Johnson for Flutie decision. That stuck with him. After the Music City Miracle and some losing seasons, he would still get animated but not really as much as he did in 1990s. He kind of accepted the fact that this wasn't going to be their decade. But he still watched every game and cheered for them very hard. We both thought if they would have beaten Cleveland last year, they could have made it to the playoffs. This was decade of setbacks but my Dad was big on Trent Edwards and hopefully he leads us back to the promise land. My mother [the writer Maureen Orth] definitely shared some of the sports passion with us. She enjoys going to Wizards basketball games and she understands the Bills obsession, but I don't think it resonated with her as much as it did with myself and him. She went to Cal-Berkeley so she is big on Cal football. She likes Marshawn so that's her Bills connection.
I remember Morgan Ensberg came up to my Dad once. We have seats behind the dugout at the Nationals game. He started chatting with my Dad about foreign policy and politics. People don't realize that athletes have so much time traveling that a lot of them read a lot. He once had Allen Iverson on Meet The Press and Iverson definitely knew a little bit about politics. Bill Walton is politically engaged and [Wizards center] Etan Thomas used to talk my Dad all the time. He's a really deep guy and he would come up to him and talk to him about different things going on.
How would my dad answer the question about why sports are so important in people's lives? One thing that we always said back and forth to each other was how Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren would always turn to the sports page first because the sports page was where you read about man's accomplishments while the front page was about man's failures. I think that resonated with him. He liked sports because of the storylines and that you had winners and losers, much like in politics. But what he really admired about sports was the fact that it really was a testament to where you were from and no matter if you were black, white, Latino, Asian, gay or straight, if you were from a certain city, almost everybody in that city would support a certain team. He loved that sports were the great equalizer. Everyone could come together for a single purpose and cheer on a team. You see that in Buffalo and you even see that in Washington D.C., which is a very diverse city. The one thing everyone has in common in Washington is that they are fans of the Redskins. That's why my Dad liked sports so much.
Lucia Dvorska
Jessica White
Steals of Home since 2000
Steve McNair: 1973-2009
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I understand completely. It's why my Dad and I go to Phillies games. It's why when I got Eagles-Giants and Eagles-Jets tickets, I invited him. We went to several 76ers games last year for the first time in awhile. Hell, my Dad came to the pub where the Philly fans around me hang out one time just to see what it was like (his schedule had him in NYC then).
When it comes to sports, I turn to one first first - my Dad.
Anthony Verna
New York , NY
Total Comments (5975)
Nice read, Richard,
I'm enjoying this with my son, too. He's 10, and he'll watch any game that I'll sit and watch with him...how can I not??
Finsterbaby
Total Comments (11338)
That's the same way with my boys, they are 5 and 3.
FGB
Neyland Stadium, TN
Total Comments (8222)
Sports are a remarkable community healing agent. I was living in Detroit in 1968, a year after the 1967 riots. One year after people were literally killing each other, they were celebrating together on those same streets. awesome turnaround in one year and the World Seires is what did it.
Tom, ALRanger
Richardson , TX
Total Comments (2861)
Sports and Dads go together.
Dad brought me to my first Habs game when I was 6. I still remember everything about the game (Montreal 6- Los Angels Kings 3), it was magical.
Tickets for Habs games were then and still are now, rather pricey, so I was fortunate enough to be offered some tickets (in the reds). Called my Dad and asked if he wanted to go. It was different but still a nice time.
MungoDM
Total Comments (3315)
There's nothing better than talking with my dad about sports. The most excited he's been in a long time was when the Wings hoisted the cup.
BoFett
Total Comments (4397)
Good article. Thanks for sharing, Luke. I'm sure not looking forward to life without my dad.
Clef - TAFNaB
Total Comments (4231)
Well done, Luke (and Richard). My Dad died when I was 14, so I didn't get to do enough of those types of things with him. But he did convey his love of sports, particularly baseball, to me, and more than anything else that is his legacy. I've tried to pass that on. I posted on here a couple of weeks ago about a somewhat difficult day (bad traffic, parking miles from the stadium, a long rain delay) in which I took my eight year-old son to a Mets-Yankees game. Despite it all, on the way home my son said, "Today was the best day of my whole life." Thanks for the perspective, Dad.
Tim in NY
The 'Burbs, NY
Total Comments (2521)
One of my favorite memories of my dad. He taught me how to get balls in batting practice.
When my brother and I were about 7 and 9, he told us to position ourselves a few rows behind the rowdy teen-agers clammering for a ball during batting practice. The outfielder finally gently tossed one just out of the reach of the teens. Over their heads and right to us.
Thankfully dad is still rooting on the Brewers, Packers, Badgers and Golden Eagles at 71.
Jim from Milwaukee
Milwaukee , WI
Total Comments (1034)
Great read Richard. Sports was always a commonality with my dad and I. I was into more than him but it grew on him. I share that with one of my sons, who is going into high school. I took him to an Giants/Cardinals game in 2000 at Pac Bell. He got to see McGwire (his favorite) before he retired. He got LaRussa's autograph on a Cardinals hat before the game and he still has it to this day. LaRussa was very friendly and talkative to my son. He's a huge Cardinals fan and I'm an A's fan but we enjoy those moments very much.
big west
Total Comments (3351)
Game 5 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, NYC, 2 blocks from the Garden.
My Dad has his season ticket, I plan to watch in a local fan base (the Molly Wee). As he heads in to the game, he hands me $1800 in 100's & 50's (that used to be a lot of money) and says if I can find a way in, to come find him. The gesture made a hell of an impression on me.
Tickets were sadly well beyond that price, so I watched in the bar with my buddies. The Rangers lost that one, so maybe it was for the best...5 nights later I watched with my buddies at a hometown bar, he got to exorcise a lifetime of frustration and hurried home on the train to celebrate with us...
Finsterbaby
Total Comments (11338)
Nice read.......
Im one of the statistics that grew up without a father figure in the home. After reading this, I see a little bit of Tim in me when it comes to my kids. Pictures of my family and the Bills haning in my office, not missing any of my son's games.....Watching the Bills on TV with my son. At least this article lets me know that im on the right track with my son.
Goodell: Buabhall gu…
Nfl Headquarters, NY
Total Comments (7792)
Wow it is a quiet Monday morning in here.
Franz - Brute for…
Fort Myers , FL
Total Comments (3826)
Yep
Jim from Milwaukee
Milwaukee , WI
Total Comments (1034)
My daddy despises the Braves, even though my grandmother LOVED them. But, when I was growing up, Braves tickets were used as a reward for good grades in my school system. Even though he couldn't stand them, he took me to every one of those games.
He doesn't like to attend any sporting events these days... he doesn't like long lines or crowds (maybe I should take him to a Hawks game), but we ALWAYS watch WHATEVER is on we're together...baseball, football, basketball, softball, tennis, golf....as long as it's a sport, we can watch it together.
SoBeGaPe
Total Comments (4788)
My Dad inspired my love of sports and I thank him for it all the time. He got me started with golf when I was in grade 7 when he arranged for a job picking range balls at the local golf course. We now live over 500 miles apart, but I always bring my clubs when I visit and we make sure to get at least one round in. When I called him this past Father's Day we both happened to be watching the US Open, so we talked and watched the back 9 together like we were in the same room. It was one of the best conversations I've ever had with Dad, and I think we've started a new tradition.
10 Duke
St Catharines, ON
Total Comments (2986)
My Dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. Goodness knows how that happened - he was born in Rhode Island and spent most of his life in central Connecticut, so by rights he should have been a Red Sox fan.
He stuck with his Dodgers even after they abandoned the East Coast. And, once the Mets came into being, he started an annual tradition of taking the kids to see at least one Mets game per year - but only if the Dodgers were in town. As a result, I can say that I attended a Mets game in the Polo Grounds (no, I don't really remember it), and got to watch Koufax and Drysdale pitch on occasion.
I also became a long-suffering Mets fan. Thanks, Dad (I think).
Martel - Moopsbane
Total Comments (4769)
Nice column...Boston hockey Dad's are NUTS!
Sacked91-PlaxisWax
New York , NY
Total Comments (1872)
Very nice, Luke. Your family certainly has a way with words!
Student of The Game
Flushing , NY
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