Hewitt, Patron Saint of TV News, Dies

Don Hewitt, the legendary television news pioneer who created "60 Minutes" and spanned Edward R. Murrow to Walter Cronkite to Mike Wallace, died this morning at the age of 86.

For you Philistines who don't know Hewitt, here are ten reasons you should know him:

10.) He originated cue cards for news readers.

9.) He was the first to superimpose words on a television screen for a news show.

8.) Hewitt was producer for the famous Kennedy/Nixon debate in 1960. He urged Nixon to apply makeup. Nixon refused. The rest is history.

7.) Would infuriate journalists, such as Mike Wallace, who often accused Hewitt of gutting his pieces during the editing process: "C'mon Don, you're gutting the piece!"

6.) As executive producer, it was Hewitt's call as to what pieces aired weekly on 60 Minutes.

5.) Was mentioned in movies such as Good Night and Good Luck and The Insider, which painted an unflattering portrait of Hewitt as caving to CBS lawyers.

4.) During Hewitt's run, "60 Minutes" won an incredible 73 Emmy Awards, 13 Dupont /Columbia University Awards and 9 Peabodies. Damn.

3.) His coverage not only freed innocent people from prison but laws were actually changed.

2.) Under Hewitt's watch, "60 Minutes" was the top-rated show an amazing four times.

1.) Like Johnny Carson and Les Paul, I hope you got a chance to see Hewitt's work because we won't ever see another like him.

CBS News announced shorty after Hewitt's passing, that this Sunday's "60 Minutes" will devote the entire hour to Hewitt's life and legacy. I think he's earned it.

Tuesday Musings...

Some Tuesday musings:

Brett Favre unretires. C'mon dude. Stay away. You get the feeling that Favre was one of these college freshman who used to frequently return to his high school to get some love. At any rate, it looks the INT record will grow larger.

When will the ax come down on Roger Clemens? If only for the decades long affair he had with country singer Mindy McCready, while she was 15. Slice it anyway you want, the Rocket is a grade A creep. And not a Hall of Famer.

Has anyone else been paying attention to the Cy Young type season of St. Louis' Cris Carpenter? This guy's record is 13-3! I'd say he's all the way back from arm problems, no?

U.S. Supreme Court judge John Paul Stevens is nearing 90 years of age. Ruth Ginsburg is 76 and ailing. While Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia are both 73. Assuming BHO gets eight years, he will possibly pick the next four judges to the U.S. Supreme Court in addition to Justice Sotomayor. Talk about living your dreams. Whilst in Harvard, BHO was a Supreme Court scholar. If my thesis is correct, BHO will have had a hand in choosing 55% of the Supreme Court. That will be BHO's lasting legacy. Only no one is talking about it.

I tried to watch Mad Men Season III on Sunday night. I wanted to love it. I hated it and didn't see what all the buzz is about.

Fantasy football is coming back. Krist. The pressure. Who's the goal-line back in Jacksonville? I must prepare and read my preseason periodicals. And no more Tom Brady with the first pick. I learned that lesson real fast last year.

Interesting addendum to my baseball card post of last week. Two of my avid baseball card cronies, Joe D'Angelis and Tommy Gooch, inform me that Mickey Mantle is not part of last year's 6600-card Yankee Stadium Legacy set by Upper Deck. Imagine all those game cards from the 1950s and 1960s and not a single Mickey Mantle. Why? Because Topps owns the rights to Mantle's likeness.

Kate Sullivan of WCBS-TV in New York is good enough reason to wake up at 6 am.

Let me get this straight: Kate Gosselin is complaining about papparazzi taking photos of her family. Wasn't she the one who whored herself out to TLC with the television show? Am I missing something? From my humble opinion, if you invite the cameras to roll 24/7 in your home, don't you pretty much waive your right to privacy? And (we watched last night) when she goes off with a day trip with some of the kids, who watches the other brats? Couldn't have been Jon because he was with two of the daughters--so that leaves three unaccounted for. How's my math?