"It's Just Live TV"

Today I am missing a friend and a mentor... because today I learned of his death.

It's funny. We get so busy with our lives, we "forget" people. It's not intentional. It happens to us all at one time or another. And that's the case with R.B.

Let me tell you a little about R.B. He loved the news business. He loved the Florida Gators (his alma mater). He loved politics (when most of us would groan about some inane story idea he was so passionate about). He loved to argue... and he loved to think he was always right. I can remember always taking pleasure in the rare occasions I could prove him wrong. If you knew him, you'd understand why.

R.B. retired last October from our station. He was moving to the mountains to be closer to his kids and grandkids. He loved them so. He would often brag about his grandsons to me, sharing photos of them, telling me what funny little things they had done while he visited.

He loved all children. R.B. always enjoyed seeing pictures of Miss Googie, loved to dance and play peek a boo with her when she came to visit me here at work. She loved him right back. He never got the chance to meet Cam. I don't know if he ever even knew Cam had been born. I never got around to sharing the news with him. That makes me sad.

R.B. taught me a lot about the news business. He taught me even more about life. It's one in the same and it will always stick with me... "It's just live tv". Something would go wrong during a newscast. You'd turn to R.B., ready to spit nails you'd be so pissed... and he'd just sigh and say "It's just live tv". That was his way of saying, don't sweat the small stuff. And he was right.

At the end of the day, after a disaster of a show on air... R.B. could head out of the newsroom and leave all the crap at the door. After all, "It's just live tv". Shit happens, so to speak. Don't carry it home to the family.

I try to remember those words every day. I like to think of it as carrying a little bit of R.B. with me.

You'll be missed, R.B. Thanks for everything! When things get bad, I'll always try to remember to say... "It's just live tv."