David Letterman's retirement announcement has me mourning the end of an era.  Before he was my favorite guy at 11:30pm, he was my favorite distraction at work at 9am back in 1980. It was the precursor to his "Late Night" show and was in fact the original third hour of Today, with Edwin Newman reading the headlines, and then joining Dave to kibitz about whatever was on Dave's mind and watch the "Stupid Pet Tricks" or whatever was Dave's bit that day.  I worked with Ed from time to time and without a doubt, he was one of the wittiest people in TV.  We collaborated on stories whenever NBC Sports needed a humorous look at something or other.  Here he was, an icon of serious journalism, and here we were shooting stories that aired in events like "The Breeders' Cup" featuring Ed delivering his stand-up petting a "horse" that was obviously two guys in a nag costume.  We did some serious stories, too, including Jimmy Carter's first post-White House interview. But mostly we liked Ed for his humorous essays on sports. On our travels, I would ask Ed questions about the historic stories he covered.  Some were the biggest events and greatest tragedies in American history.  But one day, I asked him what was the most fun he ever had in his career, and he told me, without any hesitation, that it was doing the David Letterman morning show. I often wonder what Ed would have thought of "blogging" and the language social media has created.  Anyway, kudos to Dave for a fantastic run.  Late night television won't be the same. But I do hope Dave continues to entertain us one way or another for years to come.