No doubt this morning you were greeted with grief when you turned on your computers, tv, ipads, etc., of the news of Stuart Scott’s death at 49 years old. Whether you are a grown man, mother, older adult, teenager, kid—admit it, you were crying. We were all praying for him to beat cancer.
Stuart Scott was a maverick. Scott joined ESPN in 1993. He called it, the way he saw it. “Boo-ya!” He was the epitome of class, energy, grace, honesty, perseverance and a boat load of other astonishing characteristics.
For a once, you could look forward to checking out sports on ESPN-Sports Center, Monday Night Football, the World Series, NCAA Tournament, NBA finals and countless interviews with Scott.
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You knew he was spot on when he would say what you were thinking in a flamboyant manner, that didn’t leave you bored out of your mind, waking up to the morning news or the TV snowing. Perhaps those were the days, no more snow on TV.
So you are thinking, why honor a sports anchor. Why not? For those of us who wear their passion on their sleeves, get gut-wrenching excited at sporting events and can’t contain it, Scott made us feel like it was Ok to be enthusiastic, scream and belt out a few “ah what the fudge.”
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Surely, there were sports fans who may have known he was fighting cancer, but to most, it wasn’t apparent until he received the Jim Valvano, ESPY award for perseverance. Jim Valvano was a coach at North Carolina State University and died of cancer in 1993.
Scott was diagnosed with cancer in November 2007. Throughout his journey and chemotherapy treatments, he continued to work, inspire others, tackle new challenges, train in mixed martial arts and live with exuberance.
Scott accepted the award saying, “When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live,” Scott said. “So live. Live. Fight like hell.” The week before the awards, he had several surgeries and treatments.
Scott was born in Chicago, attended high school in North Carolina and graduated from the University of NC in 1987. Our condolences to his parents, three siblings, two daughters, family and friends.
We honor you, Stuart Scott and salute you for how you “lived.” You will be forever, “cooler than the other side of the pillow.”
To watch his ESPY acceptance speech go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9cSX5XPY70.
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