By KEVIN MOBLEY – Print Junior Copy Editor
On Sunday, Jan. 4, I pondered back through all the memories of my childhood, most of which seem to be submerged in the realm of sports.
I’ve noticed that most diehards from an early age like myself have an ability, probably one that is hereditary, to tell time based on sporting events. I could recount specific dates, months or years because of a team’s perfect season or a record-breaking performance.
But the one that marks the beginning of it all was the first time I watched ESPN’s flagship show SportsCenter. It felt like a rite of passage. It became the background music of my life and who I would become, and Stuart Scott definitely had a few verses.
When my interest in ESPN was peaking, so was Stuart’s career. By that time, his classic taglines like “Booyah!” and “Just call him butter because he’s on a roll” were familiar to millions of sports fanatics alike, and out of all the other anchors, Stuart captured my young, impressionable mind.
After news of his passing broke on Jan. 4, many remembered Stuart as their “cool uncle.” This is one of the best descriptors of Stuart because it encapsulates how Stuart was an especially prevalent and important character in the households of my generation and those before.
The difference for some, however, and this is one of the many beauties of Stuart’s life, is that Stuart’s emergence on SportsCenter transcended sports television. For my generation, Stuart was sports television.
But as time passed, Stuart slowly but noticeably faded from SportsCenter due to a bout with cancer that was discovered in late 2007 while working a Monday Night Football game. He was actually able to return to anchoring ESPN’s NBA Friday Night coverage less than a month after the malignancy was found, but in retrospect it is clear that Stuart needed to center his focus and will on defeating the disease.
I remember the night where I finally grasped the severity of Stuart’s fight with cancer–when he broke the news on Twitter that ‘C reared its head again’ almost exactly two years ago. By that time I knew that I wanted to pursue sports journalism, and it was devastating to see such an influential and empowering figure have to face this foe for what would be the third and final time.
On Sunday, Jan. 4, the world lost an innovator and motivator, a man of great words and greater actions. The life of Stuart Scott marks the past of all fans of sport, and his mission calls us to live for today and tomorrow.
