Honestly, I never thought I'd shed a tear over the passing of Stuart Scott. I'll admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of him as a Sportscaster. Initially I thought that Boo-yah and all the other catch-phrases were sort of gimicky. I just wanted the sports scores. I didn't need SportsCenter to be entertaining. As a young white kid used to the vanilla delivery of the sports report each night and then each morning with the advent of ESPN, I found Scott's delivery to be uppity. There, I said it. Yes, UPPITY. Subtle racism that I didn't recognize at the time, but it amounted to this black man coming into a white man's world and overturning the apple cart. Thank God he did. Sportscasting has never been, and will never be, the same again.
There is one fewer innovator in the world this morning. Scott brought real soul, soul in the most African-American, hip-hop, barbershop, gospel choir sense of the word, to the mayonnaise on white bread world of Bristol, Connecticut's ESPN, and he did it unabashedly and without compromise. (Can I get an Amen?) He changed how every sportscaster would deliver the news, black or white. I'm paraphrasing, but one of the more insightful comments I read about Scott this morning was from one of his white colleagues (it escapes me just which one) saying that Scott came in and was just himself, a rather brash black man, and that gave everyone else the permission to just be themselves as well.
More recently, while I appreciated what he had contributed to his profession, I felt that he had grown a bit long in the tooth for his "cool as the other side of the pillow" persona. I remember though after his eye injury, someone taking a shot at him on social media about it and thinking, Really? Here's this big brash persona who puts himself in the public eye (still completely unabashed), is very good at what he does, and yet has plenty to criticize, and you want to take a shot at his appearance? And it was with great sorrow that I heard of his cancer diagnosis. Having lost loved ones to cancer, it isn't something I would wish on anyone.
I started following Stuart Scott on Twitter. It was then that I really began to admire him. Here was a man who was facing a devastating illness with such a quiet dignity. On Twitter he told of the doctor visits, the treatments, but never with any complaint. His concern was more for the young cancer patients he saw. He was always optimistic, always a warrior attitude toward the fight ahead. And still his timeline was mostly about sports and his children. On air, other than his increasingly thinner appearance, you'd never know anything about his fight with cancer. I was impressed to see him on air so soon after what I'm sure was some exhausting round of radiation. A professional. Cal Ripken and Lou Gehrig rolled up into one.
Today's news is further proof that cancer is a bitch. It doesn't care how optimistic you are, or how much of a fighter. I mean, those traits are certainly healthier for you in a fight with cancer than resignation. I just mean, that I've seen the most optimistic, courageous people lose to cancer. It's more proof that the fight cannot be left to those who have the disease or their immediate circles. The fight against cancer belongs to all of us. This world was a better one with Stuart Scott in it.
There is one fewer innovator in the world this morning. Scott brought real soul, soul in the most African-American, hip-hop, barbershop, gospel choir sense of the word, to the mayonnaise on white bread world of Bristol, Connecticut's ESPN, and he did it unabashedly and without compromise. (Can I get an Amen?) He changed how every sportscaster would deliver the news, black or white. I'm paraphrasing, but one of the more insightful comments I read about Scott this morning was from one of his white colleagues (it escapes me just which one) saying that Scott came in and was just himself, a rather brash black man, and that gave everyone else the permission to just be themselves as well.
More recently, while I appreciated what he had contributed to his profession, I felt that he had grown a bit long in the tooth for his "cool as the other side of the pillow" persona. I remember though after his eye injury, someone taking a shot at him on social media about it and thinking, Really? Here's this big brash persona who puts himself in the public eye (still completely unabashed), is very good at what he does, and yet has plenty to criticize, and you want to take a shot at his appearance? And it was with great sorrow that I heard of his cancer diagnosis. Having lost loved ones to cancer, it isn't something I would wish on anyone.
I started following Stuart Scott on Twitter. It was then that I really began to admire him. Here was a man who was facing a devastating illness with such a quiet dignity. On Twitter he told of the doctor visits, the treatments, but never with any complaint. His concern was more for the young cancer patients he saw. He was always optimistic, always a warrior attitude toward the fight ahead. And still his timeline was mostly about sports and his children. On air, other than his increasingly thinner appearance, you'd never know anything about his fight with cancer. I was impressed to see him on air so soon after what I'm sure was some exhausting round of radiation. A professional. Cal Ripken and Lou Gehrig rolled up into one.
Today's news is further proof that cancer is a bitch. It doesn't care how optimistic you are, or how much of a fighter. I mean, those traits are certainly healthier for you in a fight with cancer than resignation. I just mean, that I've seen the most optimistic, courageous people lose to cancer. It's more proof that the fight cannot be left to those who have the disease or their immediate circles. The fight against cancer belongs to all of us. This world was a better one with Stuart Scott in it.
1 comment:
Amen!
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