Brendan Ondick and Connor Smith
Staff Writers
On the morning of January 4th, 2015 the sports world woke up to the extremely sad news that broadcaster Stuart Scott had passed away at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer.
Scott was a long time host on ESPN hosting shows such as Sportscenter, NBA on ESPN, and Monday Night Countdown. Scott was born in Chicago Illinois, however his family moved to Winston-Salem North Carolina, where he eventually attended the University of North Carolina.
Scott was known for his style, blending hip hop culture with sports. He was known for sayings such as “as cool as the other side of the pillow, Booh-ya, You don’t gotta go home but you gotta get the heck up outta here, they call him windex because he is always cleaning the glass, and just call him butter cause he’s on a roll.”
Scott was also well respected by the athletes, and the support for the Scott family was unbelievable from the fans and the athletes. President Barack Obama said “His legacy will live on in many ways, as a friend, a son, a father, a professional, and forever, a Tar Heel.” Former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick said, “he didn’t just push the envelope, he bulldozed the envelope.”
It was evident that Scott had an affect on many different people, kids grew up watching him every day on TV, athletes respected his hard work and determination toward sports, and fellow anchors respected his style and the way he changed sports broadcasting forever. As Scott said in his famous Jimmy Valvano award speech, “when you die that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”
