During the 1990s, race relations were already improving drastically through a little thing called hip-hop, but television helped bridge the gap even more during that period. With MTV opening the doors for all circles of life to express themselves and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air bringing more positivity to living rooms, ESPN would follow their footsteps hiring a new and young up beat North Carolina native by the name of Stuart Scott.
Originally brought in to appeal to an audience for Generation X and some Millennials, Scott’s charm and consistent references to current pop and hip-hop culture made him a favorite among all generation viewers. Even after receiving criticism from traditional baby boomer viewers initially, ESPN decided to stick with a person who was helping them bring in ratings. From the popular catch-phrase ‘Booyah’ to ‘Hallah’, and even referencing lines from the raunchy L.L. Cool J classic “Doin’ It”; Scott was always as a cool as the other side of the pillow.
After hearing news of his passing, some of us here at OnSMASH decided to speak on how much he impacted us growing up, and how he touched our lives. If any of our readers have anything to say about Stuart, leave a message in the comments.
As a kid, I couldn’t really gauge how poor we really were. We definitely couldn’t afford designer clothes. We didn’t eat out much and we certainly couldn’t afford cable. I’m not sure at what age it happened, it must have been around 8 or 9 years old, that we miraculously got cable. Maybe it was a super basic package for a limited of time, but it was a joyous occasion… we had more channels! Of course, ESPN was one of them. I can’t even recall a day that passed by where I wasn’t watching SportsCenter at night or NFL Primetime on Sundays after the NFL games. I learned the player’s stats, watched every highlight and pretty much tuned in to everything that was happening in sports. I didn’t have much else as a hobby besides music (there was no Internet back then), so I grabbed on to Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen’s words like glue. I probably didn’t even realize at the time, how much they were changing the face of sports, but it definitely made an impact in my life for that short amount of time we had it.
Then we went back to not having cable again. Years passed and I lost track at what was going on in sports, besides reading the paper. It wasn’t the same, though. Hearing the SportsCenter comments was way cooler than watching the local news or reading about the latest in sports. When we finally got cable back, the ESPN anchors were different. Stuart would still show up at times, but he would be paired with different people. Even the way the show was presented was not quite what I remembered.
Point is, no matter how much the show changed, one thing stayed the same: Stuart Scott. His catchphrases may have grown in number but he was still the same guy I remember watching when I was a kid. To know that he fought cancer three times and still had the energy and determination to show up to work and give fans that personality, no matter which show he was hosting, is inspirational. There are not many people who would fight like he did.
It was disappointing to hear he passed, but his legacy and impact will never leave us. SportsCenter will not be the same without you my G. May you rest in power.
-Legend
Growing up in harsh settings and seeing many acquaintances go to prison for lengthy amounts of time, I magically never fell victim to the generic stereotype of a black male in urban societies. Through video gaming, sports and OGs from around the way trying to convince me to stay out to the streets, there was a daily show on ESPN that would help me stay inside the house – most of the time. After basketball practice 6pm and catching a ride home from teammates, I simply fell in love with SportsCenter thanks to Mr. Scott.
Being a kid of the 1990s, it was just normal to hear pop or hip-hop references used in mainstream society, but I didn’t realize how out of the norm it was for previous generations and races. Scott enabled me to enjoy televised sports news from an urban perspective, which co-existed with many cassette tapes outside of Ready to Die that controlled my Walkman back in the day. With much craziness in the world or just sampling stepping outside for some, Stuart brought much-needed relief to those millions every day, through charm and always remaining in a positive state even if his personal issues were hindering with his living experiences.
We have to salute him for still being brave enough to devote his time to doing what he loved best, outside of spending time with his two daughters to make sports viewing on television enjoyable for those on TV. While many have tried to duplicate him in the present, there’s still one person that’s helped birth their career for a personality perspective and that’s the legendary Stuart Scott. Although you’re gone, you’ll be forever missed and celebrated in the sports world.
– MVP
It is hard having so much excitement and positive energy heading into the new year then four days into 2015 you hear about one of your childhood idols passing away after a long fight with cancer. As you know from my past posts on the site, cancer is something that is near and dear to my heart as I have lost friends, family and now one of the people that I, just like many others have looked up to for so many years.
In a sense, he made sports broadcasting “cool” to me at a young age – him and Chris Berman were the first two that I saw ever to truly create their own delivery. Obviously, there are others but those two stood out to me the most and Scott being a black male resonated more so for more than a few reasons. He combined the “urban world” that is already intertwined in sports in a classy way, a professional way and you could sense he was a high character guy. That was all speculation in regards to the type of human being/person he was until we all found out he was battling cancer and his profession began to take a backseat and the human aspect began to take center stage.
The ESPYs speech that he gave will probably go down in history as one of the greatest in sports broadcasting/journalism history not to mention sports history in itself. But, I truly think that was just us getting our first real glimpse into who Scott was everyday – this is why all of his colleagues have expressed so much respect and gratitude throughout the day and genuinely had to fight tears when discussing him as a co-worker, family man and friend. You can tell he truly lived up to the standard he presented and nothing about it was a facade.
He left us at the young age of 49, but he also embodies a life well lived being quality over quantity and also accomplishing what we all hope, leaving behind an incredible legacy for not only his profession but his family as well. Sports lost a good one.
Rest In Peace Stuart Scott.
– Junior