Stuart Scott: A Trailblazer and Hero, Gone Too Soon

On the days where there is a lot of heat, but not enough light, higher powers have a way of snatching up the human race and showing you what is important: A life well-lived, true courage, utter passion, real compassion, unwavering commitment. We are reminded of the the true meaning of “warrior,” shamed, at least for a day from attaching the word to anyone just because he or she carries a ball or overcomes the “adversity” of sucking at grownup behavior.

Such reminders of what a true warrior and great courage is came today with the news that Stuart Scott, the iconic ESPN announcer, succumbed to cancer at age 49.

Gone too soon does not cover the immensity of this loss, for the Scott family and friends, for ESPN, for our profession. The tears throughout the electronic and print media are real, as real as the tributes from the millions who admired him from afar are bountiful.

Over 4 million viewed ESPN’s on-line obituary within hours of the announcement that Stuart had passed. President Barack Obama issued a statement. Moments of silence were held at sporting events around the nation, including both NFL wild-card playoff games, and basketball games in the NBA and college play.

Said the President: "I will miss Stuart Scott. Twenty years ago, Stu helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day's best plays. For much of those twenty years, public service and campaigns have kept me from my family -- but wherever I went, I could flip on the TV and Stu and his colleagues on SportsCenter were there. Over the years, he entertained us, and in the end, he inspired us -- with courage and love. Michelle and I offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and colleagues."

Why does this loss matter so to so many people? My theory is that what we saw in Stuart we would hope to see in ourselves when the situations seem most dire. We want to achieve the level of inner peace Stuart found when fighting cancer for a third time. I was undone in fighting the disease in its earliest stage one time. Stuart simply grew stronger and stronger as cancer did in each savage attack on his frail body.

Never was Stuart’s strength more evident than at the ESPYS last July 16, when, shortly before his 49th birthday and fresh from cancer surgery, he accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. Stuart, ill but incredibly strong when he needed, spoke with such eloquence and poignancy, the moment and his acceptance speech resonated around the globe. 

Stuart’s most touching, now-famed lines that evening: "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”

Stuart Scott and Robin Roberts

Amen. 

How Stuart lived was legendary within his field long before he
became the face of the battle against cancer.  He was a pioneer, one who brought a new lexicon to sports-speak, straight from hip, urban black America.

His signature calls wet filled with “playahs,” “boo-yahs” and were always, always as “cool as the other side of the pillow.”

By giving voice to a previously underrepresented culture, Stuart enriched not just sports talk but also the national dialog. And he  in a way the "suits" who tried so valiantly to prove their commitment to diversity never dreamed. It took a maestro at a microphone to open the dialog. It took Stuart. 

Without apology, but always with a smile, Stuart made the language of his youth, of our black America a language shared by all. And the sound, the rhythm were as cool as he, as he played the black keys and slipped in sharps and flats with ease.  The Count, The Duke and Miles would have been proud. Black America certainly was.

"He was a trailblazer,” ESPN anchor Stan Verrett told ESPN.com. “Not only because he was black -- obviously black -- but because of his style, his demeanor, his presentation. He did not shy away from the fact that he was a black man, and that allowed the rest of us who came along to just be ourselves."

"Yes, he brought hip-hop into the conversation,” SportsCenter anchor Jay Harris told ESPN.com. “But I would go further than that. He brought in the barber shop, the church, R&B, soul music. Soul, period.”

It took the walking of a fine line. Miss a note here, and you were a bamboozler. Miss a note there, and you were an angry black man. Stuart? He was just Stuart, and America noticed the sincerity. Because he was himself, he was the change our profession needed. 

Steve Levy and Stuart Scott

As other journalists took note, then embraced, being bi-lingual became not only cool but, at last became a two-way street. You cannot imagine how fascinating that was to we African Americans who’d felt that being fluent in both American “languages” was a required only of us

My one regret is that perhaps Stuart did not know the extent to which we in the African American and journalism communities recognized these very significant contributions.

Is it too late to say just how much a game changer he was, to say how grateful we all are, how much the better we are to have called him friend and colleague? I pray not. Because Stuart Scott should know how he truly was the epitome of a warrior, a hero, a great dad, a role model -- the real deal on every level.

Cool as the other side of the pillow? That Stuart Scott was.  That is why we mourn.

Thank you, Stuart. May you rest in eternal peace.

Related link: http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12118296/stuart-scott-espn-anchor-dies-age-49?ex_cid=sportscenterTW