ESPN sportscaster dies at 49
Catchphrase innovator fought cancer since 2007.
Stuart Scott,the prominent ESPN sportscaster who was known for infusing his reports with a blend of pop culture references,slang and exuberant phrases that made him something of a pop culture eigure in his own right,died Sunday in a hospital near Hartford, Conn. He was 49.
The cause was cancer, ESPN said.
“Booyah!” was Scott’s signature expression, and it spread well beyond sports and into mainstream culture. Other times he would enliven his scores,commentary and highlights with remarks like “Cool as the other side of the pillow,” “Just call him butter ’cause he’s on a roll,” and “Wow! That was as hardcore as the Wu-Tang Clan on steroids!”
Scott,the most prominent black sportscaster at ESPN,told the online magazine XXL in July that hip-hop was an important part of his life — as was Broadway music.
“You’ve got to be true to who you are and what you do,” he said. “I’m more of a hip-hop feel person. Music is how you feel. The younger the mind,that’s how I want to be.”
He was cited in “3 Peat,” a Lil Wayne song: “Yeah,I got game like Stuart Scott,fresh out the ESPN shop.”
Scott recognized that his critics did not always like his afeinity for rap, but he insisted that he did not care. He told NPR in 2002 that one black viewer had told him,“All you’re trying to do is drag our race down” by using Sportscaster Stuart Scott accepts the Jimmy V award for perseverance at the ESPY Awards in July. improper language and slang. “We’re better than that,” the man told Scott.
Scott said: “All right, man. We’re better than that. That’s not going to make me change what I do and how I do it.”
Scott joined ESPN in 1993 for the launch of its eirst spinoff network,ESPN2,but he soon moved to “SportsCenter,” which had already developed stars like Keith Olbermann,Dan Patrick,Chris Berman,Robin Roberts and Bob Ley. Scott became deeined as much for his energy,wit and stylish wardrobe as for his arsenal of catchphrases.
In a statement,President Barack Obama said: “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 20 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,” the president continued,“he entertained us,and in the end,he inspired us — with courage and love.”
He learned of his cancer in 2007 while on assignment in Pittsburgh for “Monday Night Football,” having had an emergency appendectomy. Doctors discovered appendiceal cancer.
The cancer recurred several times. To stay in shape,he endured exhausting mixed martial arts and cross-training workouts,sometimes right after chemotherapy treatments.
In July,Scott received an award for perseverance at the ESPYS, ESPN’s televised award ceremony.
In accepting the award, Scott said that he’d had four operations in the previous week and had had kidney failure and kidney complications.
“When you die,that doesn’t mean you lose to cancer,” he said on the stage. “You beat cancer by how you live,why you live and the manner in which you live. So live. Fight like hell,and when you get too tired to eight, lay down and rest and let someone else eight for you.” Sunday’s Games ■ Mavericks K0E, (at) Cavaliers E0: Monta Ellis scored ?0 points as Dallas won its fifth straight game. Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, who left in the third quarter with lower back tightness and didn’t return, won’t make the trip to Philadelphia for tonight’s game. He scored a season-low six points. ■ (At) Heat FF, Nets F*: Chris Bosh scored ?W points while Dwyane Wade scored V0 of his ?f points in the final minutes to help Miami snap a four-game losing streak. ■ (At) Pistons KK*, Kings EV: Brandon Jennings scored ef points during Detroit’s fifth straight win. ■ Bucks EV, (at) Knicks F:: Zaza Pachulia had VW points and V- rebounds as Milwaukee handed New York itsVVth straight loss and a franchise-record V0th straight at home. ■ (At) Suns K:V, Raptors K0E: Eric Bledsoe scored ?0 points while fellow guards Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas added VN apiece for Phoenix. In all, seven Suns hit double figures in the team’s highest-scoring non-overtime game this season. ■ Pacers at Lakers: Late NBAnotes ■ Cavaliers: General manager David Griffin said David Blatt will remain the team’s head coach and called scrutiny about Blatt’s job status“ridiculous.”
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