Stuart Scott Dies

Stuart Scott died yesterday from cancer at age 49.

He was a UNC alumnus and an ESPN reporter who is said to have changed the way people reported about sports. He injected hip-hop and memorable phrases, like ‘boo-yah!’, into his reports. If ever someone embodied Hemingway’s notion of grace under pressure, it was Scott. Joe Giglio, News & Observer writer, wrote that Scott won the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs this past July and made an impassioned speech about his fight with cancer.

This morning I watched the video of his acceptance of that award.

It was incredibly sad, and yet also uplifting and inspiring. His messages and lessons are not just about cancer but also about how we live our lives. He said that you beat cancer by how you live and the manner in which you live. He also talked about the fight not being a solo venture and how much he needed his daughters, girlfriend and friends, about the kindness of the people for whom and with whom he worked.

In the post-New Year’s world of resolutions, Scott’s words are worth remembering. They hearken back to some of the world’s greatest philosophers like Aristotle in reminding us that it is what we do every day that matters, the manner in which we live, and that we can’t go it alone. Big loss. He had big impact. Barbara