Keeping It Heel
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Happy 51st Birthday Stuart Scott!

By Horran Cameron

Oct 23, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; ESPN announcer Sage Steele walks off the floor after a tribute to former fellow ESPN announcer Stuart Scott during Late Night with Roy Williams at Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; ESPN announcer Sage Steele walks off the floor after a tribute to former fellow ESPN announcer Stuart Scott during Late Night with Roy Williams at Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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If you are unaware of who Stuart Scott is, then you are in the right place.

Stuart Scott is a legend in sports broadcasting. He is also one of the most beloved Tar Heels ever.

His unique style of blending hip hop with sports broadcasting changed the sports landscape forever.

Scott grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, although he was born in Chicago, Illinois. He lived in Chicago until he was eight years old. In high school, Scott was captain of his football team, ran track, was student body Vice President and was a part of the Key Club.

In 1987, Scott graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelors of Arts in speech communication. Scott was also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Early in Scott’s career, he worked as a news reporter and sports anchors for WPDE-TV  in Florence, South Carolina, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, and WESH in Orlando, Florida.

In the early 1990s, ESPN hired Stuart Scott.

His unique style appealed to a younger audience, including me. Scott covered the NCAA Final Four for ESPN in 1995, 1995 MLB playoffs, conducted one-on-one interviews with Michael Jordan during the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, Monday Night Countdown for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, in addition to NBA coverage on ESPN and sister channel, ABC.

Jan 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; The New York Knicks honor the memory of Stuart Scott before a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; The New York Knicks honor the memory of Stuart Scott before a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Scott appeared in several movies including He Got Game (1998), Enchanted (1998), Arliss (1999-2000), The Kid (2000), Drumline (2002), Love Don’t Cost a Thing (2003), Mr. 3000 (2004), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), The Game Plan (2007) and Just Wright (2010).

Acting in movies is very rare and unusual for a sportscaster. Scott’s filmography indicates how popular he became while working at ESPN.

Scott was a star in his own right. His style zeal and enthusiasm for sports transcended his position at ESPN and made him a household name. Heck, Scott was parodied on Saturday Night Live! You know you have made it, when SNL writes a skit about you. Scott took part in fun when people imitated him, as well. During one broadcast in 2013, Stuart Scott imitated Key & Peele during a SportsCenter Top 10 Plays segment.

Name another sports broadcaster who can do a sports segment like he was a spoken word artist?

Scott’s catchphrases are well-known. Some of his famous statements include “Boo-Yah!,” “Holla!,” “As cool as the other side of the pillow,” “Just call him butter ’cause he’s on a roll,” “Playa…Playa Hater,” “Can I Get a Witness From the Congregration?,” “See…What Had Happened Was,” “Holla at a playa when you see him across the street!” and “He must be the driver ’cause he was takin’ him to school.”

There are many more catchphrases that Scott familiarized us with on ESPN.

On January 4, 2015, Stuart Scott passed away due to cancer. Six months prior to his death, Scott accepted the Jimmy V Award (also known as the Jim Valvano Award for Perseverance).

Today, Scott would have been 51 years old. Instead of grieving his death, enjoy this highlight reel of Stuart Scott sharing some of his most popular catchphrases, in addition to this ESPN tribute to Stuart Scott.

Scott truly “made all the kinfolk proud…Pookie, Ray Ray and Moesha.” “It’s your world, Stu…the rest of us are still paying rent!”

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