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Few people have influenced the modern day sports culture the way Stuart Scott has. From his catchy vernacular and splashy style, Scott told stories the way no one had before. He inspired his friends, colleagues, and millions of viewers that would watch from their televisions every night. His long time friend and co-host Dan Patrick explained, “Stuart didn’t push the envelope, he bulldozed it” (Wulf, 2015). Stuart Scott was born July 19, 1965 in Chicago, to parents O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott. Along with two sisters and one brother, Stuart spent most of his formative years in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

His father worked as a postal inspector and always made time to play with his children. Stuart was a two-sport star athlete in North Carolina where he was a captain of the football team and ran track. Recruited by several small colleges to play football, Stuart decided to attend University of North Carolina where he would play football for their club team. Scott experienced a career ending injury on the football team which led him to the next best career choice, Sports Broadcasting. (cont p2)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) – A Review: The Jackie Robinson Story is a biographical film of the groundbreaking career of the famous Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman. Directed by Alfred E. Green, this inspirational biography tells the story of Jackie Robinson as he becomes the first African American baseball players to play in the Major Leagues. The movie takes place in 1950 as Mr. Robinson plays himself in a film just a year after he lead the Dodgers to the 1949 pennant. The movie starts out in 1928 when a nine year old, gloveless Jackie finds himself taking barehanded grounders in a neighborhood game. The older white male hitting balls to the group of kids generously gifts young Robinson a tattered and torn glove. This was a key scene in the film as this is the first interaction with Jackie as a baseball player. The film displays Jackie’s skills not only as a baseball player but a multi-sport athlete. Much of his younger years are spent excelling in every sport he could. Showcasing his skills at UCLA, this eventually leads him into a professional career in baseball after serving in the Army. Minor Watson plays the role of Branch Rickey, President of the Dodgers team. He had a major impact on the career of Jackie’s and was the first man who initiated Robinson playing in the big leagues. Without his fearless idea of bringing Jackie to the league, this story would have never taken place. (cont p2)

Stuart Scott: As Cool As The Other Side of the Pillow

Global Warming: A World Divided - The earth’s climate has changed throughout the course of history. With many people divided on the topic, one French weatherman has felt the effects of the debate on a personal level. Philippe Verdier was told not to return to work after writing a book on his doubts of the findings of climate change reported by leading scientists .

Should College Athletes Be Paid? - Many have debated over time whether NCAA athletes should be compensated for their time preparing and performing at the college level. Collegiate athletes have been classified as amateurs and non-professionals, or what the NCAA has called, “Student-Athlete.” With continued popularity among college sports, Universities are bringing in millions of dollars of revenue each year. The University of Texas football program alone brought in $103.8 million dollars of revenue in 2012 and $165.7 million in total athletic department revenue in 2013 (Gaines, 2014). (cont p2)

Verdier received a letter in the mail after he claimed that climate scientists and political leaders have “taken the world hostage” due to their claims (The Guardian, 2015). Scientists claim that the warming of the earth is due to the “greenhouse effect.” This is a blanket like layer over our atmosphere.. (cont p3)

Stuart Scott cont: “For me, it was just a way to stay close to sports” he explains in his autobiography (Horn, 2015). At North Carolina, he majored in speech communication and graduated in 1987. Following his degree he immediately jumped into sports broadcasting. “After I graduated from college, I tried to play things by the book in terms of landing a job as a sports anchor. I interviewed with about four to five small markets, but I kept getting turned down with the usual “you don’t have enough experience for the position” (Horn, 2015). Stuart continued to apply and interview for broadcasting positions and eventually landed one as a news reporter and weekend local sports broadcaster for WPDE-TV in Florence, South Carolina. As his experience grew, he attracted jobs in Raleigh, North Carolina and eventually moved to Orlando, Florida to continue his career. In 1993 Scott was hired by one of the most widely popular sports broadcasting network, ESPN. With hard work and six solid years in the small local markets, Scott’s talents were recognized.

Stuart brought a new sense of entertainment to ESPN’s nightly program SportsCenter. When a basketball player hits a big shot at the end of the game, Scott would say “Boo-yah”. When another player couldn’t miss a shot he would describe it as “buttah, because he must be on a roll” and when Tiger Woods makes that winning putt Scott describes him “as cool as the other side of the pillow” (Horn, 2015). His unique approach attracted a young and hip demographic that would help boost ratings more than any other broadcaster. At that time there were successful African-American sportscasters, but none did it the way Stuart did. Director of news for ESPN, Vince Doria explains, “Stuart spoke a much different language ... that appealed to a young demographic, particularly a young African-American demographic” (Wulf, 2015). Not everyone appreciated his new and stylish ways of reporting. Many viewers wrote hate mail to Scott and even ESPN executives disagreed with his approach. Co-anchor Suzy Kolber explains “when he went to ESPN, Stuart didn't change his style -- and there was some resistance. Even I encouraged him to maybe take a more traditional approach, but he had a strong conviction about who he wanted to be, and the voice he wanted to project, and clearly, he was right, and we were wrong” (Wulf, 2015). Stuart had accomplished all that the sports world had to offer for a young broadcaster. He covered MLB playoffs, NCAA Final Four basketball tournament and the NBA Championship Finals. Scott had the opportunity to sit down for one-on-one interviews with greats like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, not to mention President Obama.

With career in sports casting in perfect form, his personal life was down. He suffered an eye injury while catching a pass at a New York Jets mini-camp that would need surgery and keep him from working for a few months. He and his wife Kimberly, the mother of his two daughters, would divorce in 2007 after fourteen years of marriage. The same year he learned of his cancer while on business in Pittsburgh for “Monday Night Football”. He was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy that would reveal his appendiceal cancer. His cancer would return several times that would force him to miss work for stretches of weeks at a time. Scott found solitude while training mixed martial arts between chemo sessions. He describes it, as “for the mind, it’s better than any chemo It’s better than medicine” (Sandomir, 2015).

In the summer of 2014, Stuart Scott gave a speech at the ESPY’s that would be remembered for the rest of time. Scott was honored with the Jimmy Valvano Award which is given to a deserving member of the sports world who has overcome physical obstacles in life. During that speech, Stuart had a few messages that he wanted to express as he knew his time was drawing near. He expressed “I have one more necessity—it’s really two. The best thing I have ever done, the best thing I will ever do, is be a dad to Taelor and Sydni. It’s True” (Castillo 2015). Stuart was an inspiration for all those fighting something in life and his words are lasting as they echo in our hearts. He closed with “When you die, that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live” (Castillo 2015).

The Jackie Robinson Story cont: This film seems to miss the mark when it comes to production. Admittedly, I have not seen many movies from the 1940’s or 1950’s, my first impression was the lack of quality and budget. This is the type of film that I could imagine creating with my friends and an old 8 millimeter film camera in a 48 hour time frame. The acting comes across as very underwhelming in terms of capturing the audience. Jackie is very soft spoken and humble in his role, similar to what I had expected from a man who endured such criticism and racial adversity. Ruby Dee plays Jackie’s wife in the film and is really the only other member of the cast worth discussing. She is loyal to Jackie as he pursues a career in baseball while she stays back home. When Jackie gets called up to the Majors she joins him on the road and witnesses first-hand the racism Jackie is experienced since playing with the Dodgers. The film moves quickly from scene to scene with what seems to be very elementary transitions. Although the message far exceeds the quality, the film did seem a bit stiff. I felt they could have made better use of his younger years and the adversity he may have faced as a child. This may have taken place because the acting may have caused some major scenes to be edited out of the film.

Despite the poor acting and production, it is an inspirational story about a young man that overcame racial adversity to become the first black player in history to play professionally. History does not need the help of bedazzled Hollywood to tell a tale of greatness. Jackie displays courage and strength to break down the color barrier in sports. Jackie’s best part of the movie is at the end when he visits Washington D.C., to speak to Congress. He delivers a great line where he says “Democracy works for those willing to fight for it and it is worth defending.” A profound story such as Jackie’s should not be told by anyone other than the man himself.

Should College Athletes Be Paid? Cont: Using the Fair Market Value, Business Insider estimated that the average college football player at the University of Texas is worth $622,104 per year based on the programs annual revenue (Gaines, 2015). Even with this amount of money being generated from events and merchandise, no athletes are being compensated for their time. According to NCAA rules, “You are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever: taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport” (NCAA Regulations 1).

Those against compensation of athletes argue that the players should not receive pay because they are still participating in amateur athletics, and not at the professional

level. Others would argue that players who are offered a four-year scholarship, are compensated in that sense. Although there is great value in an education, some players could be dismissed from the team and left without a degree due to career ending injuries. This creates conflict with the idea that scholarships are a full form of compensation for these athletes. We have to remember that even though it is not recognized, college sports are a billion dollar industry. CBS and Turner Broadcasting make more than $1 billion off the games in the NCAA basketball tournament. This is part of a $700,000 ad rate for a 30-second spot during the Final Four (Smith, 2013). So where does all this revenue go? With the amount of income generated, it would make sense that much of it would go back into the classroom – it does not. Instead, the money is shared between administrators, athletic directors and coaches (Edelman, 2014). Without the athletes and the handsomely paid coaches, the NCAA would not have the business they do today.

In a typical week, a Division 1 football player will put in 43.3 hours of time to his sport (Edelman, 2014). Between meetings, practices, workouts, and other team events, this is more than your typical 40-hour workweek. The athlete is also expected to attend all classes as a full-time student on top of what is required for their sport. With the amount of time being spent away from the classroom, there is very little time left for homework and other scholastic responsibilities. During NCAA tournament week for basketball, players may be required to miss up to six days of classes for March Madness Final Four Tournament (Edelman, 2014). This goes directly against the specifically defined term, “student before athlete.”

The NCAA, EA, and Collegiate Licensing Company are making large sums of profit off these young athletes every year. In 2010, Ed O’Bannon, former UCLA basketball player, sued the NCAA Electronic Arts and Collegiate Licensing Company for using his name and image for revenue. O’Bannon includes, “The lawsuit was never about the money, it was about righting a wrong. If a company or someone was to use your likeness then you should be compensated for it, or at the very least be asked if your likeness can be used” (Fox, 2015). He continues to state, “I just think that they should be compensated for it. It doesn’t have to be $1 million, but just a little something to recognize that they are bringing in money to their schools” (Fox, 2015).

It is also not uncommon to see some “Student-Athletes” make poor decisions due to lack of income. It was just this last summer that defensive back for the University of Utah, Dominique Hatfield, was arrested and then released on alleged aggravated robbery for a small amount of $180. I believe that compensating “Student-Athletes” will help keep these young adults focused on education, athletics, and away from crime. I do not believe these athletes need to be paid $100k or even $50k per year, but even just a minimum salary of $15k annually could help keep them on track and out of trouble.

Global Warming cont: that is made up of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide that absorbs the heat and traps the suns heat against the surface of the earth. Scientists have been able to collect data from orbiting satellites to get a bigger idea of how earth’s climate is being affected from a global standpoint. Since the industrial age, humans have been aggravating this process due to burning

high amounts of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. This process combines carbon and oxygen and releases CO2 into the air.

A group of 1,300 science experts have joined together to form what is called Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and have concluded 90% probability that human activities have warmed our planet over the last 250 years (NASA, 2008). Due to the activities on earth, humans have raised the carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years (NASA, 2008).

With the argument that human activities are the cause of this change, many have proposed that the sun may be putting off more energy and would be the reason for the rising temperatures. Since 1978, scientific satellite instruments have been measuring the energy output of the sun. The information and data that has been pulled in the last 37 years has shown a slight drop off in energy output, or what is called solar irradiance (NASA, 2008). This small lowering in energy output means that there is no reason to believe that the suns energy is causing the earth to maintain a steady increase in warmth.

Even though the earth has only increased one degree Fahrenheit in the last 15 years, this has had an effect on our environment. Our sea levels have raised 6.7 inches in the last century and half of that level has come in the last decade. Much of this is due to the melting of the ice caps at the poles. Ice sheets have shown signs of decreasing in Greenland and Antarctic areas, and the arctic ice sea minimum is decreasing 13.3 percent per decade. This contributes to the sea level rising as the melting of land ice and warming seawaters expand. If the ocean rises as much as three feet, parts of Miami will be lost due to water damage. Oceans have been absorbing most of the heat circulating in our atmosphere. The top 2300 feet of our ocean is showing signs of warming by 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969 (NASA, 2008).

Not only does the effects of global warming put us in danger but it has also taken a toll on our ecosystems. The Adelie penguins on Antarctica have decreased in population from 32,000 breeding pairs to just 11,000 in 30 years (National Geographic, 2015). A wildlife research scientist, Martyn Obbard, has claimed that since the mid 1980’s, without enough ice to live and fish for food, the polar bears are getting much skinnier. Ian Starling, a polar bear biologist, worries that if the sea ice continues to disappear the polar bear will soon become extinct (National Geographic, 2015).

With the claims and findings of global warming, not all scientists agree that it is really happening. In fact, only 97% of scientists believe that climate warming is due to human activity on earth (NASA, 2008). Over 200 agencies and scientific organizations have made statements and agree that warming is due to human action. The other three percent seem to disagree and refute the evidence suggested. In the latest argument against global warming, two scientists claim that over 300 studies suggest that climate has changed in the past and the sun is connected to this warming. In a petition circulated by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, over 17,000 have signed against global warming. The institution released a quote saying “there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing, or will in the

foreseeable future cause catastrophic heating of the earths atmosphere and disruption of the earths climate” (AP Roundtable).

With a portion of scientists and skeptics going against the facts, so are many politicians. In a study performed by Michigan State University, they found that 49% of those who identified as Republican believed that the effects of global warming have already begun by 2001. Nine years later in 2010, that percentage dropped to 29% of those Republicans who believe in global warming. On the other side, Democrats who believe that global warming has begun increased from 60% to 70% from 2001 to 2010 (MSU, 2011). President candidate Mitt Romney was quoted saying “Do I think the world’s getting hotter? Yeah, I don’t know that but I think that it is,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s mostly caused by humans “ (Think Progress).

Scientists claim that even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases, our earth will still increase another degree Fahrenheit. But they do agree that the decisions we make from here on out can make a difference between 2.5 degrees to as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit (National Geographic, 2015). As many have debated over the topic of climate change, this weatherman lost his job. In the end, the world is still divided over the science and assessment that has taken place. Whether we find a conclusion to this widely argued topic, remains to be seen

References

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