Sunday 
marked a tragic day in the sports world. Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed away in the morning hours of January 4, 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 49.
The news is devastating to all those in the sports industry, including athletes, fans and viewers of ESPN. He brought something to the network and sports reporting that changed the game, and will continue to do so.
Our own Brett Poirier wrote earlier Sunday on the loss of Scott, the sports world is mourning deeply.
As a fan of Scott and his broadcasts on ESPN, the only word that comes to mind regarding his life: inspiration.
He was first diagnosed with cancer in 2007 after doctors discovered a tumor while performing an emergency appendectomy. He went through months of chemotherapy following the discovery, and eventually won his first round with the deadly disease.
Then, in 2011, the cancer returned. He beat it again.
And in 2013, the cancer came back a third time.
If you haven’t seen this incredible video dedicated to him, please check it out here.
Scott touched the lives of just about everyone he came in contact with. Hell, I’ve never met the guy, but I know I wanted to. I used to watch him every morning before school at 7 a.m., his catch phrases and upbeat style seared into my brain.
“Boo-Yah!”
And my favorite, “As cool as the other side of the pillow”.
Every time I flip the pillow over, all I can think of is Scott’s voice describing a play on SportsCenter.
This is a piece from Steve Wulf’s piece on Scott, via ESPN.com:
Among the features of the new ESPN studio in Bristol is a wall of catchphrases made famous by on-air talent over the years. An amazing nine of them belong to one man — from his signature “Boo-Yah!” to “As cool as the other side of the pillow” to “He must be the bus driver cuz he was takin’ him to school.”
That man is Stuart Scott, and his contributions to the sports lexicon are writ large. But they are only one aspect of his legacy. When he passed away, he left behind so much more. He inspired his colleagues with his sheer talent, his work ethic and his devotion to his daughters, Taelor, 19, and Sydni, 15. He defied convention and criticism to help bring this network into a new century. He spoke to the very athletes he was talking about with a flair and a style that ESPN president John Skipper says, “changed everything.”
“He didn’t just push the envelope,” says sports radio host and former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick. “He bulldozed the envelope.”
Scott was remembered through an outpouring of tributes by athletes, colleagues and fans on Twitter and statements from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, which said that “his legacy will live on in many ways — as a friend, a son, a father, a professional and forever, a Tar Heel,” and President Barack Obama.
“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,” the president said.
There’s plenty more in the article, so make sure you check the rest of that out.
Sporting events on Sunday held a moment of silence for him before getting underway, including both NFL playoff games between the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts, the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, and the Cavaliers vs. Mavericks, among many others.
He was truly an inspiration to us all, especially those who are living with cancer. Stuart Scott was a fighter, and he won.
DAVID GRIFFIN DEFENDS DAVID BLATT
Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin heard the rumors and read the stories about a so-called divide between David Blatt and the Cavs players. He was not convinced that there was any truth to the reports.
On Sunday, Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick gave us some of the things Griffin had to say about his head coach:
“Listen, this narrative of our coaching situation is truly ridiculous,” Griffin said. “It is a non-story. It is a non-narrative. Coach Blatt is our coach. He’s going to remain our coach. Do not write that as a vote of confidence. He never needed one. It was never a question. So don’t write it that way.”
Griffin said he listened to the audio tape of James’ recent comments about Blatt and identified “three different times” when the star forward talked about how the team is growing together, while also talking about being happy with his coach.
“But that wasn’t a sexy pull quote, so (the media) kept looking for something else,” Griffin said. “Until we could pull something that sounded negative. That narrative is done. No change is being made, period. What we’ve got is exactly what we talked about, guys. We came into the year, and I knew it wasn’t a sexy story: growth and development in the long haul is what this was about. Every member of our organization, from top to bottom, ownership, myself, the players, the coaches, LeBron himself, signed on for the long haul. This is something we’re doing over time. And yes, we’ve had some bumps; we’ve looked really, really bad at times. We’ve also beaten every team ahead of us in the Eastern Conference.”
I think Griffin was spot on in his defense of his head coach.
The Cavs will still make the playoffs this season in the weaker East. They now sit at 19-15 thanks to a 109-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, but still have more than half of the season left to continue to gel and form the chemistry
they’ll need come April and May.
Getting rid of Blatt might make it even worse for Cleveland.
Stories and reports may surface regarding James’ feelings for Blatt as negative the entire time, which would be another media circus for the Cavs organization and their players that they simply don’t need.
Stick with what you’ve got right now, and let the team get to know one another through the long haul of the season. Patience is a virtue, isn’t that what they say?
PISTONS KEEP ROLLING
When the Detroit Pistons released Josh Smith a couple weeks ago, many thought it was a sign of them giving up on their season. Make no mistake, they’ve still got a huge hill to climb to get into the playoffs, but they’re on the right path.
Good old addition by subtraction.
Take out Josh Smith from a 5-23 team that seemed to be going nowhere but down, and what do you get?
A five game win-streak, all by ten points or more.
Granted, all but one of those wins came against teams with a losing record. Among those wins were the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks, who seem like they’ve forgotten how to play basketball. However, three of the five wins came on the road, including their surprising rout of the Cavaliers by 23 points.
They’re latest win came on Sunday against another struggling team in the Sacramento Kings, who recently fired their coach in Mike Malone. It was a decisive 114-95 victory where Brandon Jennings scored 35 points, 15 of those in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Here’s what he had to say after the Pistons’ victory on Sunday, via Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
“Our confidence is definitely high, but we still realize we’re about to play three or four teams that’s over .600 and this is when the challenge really starts,” Jennings said. “But our confidence is high.
“Right now we feel like we can play with anybody, but we know we’re definitely gonna have to be locked in for 48 minutes.”
The challenge he’s talking about comes in the form of Western Conference powers San Antonio and Dallas on the road, then back home to take on the East leading Atlanta Hawks.
Not exactly what they wanted to see in the next five days, but for a team with as many wins in the past ten days as the first two months of the season, anything can happen.
DEMARCUS COUSINS: ‘WE’RE NOT THE SAME TEAM’
If you didn’t know already, the Sacramento Kings fired their head coach Mike Malone after just 24 games into his second season with the team. The Kings were off to an 11-13 start, which clearly wasn’t good enough for the decision makers of the troubled franchise.
The record wasn’t great, but in a difficult Western Conference, it was encouraging, even surprising.
DeMarcus Cousins, the talented big man with a bit of an attitude problem, seemed to mature under the tenure of Malone. After spending the summer with Team USA and Kings teammate Rudy Gay, Cousins seemed a changed man.
Now that Malone is gone, it seems Boogie is falling back into old habits. Arguing, technical fouls, and even a physical altercation that led to his ejection on New Year’s Eve against the Celtics (see Marcus Smart).
Here’s some quotes from Boogie after their 114-95 loss to the Pistons on Sunday, via Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee:
I asked DeMarcus Cousins if losing Michael Malone hurt more than anyone realized: “It’s clear. We’re not the same team.”
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 5, 2015
Cousins: “We’ve got to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Everytime something doesn’t go our way, we’re shaking our heads, myself included.”
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 5, 2015
At least he’s taking some responsibility for it. But isn’t that the guy we’ve seen with Malone rather than without him?
Their loss Sunday dropped their record to 14-20 on the season, just 3-7 since the firing of Mike Malone.
Either way, Cousins and the Kings have to figure out an answer to their problems, or they’ll be watching the playoffs from home for the ninth consecutive season.
All stats via Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.