Stuart Scott Was My Idol

Growing up in Louisiana, we didn't always have cable. Having every channel available wasn't much of a priority for my mother and father since they had to raise three kids. I can remember being 14 years old when we did get it, turning on the television and seeing the man who would become my idol. He was smart, quick-witted, and he looked like me. There had been black anchors and contributors on TV — Bryant Gumbel and James Brown come to mind — but they never referenced anything that was a part of my life. This guy wasn't just the best; he was speaking to us, and he didn't seem to care about the consequences of being himself.

On Sunday morning, more than two decades later, I woke up and opened Twitter to discover the news much of America had already learned. Stuart Scott, 49, died of cancer in Connecticut. I texted my wife with the news, and she reminded me of something I'd told her years ago — I picked my college major because of Stuart Scott. In the whirlwind of freshman year at LSU, it seemed nearly every football player was majoring in kinesiology. I sat in the counseling office and figured I would too, just because it seemed like the thing to do. I sat down with Tommy Karam, then an academic advisor for football players, and he asked a question I'd never considered. "If you could be anyone outside of football, who would it be?"

That's easy. "Stuart Scott."

So I majored in mass communications, and I spent most of my time off the football field trying to be Stu. I took journalism classes and television production classes, always volunteering to appear on camera. I tried to replicate his ease and flair, but found it impossible when discussing news topics or the weather. I felt like a phony, like I was trying to be someone I'm not. I came away thinking, "There's no way in the world I'm ever going to do this job as well as him."

Scott's act was so groundbreaking. Whenever a young anchor shows up with a new, hip way of doing things, they're compared to Scott. In that sense, he was the Michael Jordan of his industry. No matter what Kobe or LeBron do, we've already seen some form of it in Michael Jordan. Everyone else is a knockoff.

Notes on the Text

1. Stuart Scott (1965—2015): 斯图亚特·斯科特，1965年出生于美国芝加哥，演员，前ESPN著名电视主播，解说过MLB、NBA、NFL等体育赛事。2015年1月死于癌症。

2. Bryant Gumbel (1948— ): 布莱恩特·冈贝尔，美国演员、作家，主要作品有《布吉男人》《天气预报员》《幸存者》等。

3. James Brown (1933—2006): 詹姆斯·布朗，被誉为美国灵魂乐的教父（Godfather of Soul），说唱、嘻哈和迪斯科等音乐类型的奠基人。1965年，詹姆斯·布朗凭借《老爸的新袋子》获得格莱美最佳R&B唱片。布朗一生录制了逾50张专辑，单曲超过119支。他曾于1965年 和1987年获得格莱美两项大奖，并于1992年加冕格莱美终身成就奖。

4. Michael Jordan (1963— ): 迈克尔·乔丹，1963年2月17日生于纽约布鲁克林，美国著名篮球运动员，得分后卫，绰号“飞人”，历史上最伟大的篮球运动员。

5. Kobe (1978—2020): 科比·布莱恩特（Kobe Bryant），1978年8月23日出生于宾夕法尼亚州费城，前美国著名职业篮球运动员，曾是NBA最好的得分手之一。2020年1月26日，他和女儿在加州因直升机事故遇难。

6. LeBron (1984— ): 勒布朗·詹姆斯（LeBron James），1984年12月30日出生在美国俄亥俄州，美国职业篮球运动员，小前锋。他在NBA多次获得常规赛及总决赛的最有价值球员奖（MVP）。2012年夏天，勒布朗·詹姆斯代表美国男篮获得了伦敦奥运会金牌，追平了迈克尔·乔丹在1992年所创的纪录。

Exercises

Task 3 Fill in the puzzle spaces with the words from Text A according to the explanations given in the table.

Task 4 Complete the following sentences with the words from Task 3. Change the word forms if necessary.

Task 5 Complete the sentences using derivatives of the words in the box. Change the word forms if necessary.

contributor

text

counseling

journalism

replicate