ESPN Anchor and Personality Stuart Scott Dies at 49
It’s been widely reported today that ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor and personality Stuart Scott has died at 49 after a seven-year battle with stomach cancer. And the news hit me hard, even though I knew as a long-time viewer of ESPN that Scott wasn’t doing particularly well.
For those who don’t follow sports as I do, Scott was a new kind of anchor when he first took to ESPN in 1993. He came up with numerous catchphrases like “Booyah!” and “He’s as cool as the other side of the pillow.” And while he wasn’t the first well-known African-American sports anchor in the Western world, Scott often seemed like the coolest, getting athletes like the intensely private Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods to actually reveal a little of who they were without getting them upset in the process (a very neat trick indeed).
Basically, Scott was the type of guy other men wanted to be like. He had class, he was smart, he understood sports, he spoke and dressed well, and he related to everyone.
In other words, Scott was a very good person. It came across in how he spoke to people. He didn’t see Jordan and Woods as wealthy, privileged athletes so much but as people who’d had to struggle to get where they were — people who were still vulnerable, who still wanted others to know that their money didn’t define them — and that changed sports journalism.
I know that’s a very big statement to make, so let me unpack it a little.
First, the explosion of salaries at the major league level in the 1980s and beyond for major league baseball, the NFL and the NBA all tended to make the average viewer feel like he or she had no frame of reference for the players anymore, save on the field. This wasn’t as much of a problem for the players in the 1950s, 1960s, and even the 1970s because while the best made very good money, most of the rest still had to drive garbage trucks in the offseason. (Or whatever they did instead of driving garbage trucks.)
In other words, while Scott celebrated the amazing feats of athleticism that sports can and do provide, Scott also provided a deeper human element to help balance it out.
So while others may speak of Scott’s hipness, freshness, and ability to relate to the younger set — and while that is certainly all true — I think most are missing the point.
Scott was, first and foremost, a caring human being, as this story discussed within ESPN’s lengthy obituary for him illustrates in full measure:
“NBA Countdown” anchor Sage Steele remembers the day last year when her family moved from Connecticut to Arizona to be closer to her show in Los Angeles: “The moving trucks were at my house, and Stuart was there with his girlfriend Kristin to say goodbye to us, and my 10-year-old son Nicholas had to say goodbye to his best friend across the street, and he came back sobbing, sobbing, leaving his best friend in the world. … Stuart said, ‘I got it.’ And he took Nicholas aside and just sat down with him and described his moving away as a kid, losing his best friend as a 10-year-old boy and how he handled it. He spent 20 minutes sitting there with Nicholas, helping him feel better.
“Stuart spent three hours at our house that day, in pain and hardly able to stand, but he did it. And he sat there for my kid.”
Not everyone does that. Most particularly when he’s gravely ill, weak, and in pain.
Yes, Stuart Scott loved sports. Loved them with a passion. But he also loved life itself — and somehow that showed through during every sportscast he ever did.
May his loved ones be comforted by his memory.
Vinny Rottino Signs with the Miami Marlins, and Other Stuff
Happy New Year, everyone!
I figured I’d write a quick blog tonight and mention a few things, mostly in passing, that may be of interest only to me.
First, as the title says, Vinny Rottino has been signed by the Miami Marlins to a minor league deal. This means he’ll have a job in baseball as a player during 2015, which is definitely worth celebrating. Rottino made the AAA All-Star team for the Marlins franchise back in 2011, and got a call-up from them in September as his reward. (I wrote about that here.)
I’m glad that the Marlins front office remembered Rottino, and is giving him another shot to play despite his advanced age (in baseball years only). He’s a smart player, he’s always maximized his ability, and while it’s unlikely now that he’ll be able to make a serious run at a major-league job as a player, it’s far from unlikely that he’ll be able to make the majors in some other capacity later. So it’s very good that the Marlins signed him; my guess is that Rottino’s going to end up mentoring other players in the minors, and probably playing every second or third day. And that may lead him to a managerial or coaching job down the line…which I’m sure he doesn’t want quite yet, but is something to consider for future reference. (Thank goodness it’s still “for future reference,” as I was really worried after he became a free agent again.)
Aside from that, I finished a new short story and sent it to the Writers of the Future Contest on 12/31/14 as I remain eligible. (Not enough book sales as of yet.) I’m glad I was able to do that, as with all of the editing I do — and the holidays, and the family appearances that are well worth going to but normally take away from any available writing time — I don’t get anywhere near as much time to write as I’d like.
And I’m working on two different editorial projects right now, so my blogs may be sporadic for a few weeks until/unless something really grabs my attention…but I do hope to have at least a few book reviews in January 2015 over at Shiny Book Review that may interest you. (Namely the three I didn’t get to at the end of 2014 like I’d planned.)
May your 2015 be all that you want it to be, folks. And may it be a better year for us all.
New Interview (Mine) at Ally Shields’ Blog Is Up…
Folks, I wanted to let you know that urban fantasy author Ally Shields invited me over to her blog today and interviewed me…and the interview has been posted. It’s a conversational interview — hence the name, “Coffee Chat” — and I enjoyed being interviewed by Ally immensely.
Please be sure to check out this interview, as Ally asked me some extremely interesting and relevant questions that I hadn’t been asked before. She’s an urban fantasy author herself, so one of her questions was about what attracted me to the paranormal/UF genre — and I told her that, along with many other interesting things.
For some reason, I’m having trouble cutting and pasting from that interview, so you’re going to have to go directly there and read it for yourself.
Thanks again, Ally, for having me over for a Coffee Chat.
Craig Wayne Boyd, Persistence…and You
Folks, it’s no secret that I am a fan of Southern country/rock singer Craig Wayne Boyd. His time on NBC’s The Voice was in some ways magical, especially considering his eleven-year odyssey in the music business. And that he made it all the way to the end, and then actually won The Voice, was just that much more special.
What I found in Craig Wayne Boyd’s story were a number of things. Persistence. Faith, not only in a higher power, but in himself and his talent. And the drive to succeed against all odds.
Consider, please, that Mr. Boyd has said in several televised interviews that he considered quitting music altogether not too long before he auditioned for The Voice. And he knocked around Nashville and the touring circuits for eleven long years, singing his heart out, with talent and drive and dedication — but all of that garnered him very little.
Or so it seemed at the time.
Because in retrospect, what Mr. Boyd was learning all that time was to have faith in himself and his talent. He was also learning to perform, and the limits of what he could do and what he could — and couldn’t — control.
This is something we all need to learn. Because like Craig Wayne Boyd, we cannot control what other people do. We can’t control who will take notice of us, who will show up at our gigs, who will buy our books and/or recordings, or who will care about what we’re doing.
All we can control is what we do and how we do it. That’s all.
And that’s why being persistent is so very, very important. You don’t know when the next audition you do will result in a major breakthrough (as was the case for Craig Wayne Boyd). You don’t know when someone will read what you’re writing and decide it’s wonderful and tell all his friends, because you don’t know when your big break will come.
The only thing you do know is this: Once you stop trying, you have absolutely no chance of doing whatever it is you want to do.
That’s why I’ve said over and over again that you cannot and should not give up. Because you don’t know what’s around the corner…for all you know, it might just be your big break.
Vinny Rottino News and Speculation
Folks, I’m editing up a storm and working on a few book reviews right now, but as it’s been a while since my last Vinny Rottino update, I thought it was time for another one.
So here’s the one, little factoid I found out about my favorite baseball player, Racine native Vinny Rottino:
He is apparently again a free agent, this courtesy of his Wikipedia page.
I don’t often use Wikipedia as a source, mind you, but I’d gathered by the few articles I’d seen about Korean baseball in the past few months that Rottino wasn’t seeing much action in the latter stages of their season. Further, I know that Rottino’s age (he’ll be 35 next April) is now against him…professional baseball players often have relatively short “shelf-lives.”
That said, every organization Rottino has played for (mostly in the minor leagues) — the Milwaukee Brewers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Miami Marlins (then the Florida Marlins), the New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians — talked about the potential Rottino had as either a manager or baseball coach. This is because Rottino has always maximized his ability, and because he’s always been known as a smart, savvy baseball player who did whatever he could to help his team win.
I feel terrible, though, writing all of that down. Because I always felt Rottino had major league-level talent. He didn’t get the right breaks in his career to bring him up to the big leagues for more than a few “cups of coffee” now and again, and eventually was saddled with the reputation of a guy who could hit in AAA ball, but wasn’t able to convert in the majors.
Which wasn’t fair to Rottino, because he never got the opportunity to play every day.
And that bad luck followed him to Japan, and then also to Korea.
Mind, Rottino made a little bit of history earlier in 2014 as he was part of the first “all-American” battery (a pitcher-catcher combo from the U.S.) in Korean baseball. And that is no bad thing.
In addition, there’s nothing saying Rottino won’t catch on as a player somewhere else in 2015. He is a good, solid player who can play nearly every position on the field except pitcher. And he’s smart, driven, a high-quality individual…someone who deserves to succeed, because he’s tried so very hard and he really does have talent.
But time is no longer on Rottino’s side. And the longer you are a professional athlete, the more difficult it is to keep going — your body just won’t let you. (Satchel Paige and Julio Franco excluded.)
I hope for Rottino’s sake that he will have options to play. I don’t think he wants to stop playing. And he still has value as a player to the right team and the right setup — someplace he will have an opportunity to play often at a variety of positions would be ideal.
But if this is the end of the line for Rottino as a baseball player — and again, I don’t know that it is (I only suspect it) — I hope all of those teams he played for earlier in his career weren’t just blowing smoke and that there will be opportunities for him to continue in baseball, this time as either a manager or a coach.
Rottino has all the tools needed to succeed no matter what he does next, mind. He has heart. Drive. Dedication. Knowledge, both of baseball and of life. Faith, not just in the Man Upstairs, but in himself and his abilities. And he is demonstrably persistent.
Yes, one thing is clear, no matter what happens next:
Vinny Rottino is a winner.
Before I forget…
Today was a day for mentions at other well-read blogs, folks. And as I’ve already mentioned my appearance at Joan Reeves’ Sling Words, I figured I’d best get over here and mention the other wonderful blog that mentioned me — and my book AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE — today.
That blog is Cheryllynn Dyess’s “CDyess Writes,” and she featured me and AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE in her “50 Days of Indie” promotion. She and I know each other because of belonging to the Fantasy and Science Fiction Network…or #FSFNet for short, if you’re using Twitter hashtags.
Cheryllynn was kind enough to let people know about my novel AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, and I truly appreciate that. FSFN highlights novels that do not exceed a PG-13 rating, and AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE assuredly qualifies as there’s no sex, little cursing, but much rousing action and a whole lot of funny moments along with some age-appropriate romance between Bruno my “teenage” Elfy hero and his love interest, the short but very human teenager, Sarah.
Please take a look at her blog, and check out some of the other wonderful authors she’s featured in her “50 Days of Indie,” including Kasper Beaumont, Leeland Artra and Kia Carrington.
And thank you so much again, Cheryllynn, for your willingness to spread the word about me and my writing!
Edited to add: By the way, AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE remains at ninety-nine cents, but it won’t stay that way for long. (Just sayin’.) That’s the only thing Cheryllynn didn’t know about, as the regular price is $3.99 (as she stated), and the original plan was to raise the price back up before this point.
But since it’s still at just ninety-nine cents, why not take a chance?
I mean, really. Where else are you going to get a full-length, action-packed and very funny urban fantasy for less than the price of a latte?
Check Out Today’s SlingWords “Christmas Past” Blog…Featuring 12 Great Authors (Including Me)
Folks, author Joan Reeves has been generous enough to share space on her blog, SlingWords, for a “Christmas Past Promotion.”
What does that mean? Ms. Reeves asked for a link to a book of our choosing (for me, it’s obviously AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE as that’s my only book thus far) and for a past Christmas memory.
Please check out the promotion at SlingWords forthwith, as there should be any number of interesting writers for you to “meet,” not to mention finding new books that interest you — just in time for Christmas!
In case you were wondering, though, here’s my Christmas memory:
In 2001, I was talking with an interesting man named Michael on Christmas Eve. We’d known each other about six months, had been introduced by a mutual friend — and you’d think nothing of this, except this was a long-distance relationship where we’d only met each other once due to him living in San Francisco and me in Iowa.
Anyway, Michael and I were talking. It was Christmas Eve. My family was far away, and his was, too…so we talked and talked and talked, and didn’t care about how much money it cost because hey, it was Christmas Eve. Before we knew it, we’d talked for nearly thirty-six hours in a row about everything under the sun. And at the end of that time, he told me, “I hope we can consider ourselves dating now.”
That was the beginning of my romance with the love of my life, my late husband, Michael B. Caffrey. It is the most precious memory I have…and it happened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 2001.
(Yes, miracles truly do happen.)
For those of you with sharp eyes, yes, I’ve talked about this before, most notably at Murder By 4 in my guest blog last year. It is one of the most precious memories I have, and it did indeed happen at Christmas.
As I’ve said here many times, without Michael, I doubt I would’ve written AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE. I doubt I’d have finished CHANGING FACES (coming in 2015 from Twilight Times Books), either, and I certainly wouldn’t have written any military science fiction at all, whether it was to finish Michael’s stories or not.
Sometimes, one person can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Michael B. Caffrey obviously made a huge difference in mine (please check out my prior blog about Michael’s transformational life if you don’t believe me). He was encouraging, kind, knowledgeable, a skilled editor, and knew how to structure a novel. Between learning from him and working on my craft since, I’ve become a better writer, a better editor, and a far better person.
It is because I took a chance on Christmas Eve back in 2001 that I met and married the most wonderful person I have ever known — Michael B. Caffrey.
Thank you, Joan Reeves, for giving me the chance to spread the word about my work…and more importantly, about my husband.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 