Skip to main content

Everyday I Fight by Stuart Scott (Book Review)

I was predisposed to want to read Stuart Scott's Every Day I Fight. I'd always liked what he brought to ESPN SportsCenter and how he helped evolve the brand to reach new audiences. I also respected and related to how much it meant to him to be a dad to his two girls.

Still, I was a little surprised by how heartfelt, honest, and reflective he was in what would be his posthumous memoir. I think I was expecting a book mostly about ESPN and the many athletes Scott had interviewed over the years. Figures like Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. While these subjects are in the book, they are overshadowed by the larger themes that Scott wanted to leave behind: his indomitable love for his daughters and his thoughts and feelings about cancer. I appreciate Scott's willingness to bare all and be completely vulnerable about getting sick and living with cancer. I am sure many will enjoy his anecdotes about ESPN, but I suspect many more will draw inspiration from his words about cancer.

It's interesting. I picked up the book for a flight home and ended up reading it the following week, including on the fifth anniversary of my mom's death. Like Scott, she also died from cancer. I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence that I chose this book at this time. Here's to Stuart Scott and my mom: Happy Easter and ... booyah!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee

Zucked is a sobering and important book for the stand it takes in calling out Facebook and major Internet platforms in how they are addictive by design, are eroding our privacy, and are susceptible to manipulation by bad actors threatening democracy.  I especially appreciated the coverage of filter and preference bubbles and the explanation of how and why modern online platforms can contribute to self-perpetuating beliefs and tribalism.  The author read widely about the subjects covered in the book and included a rich bibliography for further reading. Even if you don't read Zucked itself, I've included below some of the organizations, peoples, and books mentioned so you can explore. By coincidence or not, just one month after its release, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy blog detailing how Facebook will shift to become more of a privacy-focused communications platform . Organizations Center for Human Technology Common Sense Media - Non-profi...

When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work

I recently contributed an article to Information Outlook, the online magazine of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The title is "When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work", and it's about how new networking tools enable us to cultivate workplace connections with people we rarely (or never) see but who can help us in important ways. Download the article as a PDF or read the web version below. When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work (PDF) When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work If you’re not sure who the weak ties are in your social network, look at the contacts on your phone. Chances are, there are some people in your contacts list you don’t call (much less see) on a regular basis, but you find it useful to keep them listed for those occasions when you do need to contact them. Perhaps your doctor, babysitter, mechanic, or accountant fits this description. If you use a social network like LinkedIn or Twitter professionally, you will have even mo...

Electric Snow Blower?

UPDATE - 12/15/2009 After some back and forth, we went with the Snow Joe Ultra 622U1 13 Amp Electric Snow Thrower. I'll be commenting about its performance as the winter progresses and we use it regularly, but we already had a chance to try it last Thursday (12/10), when the first big Lake Effect snow of the season dumped more than a foot of snow on us here just south of Buffalo. Based on the test run, the Snow Joe performed admirably, handling the one foot high snow in our driveway without issue and essentially doing everything I expected of a powerful torque but lightweight snow thrower. ORIGINAL POST - 8/17/2009 I know it's only August, but I live in Buffalo, and you always need to think ahead about snow. The last two winters, we went without any snow removal machinery, and it hasn't been fun. The first winter I just shoveled, and the second we hired a plowing service. The plow service was better than shoveling all the time, but there were still too many times ...