Sports Then and Now

Longtime sports anchor Stuart Scott has passed away at the age of 49.

By the time Stuart Scott joined ESPN in 1993 the network was already recognized as the “worldwide leader in sports.” However, with his quick catch phrases and smooth delivery, Scott played a huge role in making ESPN cool (as the other side of the pillow). His death after a nearly eight year battle with cancer leaves a void at ESPN and in sports television that will never truly be filled.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Scott began his broadcast career with stints in Florence, South Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina and Orlando, Florida before settling at ESPN.

Originally hired at ESPN as a host of ESPN2’s SportsNight, Scott soon became a regular behind the SportsCenter anchor desk, often teamed with Rich Eisen. His Hip-Hop references and quotable phrases quickly made him a favorite with the younger generation of ESPN fans.

Over the next two decades Scott was among ESPN’s leading faces and was especially prominent as part of their NFL and NBA coverage.

In 2002 suffered a freak injury when he was hit in the eye by a football at New York Jets minicamp. The incident damaged his cornea and he underwent multiple surgeries to deal with the damage.

His battle with cancer started in 2007 after he underwent an emergency appendectomy following a Monday Night Football Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins. The surgeons discovered a malignancy that required additional surgery to remove possibly cancerous tissue. He returned to the air a month later and continued his on-air broadcasting while undergoing chemotherapy. The cancer returned in 2010 and again in 2013.

In 2014, Scott was honored as the recipient of the Jimmy V Award at the annual ESPY ceremony. He is survived by two daughters and millions of appreciative fans.

Below are a number of clips featuring Stuart Scott during his career and at the 2014 ESPY’s as well as remembrances of Scott by some of his sports colleagues.

Stuart Scott remembers his first episode of SportsCenter

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Legalized online gambling in New Jersey has become a success as Atlantic City struggles.

Online gambling continues to exist within a murky, gray legal area that usually forces bettors to play through off-shore websites due to the restrictions and loopholes present in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. While this option is popular and well-utilized, bettors in Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada actually get to enjoy the experience of legal gaming in-person. Pioneers in state-run, online gambling, these three states have taken on the brave, new world of betting on the Internet in order to capture the dollars that were going to offshore sites. The experience is still new, but it seems to be working out satisfactorily — with a few hiccups and disappointments.

Ten more states are considering measures that would allow online gambling, but they are holding off for the moment while they gauge the success of the three states trying their luck. For online bettors everywhere, the fate of online betting rests almost entirely in the hands of Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. Here’s a closer look at how legal, online gambling is going in each of these pioneering states.

New Jersey
New Jersey has long been acquainted with gambling, and in true Jersey fashion has made a wide range of casino games available to the online bettor, so long as he or she is within state lines and over the age of 21. Since gambling has been a part of New Jersey for over three decades, its foray into the online version can seem less than newsworthy, but with brick and mortar casinos in Atlantic City struggling, the move has seemed like a wise one. The state’s casinos have seen a considerable financial dip as neighboring states put up competing casinos, and offshore legal gambling sites attract more and more bettors.

In an attempt to shore up declining gambling revenue and the casinos behind most of that revenue, the new state-sanctioned online sites can only operate through the casinos. So, how’s it going? Since it started allowing and regulating betting on the Internet, New Jersey has generated roughly $11 million each month, and while that falls short of the projections of $1 billion that the state was banking on, it’s still helpful money for a cash-strapped state. Unfortunately, because New Jersey was expecting much higher revenues, the initial rollout has been largely deemed a failure.
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It takes a lot of work to prepare for hunting season.

Planning for the next hunting season begins the day after hunting season ends. You need to check and repair your gear, clean your weapons, and replace broken items to be sure the following year’s hunt is even more successful. Read the list below for items you may need to buy, replace, or repair for hunting season.

Track Locations
The first day of hunting season is not the day to scout your locations. Scout your locations early and often. At the very least, identify and map the areas you plan to hunt using Google Maps. A GPS is extremely helpful when tracking locations as well. A properly-placed camera with a motion capture device attached will keep track of what animals are in the area and give you an idea about the most trafficked areas.
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Everyone’s got at least one hobby.

It is the competitive nature of certain pastimes that raises the question as to whether they are sports or hobbies. A sport could be defined as a competitive activity that can be performed by an individual or team that is played against others for entertainment purposes. The activity typically involves both physical exertion and skill.

Meanwhile hobbies are understood to be activities done alone or with others in one’s spare time for personal enjoyment. You can immerse yourself in a myriad of ways such as exchanging sports trading cards with others, as well as playing with friends and family. While certain hobbies can be done competitively, practically all sports function on a timetable laid down by an organization responsible for governing all related competitions.

Compare that to competitive hobbies that are done in one’s selected free time.

Some pastimes can be performed either as hobbies or sports, which leads to some general confusion. Are the following activities hobbies or sports? Let’s find out!

Golf

We begin this list with a sport that is often associated with leisure time afforded to older retire gentlemen or a “paper pusher” hoping to make a good impression on his boss.

For some, golf is very much a hobby. This is because it is strictly done during free time. But this game’s long history suggests that it is indeed a sport.

The sport of golf meets all three major requirements to be considered such. Read the rest of this entry →

Tom Brady’s safety to open the scoring in Super Bowl XLVI proved to be worth $50,000 to one sports gambler.

Thousand Dollar Wager on Safety as First Score of Super Bowl XLVI

In American football, the ever elusive ‘safeties’ have only ever been achieved seven times throughout its history. This is where the ball carrier is tackled down in his own end zone; the ball becomes dead in the end zone, or the offense commits a foul in its own end zone. One American still decided to make a bet and a $1000 one at that. With the odds stacking up against him at 50-1 from the MGM Grand sports book, his chances looked bleak. The better knew his stuff, as Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was called for intentional grounding in the end zone to account for the first points of the Super Bowl and making the lucky winner  $50k richer in one night.

Betting on Cardinals to Make and to Win 2011 World Series

On September 12, 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals were five games back from a wild card spot with just 15 games left to play. An unidentified St. Louis fan staked $250 on the Cardinals making the World Series at 500-1 odds. He obviously felt optimistic, as another $250 bet was put down on his team actually winning the World Series at 999-1 odds. The Cardinals blazed through the month of September, collecting win after win. By October, they had taken down the heavily favored Phillies and eventually defeated the Rangers in seven games to win the series. The pay-out was a huge $375,000. Read the rest of this entry →

For years Rollen Stewart and his rainbow wig were fixtures at major sporting events.

You know a sports fan is dedicated to the team when they are more famous than the actual athletes they support. Here are 8 famous fans from history, and the events that placed them in the unofficial fan hall of fame.

1. He Wasn’t Supposed to Know!

In 1977, Bobby Murcer took to the plate in an attempt to hit a home run for a young, terminally ill fan—Scott Crull. Not only did Murcer bat an impressive 2 homers, but he dedicated them to young Scott on national television. Unfortunately, Crull hadn’t been told he was dying yet. Oops!

2. John 3:16

Some sports fans are there to support the team, others to support their…religion? Rollen Stewart, commonly called “Rainbow Man” thanks to the rainbow wig he liked to wear around, did just that. Along with his wig he wore a shirt with the words “Believe in Christ.”

He didn’t discriminate between sports, showing up at all major sporting events in the 70s and 80s including the Super Bowl, Olympics, World Series, and the World Cup. Unfortunately, he found himself in jail serving three life sentences for holding a maid hostage in 1992.

3. The Loyal Dictator

Apparently North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Il, had his own personal library of videos of every game Michael Jordan played. He was an avid Bull’s fan, and reportedly said he thought the youths and workers in his own country should be made to play more basketball. Read the rest of this entry →