Photo: Twitter/@StuartScott

I didn’t know Stuart Scott personally, but I’ll never forget this tweet I got from him almost two years ago.

He had asked his followers on Twitter about, of course, his beloved UNC Tar Heels. More specifically about photos of new jerseys being worn by the men’s basketball team that year, to see what they looked like. I quickly found a link with photos and, somehow, he saw my tweet and responded (pictured above). Scott did this kind of thing a lot with his fans and followers, both on social media and in life. He always treated both his admirers and critics with the utmost respect. He never forgot his roots, the people he worked with and the places he worked at.

I also remember the times I saw Scott in person, hosting “Late Night With Roy” – UNC’s “midnight madness” event at the beginning of each season. I could tell Scott absolutely loved returning to his alma mater and being in the company of 21,750 screaming fans at the Smith Center. As a sports junkie and aspiring journalist myself, Scott was one of my biggest inspirations. He probably would not have admitted it, but Scott truly changed the sports broadcasting world. His catchphrases were always so memorable – my personal favorite being “He must be butter because he’s on a roll.” Just the way he delivered and gave commentary on stories and highlights on “SportsCenter” was authentic and extraordinary.

Cancer is a monster. My hope is that, one day, it’ll be wiped off the face of the earth. Scott definitely kicked cancer’s ass everyday, continuing to live his life no matter what was thrown at him. As Scott said during his acceptance speech for the Jimmy V Award for Perserverance at the 2014 ESPY Awards: “When you get too tired to fight, then lay down, and rest, and let somebody fight for you.” Scott never gave up the fight, but now he’s resting. It’s time for all of us to fight for him and for the millions of others battling cancer everyday.

The world undoubtedly lost a good one. Rest easy, Stu, and…BOO-YAH!