In Memoriam: Stuart Scott

An undated photo of ESPN sportscaster/host Stuart Scott who succumbed to cancer earlier today at the age of 49.

It was just before 11am this morning when I saw the news about the passing of longtime ESPN sportscaster/host Stuart Scott when it popped up in my Facebook newsfeed via a friend's status update. I knew that he had been ill of late but denials of unfounded rumors of hospice care in early December were the last time I noticed any news about his condition. Although he put up a very brave 7-year fight, Scott succumbed to appendicial cancer, an extremely rare variety of this disease that affects about 1 in 9 million Americans and also was a factor in the death of legendary actress Katherine Hepburn back in 1993.

My "No Show" November

I hadn't missed an entire month since June 2013 and only done so twice in the 41-month run of this blog

Near the end of a productive year (51 posts in 10 months), it appears that I have done something I've only done once before in the history of my blog--I missed an entire month! A span of 38 days went by where I did not post any items to this website and that would be considered a "drought" instead of the few "hiatuses" I took while doing my journalism certificate program. A little bit of background information will help explain the rationale for my absence.

Back in July, I started an 8-part series about my "journo-less" summer where I mentioned that I was unemployed at that time. Unfortunately, that situation remains in effect and it seemed to come to a head in October when yet another delay was going to push any job hopes off until early in 2015 (at the earliest). Once my state jobless benefits ended in early August, I've been on my own and things have become more critical on the financial front as the months have gone by. With the day-to-day anxieties weighing heavily on me, I did what any 50-something might do--I ran away from home (with my wife's permission) and took a credit card-funded "road trip" to get me away from my problems for just a little while.

Indy Visit

As you can see by the dearth of blog entries here, I've had some personal and professional issues that impacted the 'free' time I was anticipating last month.  However, one of the things I was planning on doing did happen last Friday when I paid a visit to Indianapolis to take in the sights and sounds of the Super Bowl's pre-game festivities.  Attending the NFL Experience and strolling through the city's Super Bowl Village were my first and, with the infrequency of games in northern US cities, probably last opportunities to do that in my lifetime.  It was expensive ($20 for parking, another $20 for admission to the convention center, an ATM demanding an $8 service charge to withdraw money) and crowded (an estimated 1.1 million visitors for the 10-day affair) but I feel that it was worth my time and effort to go.