Rich Eisen's ESPN Remembrance of Stuart Scott

Nostalgia is back

Apparently Rich Eisen’s return to ESPN, downstream of ESPN acquiring the NFL Network, has found some fans.

Not everyone was into it, though.

From Subscriber Miggy:

Just watched Rich Eisen's return to ESPN Sportscenter where he spent 3 minutes of it tributing the late Stuart Scott. He had a quote that "Stuart should be here in the chair right next to me". Scott had an 8 year battle with cancer and passed away in 2015. I find it a little strange that ESPN hires back Rich Eisen and the first thing he does is give a tribute to someone that passed 10 years ago. And his quote is strange as well. Does he not know about death? Wanted to get your thoughts on his media return to ESPN, the top media returns/comebacks, and how you would make your return to your former employer?

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Rich Eisen is aware that his good friend Stuart Scott is no longer with us. I found the choice by Eisen, upon return, to be poignant, especially because it was unexpected. It’s not random to Eisen, obviously. He sees his ESPN incarnation as more connected to Scott than perhaps the greater public would. Rich Eisen became better known post-ESPN, and while his personal memory of ESPN is deeply intertwined with thoughts of Scott, I believe most sports fans just look at Eisen as a lone broadcaster. Also, while ‘Eisen and Scott’ were a team for many years, they aren’t as connected in the cultural memory as ‘Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann.’