Blogtober Day 20: Scott Hamilton

As I'm writing this post while watching Skate America (and keeping an eye on my fantasy skating team...), this is only fitting.

The better question is, why ISN'T Scott Hamilton awesome?

When Scott was a kid, he contracted a mysterious disease that caused him to stop growing. The condition eventually corrected itself, and he eventually grew to 5'4" -- as a fellow member of the short person club, I dig it.

In 1980, he placed third at the U.S. Championships to qualify for the Olympic team; he was voted to carry the American flag in the opening ceremony, and subsequently placed fifth. From 1981-1984, he won each U.S. Championship and each World Championship, and then he won Olympic gold in 1984. After winning worlds that year he retired, then co-founded, co-produced and starred in Stars on Ice until 2001 (perfect timing for me to obsess over it when I was a kid. But for real, though). He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990.

He could also do backflips on ice, and frequently did, which is really why little Darci liked him so much. It was AWESOME!

(And right now [literally, right this second], I'm listening to him as a commentator while I'm sitting in the Olympic Training Center. My life has very bizarrely come full circle.)

Scott suffered from testicular cancer in 1997 and discovered he had a benign brain tumor in 2004 (that was surgically removed in 2010). He (obviously) survived everything and is still killin' it. He was also the Make-A-Wish Foundation's first ever Celebrity Wish Granter of the Year. And, basically, he just makes you want to smile when he speaks.

Scott Hamilton: proving that big (and awesome) things come in small packages since 1980. :)