SS: You have to learn how to deal with "No." A lot. You'll hear more people tell you "No," you'll be turned down for more jobs, you might hear people insult you. A news director in college reduced me to tears on the phone because he told me I sucked and I would never make it in this business. A professor told me I wouldn't make it because I was too silly. If that's too much for you to handle, then choose something else.

If you know you want to do it and you can handle all of that, then go for it. This isn't to pat myself on the back because I think it applies to a lot of the people I work with, but I would not trade the years of shooting my own tape, editing my own tape and being the only person at night working on highlight clips for anything.

Also, always write your own stuff. Even at the level I'm at, it's not about the cameras, the makeup, the attention or the popularity. This job is all about writing, plain and simple. Can you write well? Creatively? Can you tell me a story in a short time to make me go "Wow, I didn't know that"? Can you find that information that no one else knows? My favorite thing I've ever said on "Sportscenter"...was when Homer Bush, who was playing for the Yankees at the time, hit a home run two years ago. I put together a list of the ten people named Homer to have played in the major leagues and reported that only three of them had ever hit homers...

I'll give you "Boo-yah!" and "Don't hate the playa, hate the game," but I will also give you more stats and information than anyone else who sits in that "Sportscenter" chair. I guarantee you that. In my mind, if I can continue to do that then I can say whatever is off-the-wall and crazy because I'm backing it up. I think this emphasis on stats and information and doing our own writing is what makes "Sportscenter" better than FOX and CNNSI. You will learn more watching "Sportscenter" than any other highlight show....

THC: To shift to a lighter topic, we've seen you in rap videos and other media. What are the chances we can expect a feature film starring Stuart Scott in the near future?

SS: I'd love it. I haven't been featured yet, but my voice was in "He Got Game" and I just did some work for Bruce Willis' upcoming film "The Kid." I've also done an episode of "The Hughley's" and "Arli$$." The problem is that I always play myself. I want to play somebody else.

THC: The new "Shaft" film is coming out soon. Would something of that caliber interest you?

SS: Yeah. Well, Sam [Jackson] is a buddy of mine. He's playing Shaft in the film. I was actually playing golf a couple weeks ago with him and Richard Roundtree, who is playing Shaft's father.