A tribute to Scott Davis, by Paul Merca, note by Larry Eder

On May 12, Paul Merca, one of our sports most prominent bloggers, and meet announcers took over a daunting task: he had to cover for the late Scott Davis, the dean of American meet announcers.

Paul sent this to me a few weeks ago, and I was clearing off emails last night, after my return from Hengelo and Rome, and thought this would be the way to start the last day of May. Scott Davis was a real friend of the sport, a man with a keen memory, wonderful voice and an sense of humor that, at times, had no socially redeeming value, as the Supreme Court once described pornography. It was at those times, when Scott would begin laughing, his face turning beet red, and his laugh beginning before the punchline, that I found myself closest to him.

We miss you Scott. And hope that, as you watch track this season, with a nice Pinot Noir, sitting next to St. Peter, that you please, please tell him a really dirty joke!

Scott Davis, July 2010, photo courtesy of IAAF.org

This is what Paul Merca read before he announced the PAC-10 meet. We are sure Scott Davis was watching from on high. St. Peter, if he was not before, is now a track & field fan (he may even now be a UCLA fan, not sure there, though).  

(UCLA’s Drake Stadium)

ON AUGUST 18 2010, AMERICAN TRACK & FIELD LOST ONE OF ITS MOST
VALUABLE SUPPORTERS, AS SCOTT DAVIS PASSED AWAY AFTER BECOMING ILL WHILE
ANNOUNCING THE IAAF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MONCTON, CANADA. 

DAVIS HAD BEEN BATTLING CANCER FOR 13 YEARS.

DAVIS
WAS A STALWART ON THE MICROPHONE AT MANY TRACK AND FIELD MEETS IN THE
UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE IAAF WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SEVILLE, THE WORLD JUNIORS, THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS,
OLYMPIC TRIALS, AND MANY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS INCLUDING THE PAC
10S.

TRACK AND FIELD FANS IN CALIFORNIA KNEW HIM AS THE VOICE AND
MEET DIRECTOR OF THE MT SAC RELAYS.  FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS, SCOTT WAS
ALSO THE VOICE OF UCLA TRACK & FIELD, HIS ALMA MATER.

HE WAS
THE GENERAL EDITOR FOR MANY YEARS OF THE FAST ANNUAL, ONE OF THE MOST
COMPREHENSIVE STATISTICAL TRACK AND FIELD PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE.

SCOTT WAS SUPPOSED TO ANNOUNCE THESE PAC 10 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS.

WE
WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE SCOTT FOR HIS MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SPORT
AND FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH HE TOUCHED THE LIVES OF MANY ATHLETES,
COACHES, OFFICIALS, AND FANS ATTENDING THESE PAC 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS.