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To say Scott Novak was an inspiration to me would be an understatement.

Over the course of five decades, Scott had his pulse on the local sports scene in a way few ever have. Climbing aboard the Leader Publications ship in the summer of 2020, it was refreshing to see a reporter as decorated as Scott be so down-to-earth and approachable. I could come to Scott with a question and he would be there with an answer, as he had experienced just about every scenario a reporter could find themselves in over the course of his career. I marveled at the way he could write a story that appealed to both the diehard sports fan and the casual reader alike. He had a way of making you feel important when you spoke with him.

Everywhere I went, I could find people who had Scott Novak stories.

“He’s a good guy.”

“He’s an institution around here.”

“We’re lucky to have him.”

Scott has shared countless stories of his career with me the past four years but it was clear early on that  Dowagiac’s 1990 state title run held a special place in his heart. I had the pleasure of attending last Friday’s Football Tailgate – a College Gameday-esque program dedicated to high school football rivalries and big matchups in southwest Michigan – in Dowagiac. During the program, the 1990 state championship team was highlighted and members of that team were in attendance, including the head coach of that team, Bernard Thomas. 

As I stood there listening to Thomas recall the team’s championship run, I felt as though Scott was there in spirit, even though he was in a hospital bed miles away. Because many of the stories Thomas recalled were the same stories Scott would share with me, almost verbatim. It was a surreal experience.

About two months ago, just as football season was set to begin, I visited Scott in-person to deliver a special gift. After he was hospitalized for a heart attack in August, I visited each of our six athletic departments asking athletic directors and coaches to sign cards with “get well soon” messages on them. Upon seeing the cards and the messages on them, he was nearly moved to tears. 

“Are you trying to make me cry,” he asked.

The truth is that as much as Scott loved the local sports scene, the scene loved him back and then some. When I am out in the field covering community events, community members will sometimes ask about Scott. 

“Does he still work there?”

“He covered my kids when they were in school.”

“Wow, he covered ME when I was in school.”

At least three generations of locals have seen Scott patrol the sidelines of their games. As I think about Scott and the impact he has made on so many lives, I circle back to one of the last columns he wrote, titled “I am thankful for the ‘heroes’ in our world.” In it, Scott writes about the everyday people in our lives who often go unnoticed while making an impact in our communities. While these words were written last November, they seem especially poignant today.

“As the years go by, you start to reflect on your life and how it has turned out. You wonder if, in some small way, you have made a difference,” wrote Scott. “If you are honest with yourself, you know you could have done more. Even the people we look up to, the ones who have dedicated their lives to helping others, say they could have always done more. That being said, I admire those who have given what they could for the betterment of our world. Those who may not have had much to begin with still go out of their way to try and make life better for those around them.

“Those are the real heroes in our world.”

You were a real hero to me, Scott. Thank you for everything.