Headline: Bell battles adversity, stereotypes
Publish Date: 10/26/1994
Matthew Cross
Sports Reporter
Scott Bell is characterized by his work ethic. But the Gophers hockey
co-captain is more than just an athlete.
On the ice, the senior winger considers himself a goal scorer. But
his off-ice activities are what mold his personality.
"(Hockey) is what I do," Bell said. "It's part of my life, but it's
not who I am."
Bell played an integral part in the founding of the Drug Awareness
Resistance Education program at Simley High School in Inver Grove
Heights, where he lettered in three sports.
The speech communications major delivered lectures for the DARE
program while in high school.
Bell was part of the Student Athlete Advisory Board at the University
for two years, but has relinquished his duties as the hockey team's
representative to Brian Bonin.
As a committee member, Bell was responsible for bringing issues
regarding athletes' welfare to the attention of men's athletic
director McKinley Boston.
Rufus Simmons, assistant to the director of student development, was
a part of the advisory board, which consists of a representative from
each team (two for football).
"He was a special member to the board," Simmons said. "He was
assertive and he represented his sport very well. He could be counted
on to be very open and his forthrightness was an asset to the board."
Bell also is a member of the University's Big Brother program, and
often takes his little brother to the hockey games.
His active role in the community was part of the reason why Gophers
coach Doug Woog recruited him.
"We needed somebody with tangible energy and that bulldog attitude,"
Woog said.
{Throwing a bone to UMD? -sorry, I know it's awful, but I couldn't help it!}
Woog also liked Bell's hard-nosed demeanor.
His grit paid off in 1992 and 1993 when he won the team's Mike Crupi
Most Determined Player Award for his efforts.
But Bell was due for a quiz on the chapter concerning gumption.
During his freshman year, Bell hurt his back on a hip slide machine
while lifting weights, yet he played for two years with the injury.
"I knew something was wrong," Bell said, "but I thought I just pulled
a muscle."
After his junior year, in which he scored 12 fewer goals than the
previous season, Bell decided that surgery was inevitable.
"I wanted to be healthy for the rest of my life," Bell said.
Last weekend's series at Minnesota-Duluth was Bell's first action
since undergoing surgery. And coaches and teammates agreed that Bell
played like he had before the surgery 18 months ago.
Bell was so intense about retuning to the lineup that he lost track
of the score in the first game.
"I always thought we were going to win," Bell said. "I was having too
good of time to notice that we were down by two goals. I was just
excited to play at full speed for a change."
Scott's father Tom Bell, who runs a bar in St. Paul called T.J.
Bells, wholeheartedly agrees that there is more to Scott than meets
the common hockey fan's eye.
"Scott is not a sit-down type of person," Tom said. "If he has an
objective he wants to obtain, hell and high water won't keep him.
"He started later in hockey than most kids in the metro area, and
he's basically a self-taught hockey player and skater. His talents
are raw. He had to work at everything. What you see is what you get."
Bell's hard work paid off when he received an offer to attend West
Point, but he turned it down.
He wanted to attend the University of Minnesota and live out his
fantasy of playing hockey.
"You're dealing with someone who is chasing a dream," Tom said. "A
lot of us don't get that opportunity."
Bell is happy being a Gopher, but he doesn't take it for granted.
"He'll always play hard," Woog said. "And because of that, things
will fall into place for him."
On and off the ice.
Pam Sweeney Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask] 1993 & 1994 WCHA Playoff Champions
1994 NC$$ PHinal PHour
Ski-U-Mah!!!
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