About Me

I broke into the journalism business on the news side at a small newspaper in my home state of Michigan. On my first day, fire destroyed a home. The fire chief walked me through the charred skeleton of the house. It’s been three decades, but I can still smell the smoke. I can still see him pointing to a door that was closed. When he opened it, the room behind it was barely damaged. Then he pointed to an open doorway, and the room it led to was a crispy mess. Whether the door was open made all the difference.

I was so excited—my first day, and I had a story I would never forget. I’ve never lost that thrill of finding stories. Not for one day. 

The best part of being a journalist is I get to do something different every day. I have bowled with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, hiked with Green Berets, whitewater rafted with Miss Kansas and spent an entire summer trying to get my first hole in one.

In pursuit of stories, I have jumped out of an airplane, conned my way into the flyover before a NASCAR race and auditioned to be a mascot (I failed miserably). My claim to fame, if I have one, is that I am the only writer in the 126-year history of Sporting News to appear on the cover. I had to jam a plastic car in my mouth to do so, but that hasn’t stopped me from bragging about it.