Welcome. I’m an author, journalist and screenwriter who primarily focuses on sports, American culture and 20th century history. I’ve also written four books, scripted podcasts, authored award-winning screenplays, worked on content marketing projects, and more.
Read and sign up for my sports history Substack newsletter, Throwbacks, here.
Read my archive of Rolling Stone columns.
Read my archive of Vice Sports columns.
Read my archive of Grantland stories.
Read my archive of The Athletic stories (subscription required).
Read my archive of The Ringer stories.
Read my archive of Bleacher Report stories.
Articles and Essays
Complicity and Deflection at the LIV Golf Traveling Circus (The Ringer, July 2022)
The golfers, organizers, and sponsors associated with LIV don’t care if you ask questions about the fledgling, Saudi Arabian–financed tour. But whether they’re willing to answer, and honestly account for, them is a different story.
Lincoln Riley Is the Coach of the Future and the End Point of a Revolution (The Ringer, December 2019)
The Oklahoma coach is an innovator, an archetype, and the guy seemingly every team wants to hire. How did he get here? And what does he mean for the sport?
For “Club and Community”: How The Timbers Army Took on MLS Over Political Speech in Stadiums (The Ringer, October 2019)
A ban on the display of an anti-fascist symbol sparked a standoff between the Portland Timbers fan group and the league’s front office.
‘NCAA Football’ Is Still Alive, Because One Online Community Won’t Let the Game Die (The Ringer, August 2019)
EA Sports stopped issuing new versions of its beloved college football title in 2013. But you can still play the video game with updated rosters—thanks to the tireless efforts of an unlikely group of caretakers.
The Promise of Baker Mayfield, and the End of the Browns’ Tortured QB History (The Ringer, August 2019)
Revisiting the 29 Cleveland quarterbacks who came before Mayfield, and the scars they left behind.
Eleven Miles, but a World Away: The Warriors Make Their Last Stand in Oakland (The Ringer, June 2019)
As Golden State looks to secure its fourth title in five seasons, the team is also preparing for its move to San Francisco. And while the distance between Oracle Arena and the new Chase Center may seem small, for many longtime Warriors fans and Bay Area residents, the significance of the shift is much greater.
Paranoid and Madcap, The Manchurian Candidate Is Our Timeliest Novel (Vulture, May 2019)
150 Years of College Football: The Series (The Athletic, 2019, subscription required)
Golf’s Generation War Will Be Fought at the Masters (The Ringer, April 2019)
Through most of golf’s history, major championships were reserved for players in their 30s who’d “paid their dues.” Then Tiger Woods came along, and after him the Rory McIlroy–Jordan Spieth generation. Now, that group is writing a new chapter—and changing the sport as it goes.
The Legacy of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s NCAA Championship Showdown, 40 Years Later (The Ringer, March 2019)
In 1979, two generational talents faced off on college basketball’s biggest stage. The game sparked a rivalry that helped shape the landscape of the sport as we know it, and four decades later it still serves as a cultural touchstone.
How Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Became the Last Niche Act to Play the Super Bowl Halftime Show (The Ringer, February 2019)
Before the show became the massive, commercial entity it is today, one small swing band got the call to perform in 1999. Their appearance is virtually unbelievable 20 years later—even to the band’s members.
The Fight Over the Future of Football Has Become a Battle for California’s Soul (The Ringer, January 2019)
California has long been known as a hotbed of football talent. Yet as research into the game’s dangers has spread, politicians, advocates, and parents have clashed over how to protect youth, high school, and college athletes. What happens to a state intractably divided by sport?
The Odd Couple (The Athletic, November 2018) (subscription required)
For 50 years, Harvard’s Champi and Yale’s Dowling have been connected but also apart
Martha Burk, Hootie Johnson, and Augusta National, 15 Years Later (The Ringer, April 2018)
The showdown between the women’s rights activist and the country club chairman may have ended in 2003, but their fight over women’s rights and representation was always bigger than golf.
The Birth of Steph (The Ringer, March 2018)
When a skinny guard with a magical shot led tiny Davidson College on an unforgettable NCAA tournament run, he altered his basketball trajectory—and the entire sport. Ten years later, Steph Curry and others reflect on the March that launched a legacy.
How the Olympics Got Disneyfied (The Atlantic, February 2018)
The 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games were star-studded and futuristic—and broadcast to U.S. audiences for the first time.
The Drug Czar (The Penn Stater, January/February 2018)
The complicated legacy of Harry Anslinger, father of America’s drug war.
