My first piece for ESPN was barely 400 words. It was about a sport you probably never heard of before called fistball. Thing is, ESPN never heard of it either. But the sport is played in multiple countries around the world, and there is even a Fistball World Cup. So, after a successful pitch, ESPN Page 2 dispatched me to the middle of Wisconsin to interview fistball’s Team USA ahead of the 2011 international tournament.

I thought it would be the only story I’d ever write for ESPN. Instead, I penned stories for them for six years.

What followed was reporting on high school football for ESPN Chicago’s prep blog, as well as four years of reporting on extreme sports like roller derby, and also a series or articles on rock stars and musicians like Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, and Morrissey, all with a heavy dose of sports fandom.