MY JOURNEY
Who am I? The short answer: someone chasing big dreams and great stories.
I have loved sports since, well, forever. Growing up in Rhode Island my dream was to be the starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox. I would spend hours and hours hitting baseballs into a net in my basement, whipping a ball against the wall and even dreaming about our family moving from New England to the south where I could practice outside all the time. At the end of the night I would watch SportsCenter (sometimes twice in a row) to see what the best athletes in the world were doing. I had a dream and that drove me to do anything I could to see if I could make it come true.
Eventually I figured out that the baseball dream wasn’t meant to be for this 5-foot-8 guy without a fastball that could reach 90 miles per hour! I ended up pitching at Division-III Emerson College, loving every minute of it but also realizing I needed to pick out a new dream. After studying broadcast journalism, I set my sights on making it to the big leagues of the sports TV world. I particularly loved watching ESPN's great feature stories that Tom Rinaldi and Jeremy Schaap would tell on programs like E:60 and SC Featured, and teared up just about every time I watched one of the Make-A-Wish stories from Chris Connelly. I had myself a new dream and it was time to go and chase after it.
CHAMBERSBURG, PA
Taking the first step was not easy. In the beginning I couldn’t get a single TV job offer out of college. Eventually I adjusted my plan to take a job where I could work on my on-camera skills to improve my reel. I moved to Chambersburg, PA, to work at a small town newspaper there and instantly it felt like starting at the very bottom of the minor leagues. I showed up to find my camera was just an amateur handheld video recorder (luckily, it didn’t take me long to convince the bosses to upgrade to better gear). Sometimes I would drive three hours to cover a high school volleyball game, then three hours back, then write a byline story for the newspaper and then edit a video report for the website. My most unforgettable experience at the paper actually didn’t happen in Chambersburg and was not a sports assignment at all. In December of 2012, I was sent to Newtown, CT, along with reporters from across the country that worked for the company that owned our paper, to cover the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School – a heartbreaking experience I will never forget.
ALPENA, MI
After a year in Chambersburg I finally got my first TV job at WBKB-TV in Alpena, MI. This was really starting at the bottom! Alpena was ranked Market No. 209 – a few spots from being the smallest in the entire country! I covered deer hunting, ice fishing, dog sledding and some other whacky sports. This place was even smaller than Chambersburg. We did not have any live shot capabilities, but we did have two sports anchors, one weatherman and a handful of news people all grinding to make something of themselves in the TV business.
PROVIDENCE, RI
After Michigan, I moved home to Rhode Island without a job at first. I had a friend at the NBC station in Providence who suggested I apply for a part-time job working weekend nights on the assignment desk. I did, thinking it would be a short term gig while I figured out my next move. A few months in, the assistant news director asked if I could fill in doing sports. I wasn’t expecting that but I jumped at the opportunity. A few weeks after my first show, he asked if I could fill in some more. Eventually I worked my way into being all sports, all the time, and spent the next two years working in my home state.
TULSA, OK
After getting to report on some amazing stories for WJAR-TV in Rhode Island, including a New England Patriots Super Bowl run and Deflate-Gate scandal, plus a trip to cover a team from Rhode Island in the Little League World Series, I decided to hit the road again, this time moving to Tulsa, OK. I was ready for a bigger challenge. The opportunity to work as a weekend sports anchor covering Big 12 football and the Oklahoma City Thunder was too enticing to pass up. As it turned out, reporting on sports at FOX23 in Tulsa for three years was more exciting than I ever could have predicted. I covered Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, two Oklahoma Sooners quarterbacks who each won the Heisman Trophy and were picked No. 1 in the NFL Draft. I got to report on Thunder NBA playoff games. I followed Trae Young, now an NBA All-Star, in his one March Madness appearance with the Sooners. Maybe the most unique part of my Tulsa experience was getting to cover several less mainstream sports for the first time, including an NCAA softball World Series, an NCAA golf championship and other high-level college sports in the area like baseball, wrestling and gymnastics. I also got my first real taste of big-time high school football (something that you just don’t get in the Northeast!). I ultimately received multiple awards for the stories I told.
DALLAS, TX
In 2019, I made a big jump from Tulsa to Dallas. It was impossible not to appreciate the journey, from Market No. 209 to Market No. 5 – from covering deer hunting to chasing the constant drama and entertainment provided by the world's most valuable sports franchise, the Dallas Cowboys. I quickly fell in love with the new experiences my job at FOX4 gave me: hosting and co-hosting our 15-minute nightly sports show “Free4All” every week with guest interviews and unscripted segments; getting to travel on the Cowboys' charter plane to cover the team’s road games; and telling long form stories in the vein of those ESPN storytellers I had admired for so long.
I felt very fortunate about getting the opportunity to report on sports in this amazing city during the pandemic. I covered several historic events in 2020 including the very first PGA Tour competition to return after the COVID-19 shutdown, the Texas Rangers opening their brand-new ballpark with no fans and then hosting a neutral site World Series, bubble seasons for the NBA and NHL that included a Dallas Stars' run to the Stanley Cup Final, and an unprecedented football season at the NFL, NCAA and high school levels.
During my four years living in Dallas I have taken on stories and projects I never could have predicted, including a non-sports feature I pursued and completed with a local Holocaust survivor, and launching the Society of Professional Journalists first-ever national sports committee as its chairman. My work has been recognized with a Texas Association of Broadcasters award for best sports story, and an Emmy nomination.
One constant for me during this journey has been staying focused on finding new ways to grow as a storyteller. I am so passionate about telling the feature stories I do because, when told right, they have the power to change or reset your perspective on life at any given time. Often times, I've found that re-watching those stories can be extremely therapeutic. Getting wrapped up in preparing for a big interview, figuring out all the powerful shots we need to capture, and piecing those stories together – second by second, word by word – is what I love. It's what I dream about doing for a long, long time.
My favorite quote belongs to the late, great and very wise UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, who said: “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” I always keep that motto close to heart throughout my journey.
Who am I? The short answer: someone chasing big dreams and great stories.
I have loved sports since, well, forever. Growing up in Rhode Island my dream was to be the starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox. I would spend hours and hours hitting baseballs into a net in my basement, whipping a ball against the wall and even dreaming about our family moving from New England to the south where I could practice outside all the time. At the end of the night I would watch SportsCenter (sometimes twice in a row) to see what the best athletes in the world were doing. I had a dream and that drove me to do anything I could to see if I could make it come true.
Eventually I figured out that the baseball dream wasn’t meant to be for this 5-foot-8 guy without a fastball that could reach 90 miles per hour! I ended up pitching at Division-III Emerson College, loving every minute of it but also realizing I needed to pick out a new dream. After studying broadcast journalism, I set my sights on making it to the big leagues of the sports TV world. I particularly loved watching ESPN's great feature stories that Tom Rinaldi and Jeremy Schaap would tell on programs like E:60 and SC Featured, and teared up just about every time I watched one of the Make-A-Wish stories from Chris Connelly. I had myself a new dream and it was time to go and chase after it.
CHAMBERSBURG, PA
Taking the first step was not easy. In the beginning I couldn’t get a single TV job offer out of college. Eventually I adjusted my plan to take a job where I could work on my on-camera skills to improve my reel. I moved to Chambersburg, PA, to work at a small town newspaper there and instantly it felt like starting at the very bottom of the minor leagues. I showed up to find my camera was just an amateur handheld video recorder (luckily, it didn’t take me long to convince the bosses to upgrade to better gear). Sometimes I would drive three hours to cover a high school volleyball game, then three hours back, then write a byline story for the newspaper and then edit a video report for the website. My most unforgettable experience at the paper actually didn’t happen in Chambersburg and was not a sports assignment at all. In December of 2012, I was sent to Newtown, CT, along with reporters from across the country that worked for the company that owned our paper, to cover the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School – a heartbreaking experience I will never forget.
ALPENA, MI
After a year in Chambersburg I finally got my first TV job at WBKB-TV in Alpena, MI. This was really starting at the bottom! Alpena was ranked Market No. 209 – a few spots from being the smallest in the entire country! I covered deer hunting, ice fishing, dog sledding and some other whacky sports. This place was even smaller than Chambersburg. We did not have any live shot capabilities, but we did have two sports anchors, one weatherman and a handful of news people all grinding to make something of themselves in the TV business.
PROVIDENCE, RI
After Michigan, I moved home to Rhode Island without a job at first. I had a friend at the NBC station in Providence who suggested I apply for a part-time job working weekend nights on the assignment desk. I did, thinking it would be a short term gig while I figured out my next move. A few months in, the assistant news director asked if I could fill in doing sports. I wasn’t expecting that but I jumped at the opportunity. A few weeks after my first show, he asked if I could fill in some more. Eventually I worked my way into being all sports, all the time, and spent the next two years working in my home state.
TULSA, OK
After getting to report on some amazing stories for WJAR-TV in Rhode Island, including a New England Patriots Super Bowl run and Deflate-Gate scandal, plus a trip to cover a team from Rhode Island in the Little League World Series, I decided to hit the road again, this time moving to Tulsa, OK. I was ready for a bigger challenge. The opportunity to work as a weekend sports anchor covering Big 12 football and the Oklahoma City Thunder was too enticing to pass up. As it turned out, reporting on sports at FOX23 in Tulsa for three years was more exciting than I ever could have predicted. I covered Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, two Oklahoma Sooners quarterbacks who each won the Heisman Trophy and were picked No. 1 in the NFL Draft. I got to report on Thunder NBA playoff games. I followed Trae Young, now an NBA All-Star, in his one March Madness appearance with the Sooners. Maybe the most unique part of my Tulsa experience was getting to cover several less mainstream sports for the first time, including an NCAA softball World Series, an NCAA golf championship and other high-level college sports in the area like baseball, wrestling and gymnastics. I also got my first real taste of big-time high school football (something that you just don’t get in the Northeast!). I ultimately received multiple awards for the stories I told.
DALLAS, TX
In 2019, I made a big jump from Tulsa to Dallas. It was impossible not to appreciate the journey, from Market No. 209 to Market No. 5 – from covering deer hunting to chasing the constant drama and entertainment provided by the world's most valuable sports franchise, the Dallas Cowboys. I quickly fell in love with the new experiences my job at FOX4 gave me: hosting and co-hosting our 15-minute nightly sports show “Free4All” every week with guest interviews and unscripted segments; getting to travel on the Cowboys' charter plane to cover the team’s road games; and telling long form stories in the vein of those ESPN storytellers I had admired for so long.
I felt very fortunate about getting the opportunity to report on sports in this amazing city during the pandemic. I covered several historic events in 2020 including the very first PGA Tour competition to return after the COVID-19 shutdown, the Texas Rangers opening their brand-new ballpark with no fans and then hosting a neutral site World Series, bubble seasons for the NBA and NHL that included a Dallas Stars' run to the Stanley Cup Final, and an unprecedented football season at the NFL, NCAA and high school levels.
During my four years living in Dallas I have taken on stories and projects I never could have predicted, including a non-sports feature I pursued and completed with a local Holocaust survivor, and launching the Society of Professional Journalists first-ever national sports committee as its chairman. My work has been recognized with a Texas Association of Broadcasters award for best sports story, and an Emmy nomination.
One constant for me during this journey has been staying focused on finding new ways to grow as a storyteller. I am so passionate about telling the feature stories I do because, when told right, they have the power to change or reset your perspective on life at any given time. Often times, I've found that re-watching those stories can be extremely therapeutic. Getting wrapped up in preparing for a big interview, figuring out all the powerful shots we need to capture, and piecing those stories together – second by second, word by word – is what I love. It's what I dream about doing for a long, long time.
My favorite quote belongs to the late, great and very wise UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, who said: “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” I always keep that motto close to heart throughout my journey.