Northeast Philadelphia born and raised, I didn’t spend most of my days on the playground, but rather in the street, playing football, hockey, basketball and wiffleball. A childhood (and who are we kidding, young adulthood, too) of playing pickup sports aided my passion for competition, while the talented teams at Central High were simply too good to be left uncovered. So I joined the school paper. Once a wide-eyed sports writer for the Daily Free Press at Boston University, I’m still a wide-eyed sports writer, just living in a different city. My biggest influence while studying journalism was the indelible Jack Falla, who taught me how to write, observe, laugh and live. I make his dynamite Jambalaya recipe once a year, on the Super Bowl. It’s always the first to go. I’m passionate about storytelling. I love the thrill of being able to document a moment that readers can relive again and again. Since joining The Gazette, I witnessed the most miraculous comeback I’ve seen at any level when Bowie High School’s boys’ soccer team won the state title, with Jimmy Rollins’ double off of Jonathan Broxton in the 2009 NLCS coming in a close second. In my free time, I play the drums and trumpet and watch lots of baseball. I won a “Chopped” competition against my girlfriend that somewhat vindicated my absurd passion for cooking. My roommates and I designed an 18-hole Frisbee golf course in Alexandria. I led the Masters after two rounds, but choked on Sunday.