What was your first job as a journalist?
My first job as a journalist was writing local sports in Sarnia, Ontario.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes
How is social media changing news?
Social media is changing news by making it harder to separate fact from fiction.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
My favorite fictional journalist is Ernest Hemingway.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means I didn't have to work for a living.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't pay attention to
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I prefer to be pitched by email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
I am not very technically astute, so I'm learning as I go.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter is my favorite social network.
Who do you wish followed you?
I wish athletes, player agents and sports trainers and psychologists followed me.
Why did you become a journalist?
I wanted to get into games free and be paid to talk to athletes.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I don't think we had a high school newspaper, but I was too busy anyway trying to work on my three-point shot.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I'm most proud of pitching and selling my first story to the New York Times about the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
I would advise aspiring journalists never to give up no matter how many rejections pile up.
When's the best time to pitch you?
The best time to pitch to me is anytime.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
The best pitch I got was to cover the Maple Leafs of the NHL.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
The worst pitch I got was to write about academic research in finance, which I have no aptitude for.
What's your favorite drink?
My favorite drink is red wine.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
I'm mostly likely to be drinking wine overlooking a vineyard.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
My favorite publication to read is The Athletic.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
The most common misperception about my beat is that it's always easy to find people to interview.
