Sports, music, arts, pop culture writer

My report for SI.com on Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto title bout, a night when the greatest fighter of his era was taken into the deepest waters of his career. I also wrote off the co-feature, which showcased a cruel tradition as old as boxing itself.

Jumped on The Broad Street Line podcast yesterday to discuss the retirement of Brian Dawkins, the upcoming Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Bernard Hopkins fights, the merits of the Tupac hologram and the forthcoming R. Kelly concert cruise. If you’re from Philadelphia you should have these guys in your rotation.

My essay for SI.com on Brian Dawkins, the Philadelphia icon who retired yesterday and was a perfect fit for a city where the people care a little too much about sports.

Enjoyed catching up with multi-platinum rapper Nas, who collaborated with ESPN on their coverage of this week’s NFL draft. He spoke at length about the Jeremy Lin phenomenon, his pick to win the NBA finals (Oklahoma City), and growing up a Yankee fan in Queens.

Spent five days in Atlanta covering the build-up to a high-profile mixed martial arts bout for SI.com. The most interesting moments came on fight night when I spent time backstage with Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he interacted with fans in ways his counterparts atop other major sports organizations would never even consider.

The fight itself didn’t live up to advance billing, as Jon Jones easily defended his UFC light heavyweight title against Rashad Evans.

My write-up on the new Tiger Woods video game in this week’s Sports Illustrated. Yes, that’s me in the photo.

My feature for SI.com on Stephon Marbury, once the poster boy for dysfunctional pro athletes, who over the past year has completely reinvented his image in China while leading an underdog team to the Chinese Basketball Association Finals.

A video featurette (produced in conjunction with CNN China) and these photos offer a deeper look at Marbury’s Chinese experience. And a much shorter version ran in this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Only in Philadelphia could an event like the Wing Bowl exist — a Fellini-like carnival of gluttony and political incorrectness that attracts a capacity crowd of more than 20,000 fans to the Wells Fargo Center every year. Here’s my feature for SI.com on Takeru Kobayashi, who devoured a record-shattering 337 wings in 30 minutes to collect a purse of $20,000.

My item in this week’s Sports Illustrated on Peter Berg’s new cinéma-vérité series for HBO on Freddie Roach, the famed boxing trainer who also suffers from Parkinson’s disease. My full interview with Berg from Wednesday’s premiere at HBO headquarters ran on SI.com last week.

Here’s my write-up of Win Win for the Year in Sports Media package in this week’s SI.