Most of my viewers, past and present, will see me first as the 'sports guy." I have a 36-year career in commercial television sportscasting that spans seven stations already in the bank. Eighteen of those years have been here in the Roanoke Valley as the Sports Director of WSLS-10 Sports. Moving forward, as a morning anchor for WSLS-10 News at 5 & 6 AM, and WSLS-10 at noon, I won't be hiding from my roots. I feel like all the experiences covering sports--that live event coverage which requires the ability to talk, improvise, and communicate facts as they come in--will serve me well in my new position.
On the athletic front, I was a cross-country and track athlete at Syracuse University. I'm in my high school (Tamaqua, PA) Sports Hall of Fame for my cross-country, wrestling and track careers there. I understand what it means to compete at a high level. My broadcasting degree comes from the University of Florida.
My minor, on the other hand, is not what you might expect. It's International Relations. I was pretty close to making it another major and taking the US State Department test. I've always stayed connected to what's going on in the world, especially from a US policy perspective.
My daughter Nina is a rising junior at William & Mary after spending a year abroad studying in Rome. Getting to visit her in Italy was a lifelong dream come true. My son Aidan is headed to JMU this fall as a freshman and member of the marching band. Both are graduates of Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville. My hope for them is they find something they're passionate about. It's what has enabled me to continue to come to work with the same drive that I had some 36 years ago when I left college.
Finally, I'll be doing some extra reporting on our area schools. In sports, I got to visit plenty of our area high schools for competitions and practices. Now, hopefully, I can continue telling important stories both in the classroom and beyond.
