On writing and deciding upon "The Basketball 100." On covering John Thompson's Hoyas and the crappy Washington Redskins. On his love of roundball and why journalism celebrity is nonsense.

On using TikTok to try and establish oneself in the writing universe. On the joy of creating Gods and breaking out metaphors. On writing through anxiety, the North Dakota winters and four children. On the efforts to try and find a literary agent.

On arriving at a newspaper in 1973 and remaining until (gasp) 2016. On the bliss of covering Marvelous Marvin Hagler. On visiting his father's grave after the Red Sox won the World Series. On arriving in the typewriter age of journalism and now being on social media.

On starting up a new sports media platform in 2024; on the reinvention of a veteran journalist; on the glory days of Sports Illustrated; on the misguided anger of a legendary Pittsburgh Penguin.

On the crazy religious cult that gobbled up NFL players. On Jerry Jones' weird tours of the Cowboys facility. On starting out as Peter King's assistant and working her way up. On the joy of dance.

On relocating 4,284 miles to take his first journalism job. On working for a weekly paper in a town of 2,000 people. On making connections with folks he doesn't know in a community he doesn't know. On the joys of salmon and shrimp.

On the importance of Doug Williams and Vince Evans in the rise of the Black quarterback. On why sports history unfairly overlooks Vince Evans. On the scores of unknown Black QBs lost to history. On why Colin Kaepernick should be a Miami Dolphin.

On what it's like to have your life story inspire a hit TV show. On how one sheds his reputation as (solely) an athlete. On the highs and lows of Hollywood. On whether it's all worth it.

On the highs and lows and mental anguish of writing a biography. On trying to convince Hakeem to sit down for a chat. On Ralph Sampson and Pete Chilcutt and basketball glory. On how one selects a subject.

On self-publishing a 794-page opus. On how a love of Tupac Shakur drove him to a monumentally ambitious task. On how to sell an Amazon-printed book. On the legacy of a legendary artist.