About Us

In July of 2006, I had just graduated from school (University of Pennsylvania) and I was working in New York for a major investment bank. Upon receiving my first paycheck from my first real job ever, I gasped in horror when I noticed that my check was much less than what I expected. The tax man took almost 40% of my paycheck and didn’t even buy me dinner. On that day, I became a fiscal conservative.

Around that same time, I joined a local church where the pastor challenged me to commit my life to Christ and study the Bible. Through my studies, I began to understand how God see’s the world. This, of course, led me to become a social conservative.

Somewhere in between working, investing, bible study, SportsCenter, and watching the talking heads on cable, I’ll write articles on the Political Trough from a conservative perspective.

What is the quick and dirty information you need about me? Well straight up, I am a Cubs fan (proudly), I use Windows Phone 7 (proudly), I ride a motorcycle (Triumph Bonneville), I play bunches of video games (mostly PC), I pretend to be good at photography (Sony a33 currently), and I love playing the sport of Ultimate (best sport eeever). Now as far as tech is concerned I tend to just be really excited and optimistic at all times about current and future gadgets. Probably makes me a poor reviewer, but man I have fun with it. I also have a habit of researching something to a ridiculous degree when I find a new gadget obsession, luckily most of the time I control the actual purchasing impulse.

I spend my normal days as an Applications Developer for a small company, but who cares about that.

I am a rabid NY sports fan, in so much as it’s not the Jets or the Mets (or the Nets for that matter). Growing up in New York I was only ever really exposed to the New York sports teams and themes. Furthermore, my father is a die-hard New York Yankees, New York Giants, and New York Knicks fan, and despite my mother’s side of the family trying to convince me to root for the Mets and Jets, I’ve been bred into NY fandom. New York fans are often considered loud and occasionally uneducated, which I find personally incorrect. The quality of conversation heard at sporting events and sports bars always seems to me to be above and beyond my current locale (sorry Cubs “fans”). As such, I like to think of myself as a student of the Yankees and Giants, while also ensuring that I know the comings and goings of the rest of the league.

My desire to prove the New York sports fan stereotype wrong also manifests itself in my love of fantasy sports. Nothing pleases me more than putting together a team of sleepers from across the league in order to contend for a fantasy championship. Fantasy sports is what led to my love of statistics in the games and have allowed me an outlet to hone my skills.

Politics and History have always been passions of mine while growing up. I have always been intrigued with the way politics and history make you think in regards to critical, analytical and conceptual thinking. Therefore, the historian in me loves to write and educate those that are willing to read and learn.

I am a prior service Army National Guardsman for the State of New York where I served as an Information Technology Specialist. Currently, I hold a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in History. I am the author of the recent publication Forgotten Hero: The Captain Michael Scott Speicher Investigation.

Born in Nawlins’ (New Orleans for those of you not from the dirty south) Louisiana and having lived large portions of my life in Seattle, WA, Melbourne, FL, and Chicago, IL my sports allegiances are unique and diverse. I am first and foremost a Nawlin’s Saints fan, from the bag wearing Aint’s (before my time) to the “trade all draft picks for Ricky Williams” debacle (which made me to be the only person in Chicago that hates Mike Ditka) to the Sean Payton, Drew Brees led Superbowl XLIV champion Saints, I love my Saints. From there I moved to Seattle in the year following the improbable run the Mariners made to the 1995 ALCS by beating the New York Yankees in the ALDS featuring players such as Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, and Randy Johnson. This team probably saved baseball in the great northwest and secured my Seattle Mariners fandom. My time in Florida saw the end of Shaq’s time there, but players like Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Darrell Armstrong, and Bo Outlaw gave me reasons to root for the Magic.

While in high school I was a member of the Melbourne Central Catholic Baseball and Swimming teams, which allows me to speak intelligibly on team sports and slightly explains my obsession with Michael Phelps. With this podcast I hope to start relevant discussion on topics that are important in sports but also carry social significance as well, and have some fun along the way.

I am just a former Republican, current cynical independent, avid White Sox and Bears fan (and other non-Cubs Chicago teams sitting a step lower), and obsessive technophile trying to answer the age old question, “What’s the square root of this apartment?”

I’ve also been called a serial entrepreneur. I can not sit still for extended periods of time out of fear of dying of boredom. I can usually be found working on one of my many ventures, or dreaming up new ones.

I talk a lot. It’s a genetic disease that for better or worse I picked up from my parents. I also usually think I’m right. That part comes more from my mom’s side of the family. These two aspects combine to lead me to have an opinion about most anything, and for that reason, my point of view can be found strewn all across the Trough Network. I know I care more about sports than I should, and my undying devotion is dedicated to teams in the following order: University of Michigan football changed my life in more ways than I ever imagined. The Chicago Bulls were the first team I ever became obsessed with, and I haven’t lost one smidge of passion for them since I was a kid. I founded an ultimate frisbee team with friends in Argentina called Big Red, which no one reading this has
any reason to care about, but 100 years from now when the team is still thriving and I’m long dead, I’ll still be one of the 7 originals. Club Atlético Independiente is the Argentine soccer team that finally won me over to the sport. Soccer fandom is a sickness I tried to avoid, but it’s in my blood now. For other sports, my preference ebbs and flows based on whether a team has players I can get behind. The exception to this would be baseball, which I began to ignore around 1986 until I finally lost complete interest during the strike of 1994. That said, go White Sox I guess. Regarding other Troughs on the network, I’m a liberal but not a Democrat. I love movies of any and all varieties as long as they’re not insulting my intelligence. Travel and foreign culture is a huge passion of mine that only gets stronger with each new experience. And I won’t be contributing anything beyond readership to the Tech Trough as I am the crotchety old man of the group. I’m currently living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and about to move to Geneva, Barry Switzerland.

The most vivid memories that I have of any sport that I played or watched is still the
Mariners’ 1995 playoff run. From clawing back from 13 games behind to reach the one-game playoff with the Angels to playing from behind in every game against the Yankees to become the 4th team in baseball to come back down 2 games in a 5 game series, culminating in Edgar Martinez’s double to score Griffey – it was the most exciting thing I’d ever been a part of as a 9-year-old. And with the Mariners making the playoffs for the first time in their history, it introduced a new kind of triumph and pain as I watched Randy Johnson throw his head up in agony after Kenny Lofton crossed the plate – getting close and falling short. My professional teams have continued to see little success in my lifetime and my experience with sports has frequently been marked by frustration, but
that was the first time I can remember that it really felt worth it.

I spent the entirety of my childhood in and around Seattle, but my family was from Chicago and that’s where their allegiances lay. I had the fortune to be raised by a father who didn’t take devotion to teams lightly, and before I was even born I had 2 sets of Seahawks and Bears shirts – one for when I was a baby, and one to wear when I was older. But when it comes down to it, only one team in a sport owns your emotions – can make you feel that pang, that elation, that depression. As I grew up, I still got Bears and Bulls clothing for my birthday, but my closet quickly filled with the Seahawks t-shirts and Mariners hats that we got going to the games. We had a share of season tickets that put me cheering wildly along the third base line of the Kingdome through the ’95 season, my dad calling in any favor he could to put us in the seats for the playoffs. A few months
later he’d scored tickets to the NBA Finals, and I was at the Key Arena hurling shameless vitriol at Michael Jordon. There was nothing my dad could do – I was a Seattle fan. When it comes down to it, only one team in any sport owns your emotions.

Sports have played a significant role in my life for as long as I can remember. My father immigrated to New York from Antigua as a teenager just in time to experience what many would call the glory days of New York sports in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I heard so many “those were the good ol’ days” stories about Willis Reed and Walt “Clyde” Frazier that they became sacred in our home. I don’t think I had any other choice but to be a New York sports fan.
(Knicks, Yankees, Giants)

Growing up in Connecticut, my parents encouraged me to be active in sports. I played soccer, basketball, baseball and ran track and really fell in love with the competitive energy of all sports. However, watching the New York Knicks with my dad and older brother turned me into a full-fledged basketball fan. Soon enough, I started sporting the same high top fade as my favorite player John Starks. Furthermore, UConn basketball was the #1 topic of conversation in Connecticut. John Starks high top fade. Ray Allen jump shot. I was hooked.

The Sports Trough has given me a great opportunity to share my love of sports and discuss the hot button issues that do not necessarily get airplay on the mainstream networks. Let’s keep the
conversation going.