Pour out some liquor for #Sportonomics
When I teamed with videographer Anne-Marie Jackson to start the Sportonomics video series last year we had no clue where the project would take us. We knew we were doing something different. None of us could think of a newspaper publishing a weekly video series exploring the sports industry, and certainly not one that aimed … Continue reading
#Sportonomics x Pitch Talks = You need to be there
A quick note to remind you guys I’m presenting Thursday night at the latest edition of TallBoys Craft Beer Pitch Talks, which the organizers describe as TED Talks with grass stains… and beer. They happen roughly once a month here in Toronto and bring together famous folks (like ESPN’s Dan Shulman) and not-so-famous folks (like Toronto … Continue reading
So I’m Running the Chicago Half Marathon
Like many journalists I’m a procrastinator by nature but this week, for once, I made a decision and took action well in advance of any deadline. Tuesday night I registered for the Chicago Half Marathon, which takes place Sept. 7, starting and finishing in Jackson Park. A crew of us are getting together in Toronto for … Continue reading
Mayweather faces Maidana and a helluva dilemma
As February threatened to bleed into March, Floyd Mayweather still hadn’t announced an opponent for his scheduled spring bout, and the anticipation drove some fighters out of their Twitter minds. Amir Khan was once so sure he’d get the Mayweather payday he cancelled a December showdown with Devon Alexander, but as he tired of waiting … Continue reading
The story behind #Sportonomics
Confession: In August 2011, the moment I learned I’d been traded from the Toronto Star’s sports department to its business team, I felt a twinge of anxiety over how I’d manage this task. More than a twinge, actually. I worried for a week about how I’d connect with an audience interested in finance and the economy … Continue reading
Venezuelan Baseball: A Signing Bonus Postscript
When I met Angel Guillen last September at a dusty baseball diamond in Maracay, Venezuela was a spindly 15-year-old pitcher with a whip for a right arm and big dreams drawn to scale. I visited him while reporting a feature on Venezuela’s role in the global baseball-industrial complex, getting to know kids who hoped to … Continue reading
Aquille Carr, Overseas Pros and Major League Basketball
If you’re surprised Aquille Carr is skipping college to play pro basketball overseas, you shouldn’t be. Reports that an Italian club had offered him $750,000 first surfaced in 2011, not long after the 5-foot-6 dynamo used a dazzling array of crossovers, stutter-steps, blind passes and dunks (yes, dunks!) to become a viral video sensation and … Continue reading
Venezuelan Baseball’s Two Strikes
Original published Nov. 25 2012 in the Toronto Star. Morgan Campbell Business Reporter MARACAY, VENEZUELA—Angel Guillen turns 16 in January, but his fresh face and braces make him look younger. He’s 6-foot-2 and long-limbed, thin as a praying mantis. On the pitcher’s mound, however, he wields his right arm like a whip, unspooling fastballs that … Continue reading
Floyd Mayweather 2.0? A Motor City Postscript
Back in Canada and still recovering from 24 hours in Detroit, where the drinks are stiff (the young lady tending bar at Cutters promised her Jameson with a splash of Faygo ginger ale would put hair on my chest), and where rebirth has been a running theme for nearly four decades. On the banks of … Continue reading
Floyd Mayweather to Showtime: He’s Boxing’s Albert Pujols
Thinking of words to describe Tuesday’s announcement that boxing’s current pound-for-pound king, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, had dumped cable network and pay-per-view partner HBO in favour of rival broadcaster Showtime. “Seismic” works. Mayweather’s movement tilts the pay-per-view landscape, instantly transforming Showtime from a big-time suburb to the centre of attention and action, and maybe not just … Continue reading
Morgan Campbell: A Writer on Sports and More 