Welcome to Rooting Interest

It is Masters Week, which feels like the perfect time to launch this project.

I don’t golf. I don’t play the sport, and I don’t particularly care for it. 

But I’ll watch Amen Corner all weekend, and I’ll probably make a Pimento Cheese sandwich or two. Because during this one week every year, Augusta National isn’t a golf course. It’s a stage.

Sports are stories.

That’s the motto around here—and the belief behind this whole project.

I’m a sports nut—have been my entire life—but when I watch ESPN or listen to podcasts or read other newsletters, I don’t recognize the part of these games that I first fell in love with. Sports media is full of talk about gambling, statistics, and playoff chases. 

But what they miss, so often, are the stories. 

We don’t watch sports because of a parlay. We don’t watch because of the exit velocity on someone’s home run. Those are interesting factoids, maybe, but they’re fleeting. We won’t remember them a week from now, and they certainly won’t get us to turn on a game.

We watch because of what led up to those moments.

It’s why I watch the Masters.

I watch because of the time Scottie Scheffler raced against time and won just in time to get home for the birth of his son.

Because Tiger Woods had one last bit of magic left in him.

Because Jack had some magic left too.

Rooting Interest is a place where we will celebrate the stories of sports—both the ones we just witnessed, and the ones still unfolding.

Every Tuesday, I’ll share a column that shines the light on something incredible that happened the previous week in sports: a small European soccer team that won its first soccer match in 20 years, how Taylor Swift launched one of the MLB’s greatest winning streaks, or a football upset you would never believe.

Every Friday, you’ll get a weekend viewing guide for the weekend, giving you bite-sized primers for the stories playing out across the sports world. 

This will evolve as we go. But my hope is that it shines a light on the awe, joy, and humanity of sports. And more than anything, I hope that it makes you care—just a little bit more.

What do I know about this?

I’ve been a sportswriter for over a decade. I’ve covered Super Bowls, profiled the biggest stars in college football, played poker with Doyle Brunson. I helped produce In the Arena, ESPN’s eight-part series on Serena Williams, and spent hours dissecting her career with her. I’m the co-author of Religion of Sports and spent four years writing the newsletter for the company of the same name.

This should all be a lot of fun. And more than anything, that is the point of all of this.

This will be fun. That’s the point.

Because sports are fun.

They teach us things. They bring us together. They fill us with wonder.

And twice a week, I’ll try to remind you why we care.

The first issue drops tomorrow.

Here we go.