- Working on a book about mixed martial arts.

- Writing about women’s soccer and a few other topics for espnW and ESPN.

- Writing about MMA for USA TODAY.

- Contributing to USA TODAY’s magazine specials.

- Blogging at SportsMyriad and Mostly Modern Media. SportsMyriad includes the ambitious 2012 Olympic medal projections.

The blog SportsMyriad.com will get a bit of a makeover in September. Stay tuned.

I’m still freelancing for USA TODAY, and I’ve had few pieces published at ESPN.com and The Huffington Post. Some of my most interesting work will be print-only — USA TODAY publishes magazines on special topics, and I’ve gone beyond the sports world for my most recent assignments.

That’s plenty to keep me busy, and I still plan to work up a new book proposal early this fall. I can still take occasional freelance assignments on soccer, MMA, Olympic sports and anything else in the sports world, depending on my schedule at a given time. Try me at duresport (AT) gmail

I learned plenty and met people I’ll never forget, but it was a good time to go. I left after the Vancouver Games, for which I was the Nordic/biathlon beat writer after being called in to take over the online prep work with three months to go. I have other projects I want to pursue, and I hope to continue the most enjoyable part of my job — writing — as a freelancer.

The rest of my agenda, in no particular order:

• My new blog, sportsmyriad.com
• More family time
• Promoting my book, Long-Range Goals, The Success Story of Major League Soccer
• Working on another book, likely comparing sports fans across cultures and generations
• Starting a blog not related to sports. Details tba and tentative
• Freelancing elsewhere

If you want to hire me as a freelancer but failed to catch any of my writing for the national newspaper and its Web site, you might want to check out my work portfolio.

A few highlights, not necessarily the very best of my work (others can judge that) but offering a wide sampling:

• Feature with video: Mixed martial arts fighters often play a weighing game
• Feature with video: Women’s jumpers still hoping for flight in 2010 Games
• Feature with multimedia: Eight venues, one day: An Olympic odyssey
• Feature with unexpected interviews: Iceland eyes gold medal in handball
• Feature/scene piece: At Whistler, there’s just no party like a biathlon party
• Feature: Refs face tough calls in mixed martial arts
• Feature: Fighters’ entrance music gets brawlers in the mood
• Feature: On the field, Landon Donovan is showing a lot of game
• Feature: Maykel Galindo’s road from Cuba to Chivas USA
• Event story: Demong, Spillane give USA 1-2 finish in Nordic combined
• Game story: Weight lifted with U.S. soccer victory, gold
  
• Game story: Donovan answers D.C. fans’ taunts in 5-2 Galaxy win
• Interview: Clausen walking tall to third Olympics
• Interview: Wit keeps serious swimmers in sync
• Column: USA is a legitimate, if peculiar, soccer nation
• Column: The world’s game is needed more than ever

First part of the e-mail address is duresport. Then gmail.

The answer isn’t simple, which I why I’ve prepared this narrative as a companion to the simple work history presented in my resume. If you’re not interested in the whole story, the short answer is that my versatility has allowed me to hop between several career tracks in journalism. I’m an experienced editor and writer, a former page designer and an early adopter on the Web. I’m one of the few people to make the jump from print to Web, then back to print, then back to the Web. My experience is nothing if not diverse: covering high school basketball in rural North Carolina, designing the syndicated “That’s Racin’” NASCAR page, doing live election coverage in the early days of the Web, coordinating coverage of the Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City, researching a graduate thesis on new media, writing a soccer column that ensures an entertaining stream of e-mail to my inbox and jumping on the emerging sport of mixed martial arts.

Here’s the long version:

As I went through my undergraduate years at Duke, I wound up spending more and more time working for The Chronicle, the independent student newspaper. As arts editor my junior year, I re-organized the paper’s sporadic coverage into a twice-weekly section with a full calendar. By my senior year, I virtually lived at the office. I spent a semester as managing editor, guided newcomers through their first assignments, edited the monthly magazine supplement Currents and wrote for every section.

A rational mentor would have talked me into going to law school or graduate school, most likely in music. Fortunately, no such mentor existed. Though I had no professional experience and no journalism professors to recommend me for top jobs, I chased every newspaper lead I could find in the shaky economy of 1991.

I landed on the copy desk of the Morning Star in Wilmington, North Carolina, where I did all the basic desk tasks: editing stories, writing headlines, designing pages and picking wire stories. Thanks to a hiring freeze, I wound up as a stopgap assistant city editor at the tender age of 22. After 18 months, I moved to the sports section. Desk work was still my main responsibility, but in a department of five, I had ample opportunity to write a column and the occasional game story.

After three years in Wilmington, I was ready to move on to a newspaper I’d long admired, the News & Record in Greensboro. Here, I learned much more about page design, which gave me a chance to work in both the news and sports sections. Once again, I took on management duties, scheduling shifts for my co-workers and supervising the editorial assistants.

By 1995, I had joined the ad hoc team that ran the newspaper’s first foray into the Internet. The next year, the paper put together a full-fledged Web site, and I was hired as coordinating producer.

We were one of the fortunate newspaper site staffs given the freedom to do more than a simple rehashing of the print version. We took turns writing a column about the Internet for the paper, and we helped local groups and businesses develop their sites within our virtual community. I did live scene coverage under primitive circumstances, wandering around during an election or a golf tournament while making frequent trips back to the office or media tent. Best of all, I put together original material to cover local sports teams with “Carolina” in their names: Panthers (NFL), Hurricanes (NHL), Dynamo (A-League soccer).

Being in Greensboro also gave me the chance to commute each week to my alma mater, Duke, to work on a master’s degree in liberal studies. I broadened my education in a series of interdisciplinary courses in environmental studies, education, political science, history and sociology. I constantly sought to relate my classes to journalism and often wrote term papers combining my work interests and academic pursuits.

In 1998, I was ready to move on. More importantly, I was engaged, and we were ready to move somewhere near Washington. My fiancee landed a job first, and I moved up with her to find a job. To my surprise, I ended up back in print, designing and editing a daily page of national and world news for Knight Ridder Tribune News Service (now McClatchy-Tribune). The page was canceled after six weeks, and I moved on to the weekly “That’s Racin’” page of auto racing news, along with other design projects and regular shifts on the news desk. Here, I started a weekly column on Major League Soccer and wrote a few pieces on the Women’s World Cup in 1999. I also continued my graduate studies, doing an independent study on the history of objectivity in American journalism. All this, of course, was balanced with my wedding plans.

A year later, I was back on the Web at USATODAY.com, where I helped to develop the site’s interactive features. We started with message boards and moved on to chats. I continued to write a soccer column and filled in for the paper’s soccer writer when the MLS playoffs overlapped with the 2000 Summer Olympics. I also helped the Web site with its coverage of the Sydney Games, creating a tough two-month stretch in which I was doing three very different jobs. Meanwhile, I finished my graduate studies with a thesis on the changing role of journalists in new media. (The thesis is available online.)

When it was over, the sports department needed me more than the interactive department. I was asked to take over coverage of Olympic sports and soccer while also taking supervisory shifts and continuing to write my column.

The exciting job of planning Olympic coverage, a crucial task for USA TODAY, grew more difficult as the economy went sour. The staff was reorganized one month before the Games, and golf was added to my plate.

My immediate task was to keep our Salt Lake City coverage on track despite all the changes at the site. A couple of months later, I was responsible for our coverage of the World Cup, though I did not travel with the newspaper staff to Korea.

More changes came in August 2002. I took over our hockey coverage and gave up golf.

In 2004, I cut my hours to spend more time with my baby. My job for the first eight months was to build our coverage of the Athens Olympics. I worked with designers and programmers to get our site and the results feed in order. I also developed original content such as the Olympic Athlete of the Week awards, the 10.0 series of athlete interviews, brief bios on U.S. athletes and introductions to each sport.

After the Olympics, I moved into a role developing projects and original content for all sports. For the better part of a year, I worked on an overhaul of our automated feeds, which segued neatly into development of the results feed for the Torino Olympics. I went to Torino to do live coverage by blog.

I didn’t take a second trans-Atlantic trip for the World Cup, but I still blogged about the event. (Sadly, the archives for Torino and the World Cup were wiped out.)

I spent the next 18 months focused on our new general sports blog, Sports Scope, while contributing features to USA TODAY’s soccer coverage.

(For updates since 2008, when things got really interesting, check the rest of my site.)

To see the Twitter feed without making people dig all the way back, here’s an unedited re-creation (as opposed to “unedited recreation,” which sounds like fun):

Good night. Fun day, but I’ll be laying low in the morning. Thanks for following me through Beijing. 02:16 PM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Last bus ride of the day at last. Everything from today’s odyssey is filed. 01:29 PM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
The full collection of photos from today: http://tinyurl.com/626snl … leaving now for the MPC to gather my wits to wrap it all up. 11:49 AM August 19, 2008 from web
New Zealand fans … I mean, reporters … cheer their guy to third in the 1,500. 10:56 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Estoniam discus champ Gerd Kanter knows how to draw attention to his lap of honor. He veers toward the middle and sprints the 100 meters 10:35 AM August 19, 2008 from web
It’s a gold medal for fellow American Dawn Harper, who sheds tears of joy. 10:33 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Terrible stuff here — leader Lolo Jones hits the next-to-last hurdle. She finishes but is thrown off stride. She pounds the track in agony 10:31 AM August 19, 2008 from web
A frustrated Sanya Richards gives out of gas in the 400 final. Prepare for more exultation over at the BBC. 10:14 AM August 19, 2008 from web
@JohnNewsom Nah, they only have synchronized marbles. 09:49 AM August 19, 2008 from web in reply to JohnNewsom
From Bird’s Nest: (1) Cool remote-control cars bring discus back to cage. (2) Starting gun way louder than shooting venue. (3) Wariner fast. 09:48 AM August 19, 2008 from web
EVENT 8: Track and field. Made it! 09:23 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry

Music at exit sounds like a carousel. With all the light shows here, it’s very much like a theme park. Bet you can guess my next stop. 08:57 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Lu nailed it. Easy to see how good he is. Crowd erupts for the score. That’s a gold — all three medalists were amazing. Off I go … 08:50 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Crowd roars for Dong, who seemed flawless to me as well but is 0.1 behind Burnett. Last guy is Lu Chunlong. Gai-yo! Gai-yo! 08:49 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Canadian guy (Jason Burnett) leads after six athletes and has clinched a medal, so maybe I could be a judge. China’s Dong Dong up now 08:46 AM August 19, 2008 from web
I’m no judge, but the Canadian guy was amazing. I’d watch that again. 08:36 AM August 19, 2008 from web
So anyway — trampoline. I doubt TV does this justice. They ought to play “Purple Haze” here. ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky. 08:34 AM August 19, 2008 from web
The question of every press tribune — is that MY water, or did someone leave it? Grumpy German journo left her phone … ring ring ring 08:28 AM August 19, 2008 from web
It’s a pity I’m not in a position to take a picture right now. The venue is palatial. I’ll have to come back for handball finals. 08:24 AM August 19, 2008 from web
VENUE 7: Trampoline! Tra-momp-o-line! With a little bit of gymnastics thrown in — got here to see horizontal bar medals (USA Horton silver) 08:21 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Quick bus ride. Grabbed a snack and walked to … 07:57 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Panic – thought I’d lost iPod with my interviews. Nope – just my marbles. 07:44 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Canada was aiming for top 8, and Short was disappointed in team’s play despite win. Yet 9th would be an improvement. I’m on bus – #7 awaits 07:42 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Spoke with Canadian captain Rob Short, who plays pro (but has side jobs) in the Netherlands. Sport is growing for women but men, he says. 07:41 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Game is a little testy. South African player sent off, and another could’ve been. 07:17 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Switched fields to Canada-South Africa. Neither team will be in the medals, but it’s a fun game. Four Canadians play pro in the Netherlands 07:14 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Korean player is hurt. But he’ll stay in the game … he’s a hockey player. 06:38 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Korea’s defenders are warming up by passing the ball back and forth. Oh, wait, the game has actually started. 06:35 AM August 19, 2008 from web
VENUE 6: Hockey. Nothing like a good scenic tour of the Olympic Green’s north cluster before we arrive. I’ve apparently chose Korea-Spain 06:24 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Why did this guy need to stop at the tennis venue? The rest of us are going to an actual, active venue … 06:09 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
On the move again as thin clouds block the sun. Should be at venue #6 within 20 mins. 05:54 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry

Photos from the first five venues on the tour today: http://tinyurl.com/626snl 05:21 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Smoothest bus ride of the day. I’m grabbing lunch/dinner. 03:56 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Water polo mixed zone for newbies: “They fouled you all game!” “Some teams play D that way.” “But all game?!” “Sometimes.” “No way!” “Way.” 03:44 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Big goal from Brenda Villa makes it 9-8. Now we have a bunch of timeouts, like an NBA game. 03:26 AM August 19, 2008 from web
US women, perhaps worn down by Aussies’ persistent fouls, have gone cold. Now 8-8 03:20 AM August 19, 2008 from web
This isn’t the Bird’s Nest, but we have a bird somewhere up in the rafters of Yingdong Natatorium. Trying to get photo, but he’s hiding. 03:10 AM August 19, 2008 from web
VENUE 5: Water polo. Second U.S. semifinal I’ve seen today, though I’m here just in time to see the last 1.5 quarters. USA leads AUS 8-5. 03:07 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Take Duke’s Cameron Crazies or a soccer supporters group, give them Hungarian flags, and you might equal what I’m hearing here at handball 02:24 AM August 19, 2008 from web
VENUE 4: Handball. We can dispense with the “team” part of the name, right? Everyone knows what we’re talking about? 02:04 AM August 19, 2008 from web
Dan Steinberg sighting – he’s going with the mustache-only look today. Playoff beard is gone. On another bus that really shouldn’t be long. 01:32 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Estimated travel time on this bus: 19 mins. After 19 mins, we haven’t even started the sequence of befuddling turns through the Green. 01:22 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Besides, as an American, he can play in Olympics at age 45. He offered dinner to anyone who can find a Chinese player who can say that. 01:06 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
David Zhuang grew up in China and found support drying up as he started to move to US: “But I have no regret. I have good life here (in US)” 01:05 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Unfortunately, this will be a brief stop. Chinese agencies took most tables, but the seats are nice. Peking U’s gym must rock for hoops. 12:46 AM August 19, 2008 from web
VENUE 3: Table tennis. Arrived just in time to join great interview with USA’s David Zhuang and columnist Mitch Albom. 12:40 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
On a serious fast-food strip here – a Pizza Hut and two KFCs. Now McDonald’s. Long light – I should’ve stayed on Green. 12:18 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Suggestion for future Olympic organizers: Fewer left turns 12:14 AM August 19, 2008 from TwitterBerry
On a bus with some Korean potato chips. And people say I’m not an adventurous eater. 11:55 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Nice English woman from Oly News Service gave honest answer on interview after semis: “No, I don’t think so.” Right … Off I go … 11:30 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Seeing diving in person makes you appreciate commentary. No idea if these dives are any good. 11:26 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry

USA’s Dumais fifth two-thirds of the way through semi. Music here is more eclectic than beach. Heard “Dancing Queen” after one bad dive 11:01 PM August 18, 2008 from web
VENUE 2 – diving. Made it to round 4 of 6. Would probably drip less sweat if I’d walked for round 5 instead of jogging. 10:58 PM August 18, 2008 from web
Pumped up for fast walk ahead with Foo Fighters. Done, done, on to the next one. Feet don’t fail me now, er, whenever bus stops. Urgh. 10:39 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
“Do not drive tiredly” is latest sign of interest. Missed bus to hockey, which was a tight connection. Plan B in effect. 10:30 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
“Most of the time, it’s very convenient,” says friendly volunteer du bus. “Not like this.” We’re free at last – will consider next step 10:18 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Oh dear. Traffic simply isn’t moving. It’s been progressively worse through the Games. Plans B and C under consideration. 10:10 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
But here’s Brazil’s Renata on anyone beating USA: “No, I don’t think so. For sure, I think nobody going to beat them.” Bus away … 10:01 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Mixed zone order – NBC, other broadcasters, more broadcasters, wires, others. So I have no Misty/Kerri quote. 09:58 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Kerri and Misty win – will try to get quote before leaving. They’ll play a Chinese team in final. 09:42 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Fans blowing cooling vapor over crowd. Not helpng big shirtless guy doing TV commentary. 09:34 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Crowd still filing in, perhaps to catch all-Chinese clash after this. I’ll miss that — I’ll be at … hmmm … haven’t decided. 09:23 PM August 18, 2008 from web
Brazilians played better after a big rally, but Misty and Kerri close out Game 1 21-12. They do not play the Rush song 2112 to celebrate. 09:20 PM August 18, 2008 from web
Misty and Kerri look good early. That means they’re playing well. Good thing the sex-obsessed media weren’t around when Greeks wrestled nude 09:04 PM August 18, 2008 from web
I should explain – I watch beach volleyball as a sport, not just as a couple of bikini-clad women in sand. As if runners run in formal dress 08:51 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Kerri and Misty have beaten this Brazilian team all four times they’ve met, but they aren’t pushovers. 08:46 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
VENUE 1 – beach volleyball. Took the MB11 to see May-Treanor and Walsh play. Arriving now. 08:36 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
If you check a schedule, it’s not hard to figure where I’m going first. 08:07 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Longest ride of day early, giving me time to reconsider plan. 08:03 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Arrival at Main Press Center. Time for breakfast? Maybe 07:44 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
If you read Dan Steinberg’s blog at the Post – yes, I’m the one who asked if they really listen to Bryan Adams and win soccer games. Shocked 07:36 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry

Sky is mostly clear, and I’m showing few ill effects from staying up until 3 to write about the US women’s soccer win. 07:28 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry
@bbcsport_tom Enjoy. It’s a beautiful venue. 07:24 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry in reply to bbcsport_tom
Away we go … I’m on the MA29 bus at the North Star media village. I snagged one of the few seats in which a 6-1 man can sit. Next stop MPC 07:23 PM August 18, 2008 from TwitterBerry