Sam Riches

Things are changing up north, and the region's Filipinos—and one particular basketball league—are a part of it. (Originally published by The Classical, anthologized in The Best Canadian Sports Writing)

On basketball's growth from American pastime to global entertainment product.

How a difficult to obtain American double IPA brewed in a small town in Vermont developed a world-wide cult following, with beer fans traveling hundreds of miles just to get a taste. (Featured at Digg, Pocket Reader, Media REDEFined, The Sunday Long Read, The New York Times. Recipient IACP Food Writing Award for Best Narrative Beverage Writing, Folio Award)

On March 31, 2013, Kevin Ware Jr. graphically broke his leg in a game that millions of people were watching. Then his life changed.

A profile of Connor McDavid as he transitions from kid to superstar. (Featured at Digg, Media REDEFined)

Tryggvi Hlinason is a sheep farmer at the center of a new generation of Icelandic basketball talent. He’s trying to do something that only one other Icelander has done before — play in the NBA. (Featured at Digg, MediaREDEFined, notable selection Best American Sports Writing)

He was compared to basketball superstars like Charles Barkley and LeBron James. But without comprehensive mental health treatment, Royce White found himself fighting for a new cause. (Featured at ESPN, The Sunday Long Read, Digg, Pocket Reader, Media REDEFined, CNN)

In 1996, David Foster Wallace profiled tennis player Michael Joyce in one of the most celebrated pieces of sports writing ever published. Who has he become since? (Featured at Digg, Pocket Reader, The Browser, Media REDEFined, Deadspin, The Morning News, Bloomberg, The New York Times)

The story of Mount Dennis is the story of the inner suburbs, where the needs of commuters often take precedence over the well-being of locals. But in Mount Dennis, things are changing.

The Spit is a slice of wilderness in Canada’s most populous city. Will it be able to withstand the forces of climate change and development?

There were two international nominees in the Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame’s 1994 class. One was Pele, nicknamed the “King of Football,” once the highest-paid athlete in the world and so beloved in his home country that the Brazilian government declared him a national treasure. The other was Fred Thomas, a 6’3”, 175-pound athlete from Windsor who never played a game in a leading sports league.

For the first time in 24 years, there are no NHL players at the Olympics, offering a rare opportunity for a group of journeymen from a nation that claims hockey as its game. (Featured at Media REDEFined)

The way Murray plays — like it’s a game of H-O-R-S-E in an empty gym even as an all-world defender bears down on him — is entirely his own and so too was his journey to the NBA.

When I couldn’t make ends meet as a freelancer, I started delivering food to hungover teenagers. (Featured at Digg, The Guardian, Longreads)

Just outside Vancouver, Davidacus Holmes administers cannabis sacrament to thousands and tries to get arrested. No luck so far.