Former Sports columnist

I was born in Queens, a New York City borough, and can still remember my dad taking us to the airport. Where we’d lie on the roof of the family wagon and hear the blood roar of planes as they landed. Then we’d get Carvel. Life remains that simple to me, even after all these years, including the last two at the Times, where I began in May 2016. I’m not lying on a roof, but in 27 years writing sports in Tampa Bay (including a quarter century stint at the Tampa Tribune), I’ve seen the great and the not so great. But I’ve always enjoyed the human element running through these games and the people who play them. Telling their stories and others is still as fresh, as meaningful, as rewarding to me as ever. And then I get Carvel.

• @mjfennelly
• mfennelly@tampabay.com