Sports
Soccer was my first love and remains my favorite sport today. I grew up playing competitive travel club soccer and had dreams of playing in college before injuries derailed that hope. I was a goalkeeper and I trained in one of the top youth/college goalkeeping academies in the country for most of my adolescent years. At different points throughout my youth career I played for affiliated U.S. development academies of FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC, which are now two of my three favorite clubs in the world (along with AS Roma).
Having been born in New York City and raised in a New York sports household, I am also a huge New York sports fan. The New York Football Giants are my favorite team across any sport, and I also strongly support the Yankees, Knicks, and Rangers.
I am also a tennis fan. It was my dad's favorite sport and (perhaps not coincidentally) the only other sport I played growing up. Roger Federer is my favorite athlete of all time (followed closely by Lionel Messi, Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, and a couple others).
Here are some of my favorite moments in sports:
David Tyree's helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII
FC Barcelona's unfathomable comeback vs PSG
Derek Jeter's walk off in his final home game
My two favorite tennis players in an all-time classic Wimbledon championship
Lionel Messi making Bayern's world-class defense look silly
MLB 2011 Final Day (I was in attendance at the O's vs Red Sox game)