My name is Shaker Samman. For more than three years, I was a writer, fact-checker, and researcher at The Ringer, where I helped produce special projects like the Ringer NBA and NFL draft guides, penned features, and served as an all-around handyman. I also fact-checked Jordan Ritter Conn’s exemplary book, The Road from Raqqa, and Devin Gordon’s tale of New York Mets misery, So Many Ways to Lose. I’m currently an Associate Editor for Baseball Prospectus, and a fact-checker for Air Mail. In the past, I’ve worked for MTV News, the Tampa Bay Times, and The Times Herald, and have written for Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, Raleigh & Company, The Classical, and PolitiFact, among others. Check out some of my pieces below:
Sports Illustrated
- These Men Can’t Dunk, February 22, 2021 and the March print issue
- What’s All the Fuss About NBA Top Shot?, March 17, 2021
The Ringer
For all of my work at The Ringer, check out my author page.
Features:
- Justin Herbert Is the NFL Draft’s Unassuming Franchise Quarterback, April 8, 2020
- Remembering the Night 10 Years Ago When Michael Crabtree and Texas Tech Broke Texas’s Heart, November 1, 2018
- Finding God at the StubHub Center, October 31, 2018
- A Brief History of French Soccer, July 14, 2018
- Joel Berry II and Grayson Allen Are Entering Their Final Act, March 2, 2018
News and Essays:
- The Year Zion Williamson Took Flight—and Was Grounded, December 17, 2019
- The Future of Soccer Is Running at Kylian Mbappé’s Pace, December 28, 2018
- Stan Van Gundy’s Exit Signals the End of the Coach/GM, May 7, 2018
- A Definitive Ranking of Every Olympic Mascot, February 8, 2018
- The Browns Almost Traded for A.J. McCarron, but Someone Bungled the Deal, October 31, 2017
- A Boston University Study May Lead to a Way to Diagnose CTE in Living Patients, September 26, 2017
- The End of the Justin Verlander Era in Detroit, July 28, 2017
World Cup 2018:
- A Brief History of French Soccer, July 14, 2018
- Are Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic Good Enough to Overcome Croatia’s Tactics?, July 6, 2018
- Anatomy of a Goal, July 2, 2018
- Belgium’s Last Stand, June 22, 2018
- Why Isn’t Thomas Müller One of Soccer’s Biggest Superstars?, June 16, 2018
- Syria Is Just Four Games Away From Qualifying for the World Cup, September 5, 2017
College Sports:
- LSU Is the National Champion and Joe Burrow Has Achieved College Football Immortality, January 14, 2020
- A Hip Injury Has Likely Ended Tua Tagovailoa’s Masterful Alabama Career, November 16, 2019
- The NCAA Wants to Make an Example of Kansas and Bill Self—Who’s Next?, September 25, 2019
- The Same System That Made UVA a Powerhouse Turned It Into a Punch Line, March 16, 2018
- Collin Sexton Is the Best One-Man Show in March Madness, March 12, 2018
- Disintegration Hoops: An Ode to Virginia-Wisconsin and Ugly, Slow Basketball, November 28, 2017
- Give Baker Mayfield the Damn Heisman Already, November 12, 2017
- Penn State’s Trace McSorley Is College Football’s Master of the Deep Ball, August 30, 2017
Duke Chronicle
- Love Thy Neighbor: A Championship in Chapel Hill, April 4, 2017
- Worth a shot: Scenes from the end of the walk-up line, February 9, 2017
- Is Grayson Allen dirty? Comparing the superstar guard to past Blue Devil villains, December 2, 2016
- Birth of a tradition: How ‘Everytime We Touch’ became Duke’s unofficial anthem, October 4, 2016
Tampa Bay Times
- Seminole Heights community garden robbed in fishy tilapia heist, August 5, 2015
- Family, friends remember St. Petersburg’s Josh Greenberg, co-founder of Grooveshark, July 22, 2015
- For Temple Terrace police officer, Arabic is key, July 16, 2015
Everywhere Else
- Running on Empty: scenes from the last day of the worst campaign in American history, Duke Political Review, November 8, 2016
- Barack Obama’s Last Stand, Duke Political Review, November 4, 2016
- The Next Michigan Man, The Classical, December 23, 2014
- Sen. Kay Hagan says Thom Tillis refuses to say what he would do to combat ISIS, PolitiFact, October 7, 2014