My name is Shaker Samman. For three years, I was a writer, fact-checker, and researcher at The Ringer, where I helped produce special projects, penned features, and served as an all-around handyman. In the past, I’ve worked for MTV News, the Tampa Bay Times, and The Times Herald, and have written for sites like Raleigh & Company, The Classical, and PolitiFact, among others. Check out some of my pieces below:
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
Raleigh & Company
- NCAA Tournamentapalooza 2017, March 14, 2017
- NCAA Tournamentapalooza 2016, March 15, 2016
- The Once and Future Kings of Music, October 2, 2015
- NCAA Tournamentapalooza 2015, March 17, 2015
- Diary of a Juice Cleansing Man, January 7, 2015
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