Massive Introduction: David Lewis

Cool. I get to feed my narcissistic side and write about myself. First off, I am psyched to be writing for Massive Report, a place where soccer junkies like myself can get their fix. So how did I get here? I was born in… ok, let’s not go that far back. I grew up in New York City, playing soccer in high school and kicking it around rec leagues as I got older. I fell in love with Liverpool FC around 1999 when Michael Owen was killing it and the Beatles were still part of the soundtrack of my life.

I moved to Columbus, Ohio in 2004, a bit of a Euro soccer snob — I called soccer “football.” I worked in British television as a writer, so I got to see Arsenal at Highbury, Chelsea at Stanford Bridge and Liverpool at Anfield. On one trip to London in 2004, I went to see Fulham at Craven Cottage. I saw Brian McBride play and score. Flipping through the program, I noticed that McBride played for Columbus Crew SC. Hmmm. I forgot he played in MLS. Two months later, I packed up my family and headed to Columbus — I just needed to get out of the craziness of NYC and chill in the Midwest. It was the best choice I ever made.

I was not a huge MLS fan. In fact, the only games I’d been to was to see the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at an empty Giant Stadium — not exactly a ringing endorsement for the league. On my arrival to Columbus, I decided to check out the first soccer-specific stadium in the country, and the place McBride plied his trade. I was hooked. The yellow. The black. The Village People logo. The supporters. The stadium. I fell in love with the aqua-lunged Frankie Hejduk. I got season tickets and have never stopped since. I watched the Crew win the title in 2008. I sat in the Nordecke when Steve Clark missed the mark in MLS Cup and I had a perfect view of the ball going out of bounds on the second goal in that same game. I watched as that big dork, Anthony Precourt, tried to ruin our club. And I watched with pride as we broke ground on our new stadium. (Side note: Got to thank Dr. Pete Edwards in person for saving the Crew and doing my double hernia surgery years earlier. Dr. Pete said he remembered me, but I thought it was weird that he looked down at my groin as he said that. Super awkward.)

I have been a writer for over 30 years (yes, I started writing when I was two) covering the NBA, MLB, tennis and soccer, among other things. Right now, I am a marketing writer at Nationwide and have my own podcast. I co-host a weekly show with Eric Neal called The Two Rash Challenges Podcast. We cover mostly Newcastle and Liverpool, the English Premier League, the United States Men’s National Team and some Crew. Give it a listen on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. (Follow us on Twitter too, Rash_podcast.) And excuse my co-host’s venomous take on Gregg Berhalter. He liked him at the Crew but not so much with the USMNT.

I look forward to writing for Massive Report. I will bring a slightly snarky NYC style with a dash of Midwest sensibility. I hope to bring fresh ideas, interesting stories and maybe a few chuckles along the way.

Ok, enough about me.