Growing up in Bloomington, Minn., I loved the ritual of dressing for Little League - in white socks, blue stirrups, belted pants, a double-knit jersey, and the cap I'd hold over my face to screen out mosquitoes in right field.

I had started writing for 'Sports Illustrated,' which was really my dream job growing up. But the writing probably read like I was auditioning to write for 'Letterman' or '70s-era Carson.

With the exception of undertakers, athletes are the only professionals obliged to feign sorrow on a daily basis, pretending that every June baseball loss is a tragedy requiring library silence in the clubhouse.

The first words Rebecca Lobo ever spoke to me when we met in a Manhattan bar in 2001 were, 'Aren't you the guy who just mocked women's basketball in 'Sports Illustrated'?' I blushed, broke out in a flop sweat and said, 'Yes.'

I wanted to be part of the Houston Astros when they become a good team. That was my motivation... I never had in my mind the idea of playing with any other teams.

Maybe you're not going to be able to pass sweeping health care reform in your first year in Congress. But you can help someone with a social security settlement that's going to change their life... That's pretty cool.

When I get tired, I start eating things that I wouldn't normally crave, like biscuits, because they'll give me a bit of energy to keep going.

We're a high-volume, low-margin business, so we decided to reinvent our own approach to health care.