Some big news!!! 🚨🚨🚨

Sports. Politics. Sports and Politics.

The news is out!

I am hosting a show this fall on the sports politicians play, watch and love for Monumental Sports Network — the channel run by the folks who own the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals and Washington Mystics!

Here’s a little bit from Washingtonian magazine’s writeup of the show:

Cillizza’s already booked guests like US Senator Ben Cardin and US Representatives Greg Steube and Mike Quigley. He sees it as part of a larger project to better understand politicians. Tennis’ customary sportsmanship shaped George H.W. Bush’s approach to life, he says, while Richard Nixon often bowled alone. “I think we are way better off having a more nuanced understanding of who they are,” he says of elected officials. Cillizza views sports as “a key to help unlock who these women and men actually are.” (He’d love to get former President Obama on the show: “I think Obama has said this, and I think he’s totally right,” he says. “Within ten minutes you can tell what kind of person someone is based on pick-up basketball.”)

That may sound like the type of analysis that drove some people nuts when Cillizza was on CNN, but it fits with an optimistic theory of Washington that many people here share, or at least used to share. “There is space in the congenial middle where we can like treat people as human beings,” he says, “which does not seem like it should be a controversial idea, but I think has become one more and more in the last decade.”

But I wanted to share a little more of my thinking on all of this with you — the “So What” community we have built together over the past 18 months.

Not a subscriber yet? Join us!

Post-CNN I did a lot of thinking about myself and what I wanted the future to look like. A LOT.

As in, what was it that got me excited? What was I passionate about? What would make me fulfilled and happy?

And I kept coming back to two things:

1. I wanted to keep talking and writing about politics — even if no one watched or read it!

2. I wanted to scratch a long-standing itch to get into sports reporting and journalism

To accomplish that first goal, I started this Substack. And subsequently started my YouTube channel as well. And, honestly, where we’ve come — from where we started — is one of things I am most proud about in my life. I love this newsletter and the community that has grown up around it.

The second goal was a little more challenging because I am not a sports journalist by training. Sure, I love sports. But so do millions and millions of other people!

I had stuck my toe into the sports waters over the past decade by doing regular guest appearances on “The Tony Kornheiser Show.” Which I still do — and love.

And, last year, I wrote a book called “Power Players: Sports, Politics and the American Presidency” that looked at our presidents through the lens of the sports they played, loved and watched.

Writing that book was a revelation for me. Because it convinced me that sports was sort of a codex to understanding politicians — who they are and why they do what they did.

Richard Nixon, for example, liked to bowl alone in the White House late at night. That’s a perfect metaphor for his social awkwardness and loner status — traits that defined him and his presidency.

George H.W. Bush was taught to play tennis at a young age by his mother. (She was a terrific player!). She was a HUGE stickler for civility in the game; you never celebrated in your opponent’s face and you always acted like a gentleman. Bush carried those lessons — sometimes to his political detriment — with him his entire life.

I wanted to push further into this sports-politics space. Luckily, I got connected to Zach Leonsis, who oversees Monumental Sports Network. He was into the idea of talking to politicians not about politics but about sports — as a way to better understand who they really are and what motivates them.

We both wanted to get away from the shout-fests of cable TV — in which our politicians are reduced to two-dimensional figures. That ill serves the public — and our politicians.

And so, we came up with this show. It will premiere in November but I’ve already filmed a few episodes — including one where I skate with Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley and another where I play baseball with Florida Rep. Greg Steube.

It’s been FUN. Which really matters to me at this stage in my career. I want to do projects where I laugh. And I want to work with smart and interesting people. This show checks both of those boxes.

Never fear: I will continue to bring you the same coverage in this newsletter — and my YouTube channel — that you’ve come to expect.

I may, occasionally, have to take a few hours away from the computer for taping —like this afternoon! — but I promise to always deliver the news and analysis you need and want!

Thank you all for supporting me throughout my professional journey. Your backing means a ton. It’s been a massive blessing.

If you’d like to invest in me directly, you can do it by becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter. It’s $6 a month or $60 a year — and comes with a bunch of cool stuff including a one-on-one Zoom conversation with me!