Andrew Mentock

Freelance Writer and Journalist

United States

I am an experienced writer, specializing in journalism, sports and popular culture, but my research skills and objectivity allow me to write for almost any genre. I have written features and articles for a number of magazines, newspapers and blogs, including Bleacher Report Mag, Ozy and SB Nation.

I'm also a feature writer for Blue and Gold Illustrated, a digital and print publication covering Notre Dame football.

Previously, I spent a year as a staff reporter and feature writer for Leader Publications, a newspaper publisher in southwest Michigan.

I graduated cum laude from DePaul University in 2012 with degrees in journalism and psychology.

Other interests of mine include coaching basketball and baseball, watching the NBA, college football, reading novels, eating sushi and drinking an Old Fashioned. Follow me on Twitter: @AndrewMentock

I welcome inquiries and writing requests. Contact me at drewment2[at]gmail.com

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Selected Clips

Chicago Sun-Times
08/27/2022
Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner is true to his roots

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - On Oct. 20, 2007, Tyler Buchner first entered Notre Dame Stadium. He sat with his father near the end zone that afternoon and watched USC drub the Irish 38-0. They left at the end of the third quarter, disappointed and wearied by the Trojan Marching Band's repeated playing of"Fight On!"

Bleacher Report
11/05/2020
Athlete or Actor? Top DB Faces Big Choices

One week in March brought together everything that's made life such a whirlwind for top football prospect Ceyair Wright, who also happens to have a major role in next summer's Space Jam: A New Legacy. He arrived at a Rivals Camp Series event at East Los Angeles College on the morning of Sunday, March 1.

Chicago Sun-Times
11/05/2022
ND's Rylie Mills: This kid can play

Hercules. Big Hefty. Freak. Those are a few nicknames Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills earned from teammates and media in the offseason because of his gargantuan size, strength and agility. At 6-5 and 292 pounds, the Lake Bluff native benches 420 pounds and moves at a top speed of 19 mph, on par with many college defensive backs and wide receivers.

SBNation.com
04/29/2020
How one of Team USA's potential Olympic stars is handling the wait

Luscious green trees surround the outdoor skatepark and grandstands at the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships in Chengdu, China. Freestyle BMX star Hannah Roberts - atop her pink bike, rocking a black full-face helmet - drops in and pedals hard toward a spine ramp. As she launches off the ramp, Roberts begins a 360-degree spin.

Chicago Sun-Times
09/03/2022
Safety Brandon Joseph has something to prove with Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph rode the hip of Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson as they faded toward the corner of the end zone. Then Joseph saw the ball and leaped into the air with just his right arm extended, picking off quarterback Justin Fields.

OZY
02/17/2019
Insider Trading Laws Are Coming ... to Sports Betting

After losing in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, an emotional LeBron James smashed a whiteboard in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room, breaking his right hand. His play faltered in the subsequent three games that the Golden State Warriors also won for a clean sweep.

Indianapolis Monthly
08/27/2021
Ball State Is Out To Prove 2020 Was No Fluke

FOR MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Media Day, Ball State head football coach Mike Neu wore a suit and sat at a plastic folding table inside the concourse of Detroit's Ford Field. It was mid-July, he was fresh off a contract extension , and he served as the media-day darling.

AP NEWS
09/12/2022
Notre Dame QB Buchner expected to miss season with injury

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with an injury to his nonthrowing shoulder that will require surgery. Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman said Monday that Buchner has a severe AC joint sprain in his left shoulder.

OZY
04/17/2020
Will This Enigmatic Pass Rusher Be the Steal of the NFL Draft?

In the middle of an outdoor rugby field on the north end of Notre Dame's campus, Julian Okwara, one of the prestigious university's former football captains, strips down to his training tights and cleats and assumes his starting stance, with one hand on the artificial turf and the other in the air.

Indianapolis Monthly
11/11/2020
What Are Indiana Sportsbooks Doing To Protect Gamblers From Addiction? - Indianapolis Monthly

In June, the former Colts punter-turned-button-pushing-broadcaster Pat McAfee signed a multi-year sponsorship with the sports wagering and fantasy sports giant FanDuel. The specific terms remain undisclosed, but judging from how McAfee went about announcing the deal, it must have been lucrative-FanDuel tweeted a video showcasing him gleefully handing out tens of thousands of dollars from the deal to "the boys" on his production crew.

Blue and Gold Illustrated
06/29/2020
Braden Lenzy: Taking A Stand

Wearing an orange forward-facing ball cap and turquoise tie-dye T-shirt, Braden Lenzy introduced himself in a video on the Notre Dame Football Twitter account on June 4. Despite his casual dress, his tone was somber and assertive, while still inviting. As he spoke, a framed photo of the Notre Dame logo was positioned on the wall behind his left shoulder, perhaps an unintended ode to the football program encouraging him to amplify his voice. The purpose of the 23-second clip was to highlight a...

OZY
05/28/2020
Professional Bettors Now Carry the Responsible Gambling Torch

Major sports bettors like Gadoon Kyrollos, Rufus Peabody and Jeff Ma are launching podcasts to educate sports fans about bets they should avoid. Peabody and fellow professional bettor "Captain" Jack Andrews are launching a sports betting advocacy nonprofit. The major sports leagues are biding their time during the pandemic, with all games postponed.

OZY
10/12/2020
This Real-Life 'Rudy' Gets Players Paid

On a cool October 2017 night inside Notre Dame Stadium, Mick Assaf donned his gold helmet and ran onto the field during a 49-14 rout of USC. A sophomore walk-on running back, Assaf was an unlikely sight to take meaningful snaps, especially against the No. 11 Trojans led by Heisman contender Sam Darnold at quarterback.

Civilized
05/02/2020
How the Vocal Anti-Marijuana Minority is Sabotaging Legal Cannabis

On the eve of November 7, while the majority of Michigan voters celebrated the passage of Proposal 1 - the initiative to legalize adult-use marijuana - a dejected Scott Greenlee, the president of anti-cannabis organization Healthy and Productive Michigan, stood behind a podium and told his supporters via Facebook Live that their campaign against cannabis had failed.

Rivals
01/09/2021
BlueAndGold - Becoming America's Top Linebacker: Owusu-Koramoah's Rise At Notre Dame

Brian Kelly stood behind a podium as he addressed an auditorium full of beat reporters and members of the local media on Feb. 1, 2017. The Notre Dame head coach wore a gray suit jacket, purple tie and bright pink dress shirt, perhaps an attempt to use his chic attire to distract the room from the 4-8 campaign the Fighting Irish endured the previous fall.

Indianapolis Monthly
03/11/2021
Mark Titus Is Coming Home For March Madness - Indianapolis Monthly

Born and raised in central Indiana, Mark Titus has been a hoops fanatic all his life. Two years ago he moved from the Midwest for almost 365 days of sun in Southern California, but no amount of Vitamin D can cure his love for the game.

OZY
05/01/2019
Could Wagering on Sports Become a Viable Financial Investment? You Bet

When sports betting mutual funds the Nevada Sports Investment Group and Contrarian Investments had complaints filed against them in September 2018 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly violating federal securities laws by taking on unaccredited investors, it appeared to be a setback for a nascent industry.

OZY
11/20/2019
Embrace the 'Cupcake' Matchups. They're Saving College Football

The Appalachian State football program opened the 2019 season with a 42-7 beatdown of East Tennessee State. It's what is known as a tune-up game, where the Mountaineers, part of the College Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), play a team from the lowly Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to get an easy win and prepare for the rigors of the season.

Leader Publications
03/29/2018
Edwardsburg filmmaker to premiere new 'Jurassic Park' spoof - Leader Publications

In a pivotal scene in the 1993 edition of "Jurassic Park," Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, is hanging out the back of a jeep as he narrowly escapes the sharp teeth of a pursuing Tyrannosaurus rex. During the chase, the carnivorous dinosaur breaks through large tree limbs as it stomps its way down the muddy road.

OZY
03/19/2020
Welcome to Fake March Madness | OZY

With fewer than 40 seconds left and Texas leading Xavier, 88-77, on Tuesday night, color analyst Bill Raftery informed his legendary announcing partner Verne Lundquist that the Musketeers no longer had a chance of making it to the program's first-ever Final Four. "I think this game is out of reach, Verne," Raferty said.

OZY
10/30/2019
There's No Gender Gap for Winning Basketball Coaches

At the end of last season, Notre Dame head basketball coach Muffet McGraw said she was done hiring men. Few protested: Women are underrepresented in the college basketball coaching industry compared with men.

OZY
07/09/2018
How Edison's Boxing Film Inspired Pay-Per-View

Covered in black tar paper to shut out external light, Thomas Edison's Black Maria movie production studio in West Orange, New Jersey, looked more like an oversize shack or a child's makeshift fort than it did a venue for a groundbreaking boxing match between the heavyweight champion of the world, James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, and New Jersey champion Peter Courtney.

OZY
11/13/2018
Why Small Towns Benefit Most From Major Sporting Events

On a rainy October afternoon in Buchanan, Michigan, a crowd of people cheering and waving flags from dozens of countries stood in the mud. Motocross racers in uniforms as colorful as the flags zipped around the track at RedBud MX, the host site of the 2018 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN).

OZY
05/07/2019
Baseball's Original Secret Weapon: The Spitball

Cleveland's League Park was filled to capacity for Game 7 of the 1920 World Series between the Indians and the Brooklyn Robins. The result was a 3-0 victory by the Indians, which gave the ball club a decisive fifth win in the best-of-nine series.

OZY
05/05/2020
Big-Time Basketball Recruits Shoot for Ivy League

As the interim Dean of Harvard's Engineering School in 2015, Harry Lewis had spoken to hundreds of prospective students about his department, and had taught some of the school's best-known students, from Mark Zuckerberg to Bill Gates.

OZY
06/10/2019
When Babe Ruth Wanted a Raise, This Was What He Did

After leading big-league baseball in home runs for the seventh time in his career in 1926, George Herman " Babe " Ruth Jr. and his agent leaked a rumor to the media that he would retire from baseball to open a chain of gymnasiums. According to a release in The New York Times, this venture would also include a correspondence course on how to stay physically fit and play baseball.

South Bend Life
11/07/2018
A Holiday Sensation

On a shivering November morning in northern Indiana, WNDU's Joshua Short, a reporter at the time, stood outside of University Park Mall at 5:13 a.m. Even in 2017, he still expected crowded lines of people bundled up as they anxiously anticipated the opening of the fall at 6 a.m. for Black Friday...

OZY
01/16/2018
The NIT Was Awesome - Until the NCAA Ruined Basketball

In 1944, the Ohio State men's basketball team suffered a devastating late regular season loss to DePaul University and its star, college hoop's first great big man, 6-foot-9 George Mikan. After the game, the Buckeyes sat in the locker room, dejected that they likely had come up short in their bid for one of the eight spots in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

Ozy Newsletters

OZY
06/19/2021
The 18 New Stars Who Will Light Up Tokyo

The Olympic Games are a quadrennial opportunity for thousands of elite athletes to come together not just in pursuit of sporting greatness, but in the name of humanity. At times, the latter has taken the form of iconic political symbolism, such as when American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists as the U.S.

OZY
08/31/2021
Bugs: Past, Present and Future

American biologist E. O. Wilson once said: "If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed 10,000 years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos." As the global climate continues to warm due to human actions, Wilson's words are proving prescient.

OZY
09/03/2021
Is Japan Tomorrow's Sporting Superpower?

A growing number of Japanese athletes are becoming household names. Naomi Osaka was the highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2020 and has been making headlines for promoting mental health. Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani is accomplishing feats Major League Baseball hasn't seen since a young Babe Ruth, excelling as a starting pitcher and leading the league in home runs.

OZY
02/05/2021
Gambler Nation: How Betting Took Over

If there's a will, there's a way, and Las Vegas closing its strip, sports event cancellations and casino restrictions couldn't stand in dice-rollers' way during the pandemic. Online betting has grown 10 percent per year since 2015, and is only expected to accelerate as new and longtime gamblers find more incentives to lean in.

OZY
07/13/2021
Black Athletes Are Bringing College Sports Home

Ohio State University; Florida State; Gonzaga; all college sports royalty we know and love or despise. But what if we told you the recent groundswell of anti-racist activism that's swept across America over the past year is helping reshape the world of college sports too?

OZY
04/28/2021
Will the NFL Score in 2021?

Can the NFL score big? The league is at a pivotal moment: its brand politicized, its audience shrunk by COVID and many of its stars retired. Football needs fresh stars to galvanize a new generation of sports fans - not just for the NFL, but for the networks spending $100 billion on games they hope will draw viewers to their new streaming efforts.