Jeff Arnold

Jeff Arnold is an award-winning multi-media reporter and editor with more than 20 years of experience in some of the country's largest media markets.
He is a regular collaborator with digital partners, as well as radio and television. He has the proven ability to cultivate sources, build relationships with external and internal partners, and manage important beats in highly competitive news environments.
He is a tireless worker, who tackles every assignment with vigor and who pays attention to the kind of details that spell the difference between making a story good and great. He approaches each story with care and integrity, anxious to learn from every reporting experience.

Chicago, IL Patch •

Mike'd Up: How A Chicagoan's Ditka-Inspired Bachelor Party Went Viral

Having the whole thing go viral thanks to an homage to the groom-to-be’s beloved Chicago Bears was never the plan. But when 19 Mike Ditka lookalikes showed up in Atlanta for Sunday’s Bears-Falcons game as part of Jake Mazanke’s bachelor party, not only did the NFL and Bears take notice of the photo of Mazanke and his friends all dressed like the coach who led the Bears to the 1985 Super Bowl championship, but so did the rest of the social media world. For Mazanke, a 28-year-old St. Charles nati
Chicago, IL Patch •

Mickey And The Columbos: How Chicago Grew Mike Krzyzewski Into Coach K

For Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, the homegrown Hall of Famer, the road to everything he has ever known is rooted in Chicago. The path has taken him from his working-class Polish neighborhood on the city's near northwest side to college basketball’s mountaintop. But before any of the game plans for any of his 1,202 victories were hatched, before any of his five NCAA titles were captured, and before any of his 42 Blue Devils teams were constructed, the lessons — both taught and learned —...
The New York Times •

In a Time of Need, We Turn to Sister Jean

CHICAGO — The emails from Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt arrived as they always do after a game, one for each member of the Loyola-Chicago men’s basketball team. The Ramblers’ hopes for an N.C.A.A. tournament berth had been dashed by a 1-point loss to Valparaiso in overtime in the quarterfinals of last month’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament.Now Sister Jean, the team’s 100-year-old chaplain, had to help the players say goodbye to their season.She wrote that she knew that they had given their...

How Cassius Winston Greets His Late Brother Before Every Michigan State Game

Time and his teammates have helped him heal. The process requires daily attention. Winston has learned to direct his sadness toward something positive. Some days are easier than others, but the process has allowed him to look at his life, basketball and his relationship with his late brother in a completely new way. And in the moments when he needs reminding that he isn’t alone, Winston, who graduated from Michigan State in three years with a bachelor’s degree in advertising management and is pu

For Daniel Carcillo, the Fight Against the N.H.L. Goes On

CHICAGO — Daniel Carcillo was known as Car Bomb during his N.H.L. career because he played — and lived — with reckless abandon. In nine seasons with five N.H.L. teams, he accumulated nine suspensions, about 100 fights, 1,233 penalty minutes and myriad fines. He won two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks. He also had seven diagnosed concussions, according to his doctor. He seemed to be more of a cautionary tale than a change agent. But he has become one of the loudest critics of the N.H.L

Aaron Judge Stays Focused and Consistent for the Yankees

Fowler was to be inserted into Thursday night’s lineup against Chicago in right field with Judge moving to designated hitter. Girardi said on Thursday that he could keep Judge in that role this weekend against the Houston Astros. Regardless of position, Judge’s mentality remains the same. “It’s just about taking care of your job,” Judge said. He added: “With the lineup we’ve got, people are being productive, they’re getting the job done, they’re hitting the ball well. For me, I’ve just got to

The Nun in Loyola-Chicago’s Huddle Has a Few Things to Say

The connection between Sister Jean and Moser, 49, dates to 2011, when Moser, a career assistant, was hired to revitalize Loyola’s program. On his first day, he arrived at his new office and found a manila folder on his desk. Inside it was a scouting report, compiled by Sister Jean, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each player he had inherited. The scouting reports haven’t stopped. Day after day, season after season, Sister Jean pores over box scores of Loyola’s upcoming opponents, weig

Handed Life’s Twists, Notre Dame Quarterback Turns It Around

That journey, now in its eighth month, has thrown Kizer and his girlfriend, Elli Thatcher, on a topsy-turvy ride they could not have imagined when they began dating in 2014, 10 months before the diagnosis. Like Kizer, Thatcher, a pre-med student at Ohio State, is in her second year of college and calls Toledo, Ohio, home. Although they went to different high schools, the quarterback and Thatcher began dating before heading to college, Kizer in South Bend and Thatcher in Columbus. For years, Th

Club Team Thrives in the Shadow of the Frozen Four

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — At the Edge Ice Arena in this quiet suburb about 20 miles west of Chicago, the banners hang above the ice rink in orderly fashion, 12 on one side, six on the other. Each flag celebrates seasons gone by, showcasing achievement like any other successful college hockey program. The history lesson continues nearby inside a hallway trophy case situated not far from where vendors working the Jefferson Street Grille hawk hot dogs, nachos and other snacks. A collection of 19 tournam
ThePostGame •

Lights, Traffic, Action: Inside The Competitive World Of Bike-Messenger Racing

Navigating one stretch of urban congestion after another – especially on two wheels – is, to be sure, an inexact science. But it is one that Nico Deportago-Cabrera has managed to master the past nine years through periods of trial and error, and cause and effect. Deportago-Cabrera accepted his first courier job more out of necessity than desire. Now he is hooked on this open-air office space being his world as he traverses the streets of downtown Chicago as one of the city's 300 bicycle messeng
ThePostGame •

Five Years After Being Paralyzed, Brock Mealer Prepares To Walk The Aisle At His Wedding

The steps still come awkwardly for Brock Mealer, who, like anyone else, walks by putting one foot in front of the other. At times, the steps come faster, propelling him forward, forcing the rest of his body to keep up. But still, the steps come. These days, Mealer is bothered by how his arms flail almost uncontrollably, serving as the safety net a nearby wall once offered. But the arms, regardless of their motion, have never been the issue. The fact that Mealer's legs can step at all is what

Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky Takes Pride in Growing Up

When he is winded, Kaminsky stands 15 feet from the basket, where only a pair of made free throws will keep him from running suicides, from one end of the gym to the other. Just when Kaminsky thinks the shooting drill is finished, his former Benet teammate Dylan Flood pushes to see what Kaminsky has left. “Five more,” Flood barks, insisting that the big man keep shooting. This has always been Kaminsky’s way. Always pushing. Outworking the competition. Never allowing what his former Amateur At