Steve Politi knew he wanted to become a sportswriter when he was a 12-year-old paperboy reading The Star-Ledger as he dropped it off on doorsteps. He joined the staff in 1998 and started writing a general sports column seven years later, covering everything from the Olympics to the Masters to the World Series to professional bassfishing (once, and only once). The University of North Carolina graduate lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, Nancy, and their turtle, Thomas.