Although I graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts, my true love lies in playing, watching & writing about ice hockey. (Check out my website www.vallon-media.webs.com ) As a student I contributed stories to the S.U. student paper, the Daily Orange, as well as summers, when I had time away from working on the "old cabin", scribbling pieces for my hometown paper, the Cooperstown Freeman’s Journal. Duties at the Journal included covering the Otsego Macs, the regions local semi-pro baseball team in their exhibition campaign against teams that included the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female professional baseball team, managed by Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Neikro. Duties also included covering events held at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

During my time at S.U. I also had the opportunity to interview Dr. Mike Emrick, as a part of a University paper & personal project. Since graduating S.U. I've been living & working in Europe. I follow the Devils via the satellite. It's tough, requires a lot of late nights and dedication; but I love it!

On a personal level I've been a Devil fan since the 87-88 season, & can honestly say that since Johnny Mac's OT goal, the tally propelling the Devs into their very first Stanley Cup Playoffs, I've lived & died by their successes & failures. This year was especially tragic for all Devs fans; no need to elaborate any more than that.
I currently work in property management my goal is to get back into journalism & creative writing on a fulltime basis one day soon . Please feel free to contact me on j.vallon@googlemail.com if you'd like any information about my interviews & stories.

Writing Experience

-Feature Writer, Daily Orange (Syracuse University newspaper)

-Feature & Sports writer, The Cooperstown's Freeman's Jounal

-Feature Writer, Time Out Sports, tosports.ca (online sports magazine based in Toronto Canada)

-Syracuse University Graduate (Ba in liberal arts, concentration in History & Creative Writing)

-Published Contributing Writer (Daily Orange, Star, London Times, Guardian, among others)

-Interview of Dr. Mike Emrick - Foster Hewitt Memorial Award & Emmy Award winning American sportscaster and current lead play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Devils on MSG Plus, as well as the lead announcer for NHL national telecasts on both NBC & Versus.

-Interview Greg Gilbert - retired former professional ice hockey player & the current head coach of the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League.