Melissa Isaacson is in her 26th year of covering sports, returning to her native Chicago to write for the Chicago Tribune in 1990. She has since been the principal beat writer for the Bulls and Bears as well as a columnist and feature writer, covering virtually every major sporting event over the years. A baseball lover all of her life, Isaacson covered the Florida Grapefruit League for Florida Today and the Orlando Sentinel, and has been part of Chicago's seasonal and postseason baseball coverage, including the '03, '07 and '08 Cubs. She is the author of Transition Game: An Inside Look at Life with the Chicago Bulls. Isaacson is a University of Iowa graduate and lives in Northbrook with her husband Rick Mawrence and their children, Amanda and Alec.