Gregory Hardy has been in the sports journalism business since 1997. He has been a copy editor at the Orlando Sentinel and assistant sports editor at the Gainesville Sun. He is currently a copy editor at The State ( S.C.) newspaper, where he writes the award-winning Sports Guesspert column.

Hardy earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. His master's thesis studied the life and writings of satirist P.J. O'Rourke, who said in response, "You've managed to compile in 132 pages pretty much everything I'd rather not ever think about again."

Of the Gators' two national championships apiece in football and basketball, Hardy was on hand for zero of those events. But he was in attendance for the Tampa Bay Lightning's Game 7 Stanley Cup victory, and that was pretty cool too.

Hardy's top five sports movies are Raging Bull, Slap Shot, Caddyshack, Kingpin, and Jerry Maguire (wuss).

Hardy lives in Columbia, S.C., with his wife and two sons. The boys are heirs to his extensive collection of X-Men action figures that remain unopened in their original packages.

Hardy is the founder and president of Club 326 -- an exclusive gathering of cultural luminaries who share his March 26 birthday. Members include notables from the worlds of writing (Tennessee Williams, Robert Frost, Bob Woodward), music (Steven Tyler, Diana Ross, Teddy Pendergrass, Kenny Chesney), entertainment (James Caan, Alan Arkin, Keira Knightley, Leonard Nimoy, Michael Imperioli, T.R. Knight, Martin Short, Jennifer Grey, Bob Elliot, Vicki Mama's Family Lawrence, Leeza Gibbons) sports (Marcus Allen, John Stockton) and government (Sandra Day O'Connor, Nancy Pelosi). As of March 26, 2007, Hardy is the only one to have ever shown up for the annual Club 326 bash.

If you would like to learn more about Gregory Hardy's awkward adolescence, the Library of Congress recommends South of Heaven, by Pulitzer-winner Thomas French. It's the true story of a year in the life of Largo (Fla.) High School during Hardy's junior year, and Hardy's in it for maybe five or six pages.

Gregory Hardy likes to draw, but he is not the same Gregory Hardy of www.gregoryhardy.com fame, who is some painter in Saskatchewan, evidently.

You can reach the real Gregory Hardy at hardyvision@gmail.com.