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Media insider: Columnist branches out into other media forms
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, January 19, 2007
At first, he thought of writing a magazine article. Profile the emotional and physical twister that is high school wrestling in the Midwest in two or so pages, and have some photos to go with it.
The idea grew, and the project became a book, with hardback volumes suddenly becoming part of a new multimedia quest for Mark Kreidler, the longtime Bee sports columnist. He officially leaves the newspaper today after 15 years to take on just about every other form of communication there is.
His new release -- to hit stores Tuesday -- is "Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland." It already has drawn rave reviews, including this from "The Miracle of St. Anthony" author Adrian Wojnarowski: "Beautifully written and meticulously crafted, (it) takes us to a place that all at once feels like the most dramatic and loneliest place in sports. What Buzz Bissinger did for Texas football, Kreidler has done for Iowa wrestling."
Kreidler has other book ideas, too. He also will keep busy with ESPN -- online, in ESPN The Magazine or doing commentary for "Cold Pizza." Kreidler also will make local and national radio appearances.
Kreidler covered major events across the country for The Bee. But wrestling and a book? All rolled into one? Mind you, he wrote not a word on the sport in 15 years.
"It never would have occurred to me to write about that," Kreidler said. "It wasn't the sport itself that drew me to it. It was how in wrestling in Iowa, a kid can matter. He can really mean something in a one-dot town. And if he wins, you're off the hook.
"You go to his arena, and there are 11,000 people jammed in (for the postseason tournaments), broken up in groups of 80 following the kid from their town."
The project required time and trust. Kreidler, who grew up in football-mad Oklahoma and understands how prep sports can fuel a community, spent two months on location to capture the feel in Iowa. He returned to his Davis home only on Valentine's Day 2005 to spend time with sons Patric and Ryan and wife Colleen -- "Hey, I'm not stupid," he cracked. He chronicled the lives of two wrestlers in pursuit of their fourth successive state championships and how they handled the burden of expectations.
"I'm a total stranger in from California, and I'm, 'Hey, yeah, I thought I'd cherry-pick your son's success,' " Kreidler said. "The book doesn't work without those families opening their hearts and their doors. They were great."
On Tuesday, Kreidler will be a guest on "The Rise Guys" on KHTK (1140 AM), then with host Jeffrey Callison of NPR radio in Sacramento (90.9 FM). On Jan. 25, he'll go on television with an appearance on the CBS "Early Show," followed the next day by an in-studio shot on "Cold Pizza." Kreidler will appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Borders, 2339 Fair Oaks Blvd., for a book signing, and maybe some pointers on how, exactly, to escape a half-nelson.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@sacbee.com.
Media insider: Columnist branches out into other media forms
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, January 19, 2007
At first, he thought of writing a magazine article. Profile the emotional and physical twister that is high school wrestling in the Midwest in two or so pages, and have some photos to go with it.
The idea grew, and the project became a book, with hardback volumes suddenly becoming part of a new multimedia quest for Mark Kreidler, the longtime Bee sports columnist. He officially leaves the newspaper today after 15 years to take on just about every other form of communication there is.
His new release -- to hit stores Tuesday -- is "Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland." It already has drawn rave reviews, including this from "The Miracle of St. Anthony" author Adrian Wojnarowski: "Beautifully written and meticulously crafted, (it) takes us to a place that all at once feels like the most dramatic and loneliest place in sports. What Buzz Bissinger did for Texas football, Kreidler has done for Iowa wrestling."
Kreidler has other book ideas, too. He also will keep busy with ESPN -- online, in ESPN The Magazine or doing commentary for "Cold Pizza." Kreidler also will make local and national radio appearances.
Kreidler covered major events across the country for The Bee. But wrestling and a book? All rolled into one? Mind you, he wrote not a word on the sport in 15 years.
"It never would have occurred to me to write about that," Kreidler said. "It wasn't the sport itself that drew me to it. It was how in wrestling in Iowa, a kid can matter. He can really mean something in a one-dot town. And if he wins, you're off the hook.
"You go to his arena, and there are 11,000 people jammed in (for the postseason tournaments), broken up in groups of 80 following the kid from their town."
The project required time and trust. Kreidler, who grew up in football-mad Oklahoma and understands how prep sports can fuel a community, spent two months on location to capture the feel in Iowa. He returned to his Davis home only on Valentine's Day 2005 to spend time with sons Patric and Ryan and wife Colleen -- "Hey, I'm not stupid," he cracked. He chronicled the lives of two wrestlers in pursuit of their fourth successive state championships and how they handled the burden of expectations.
"I'm a total stranger in from California, and I'm, 'Hey, yeah, I thought I'd cherry-pick your son's success,' " Kreidler said. "The book doesn't work without those families opening their hearts and their doors. They were great."
On Tuesday, Kreidler will be a guest on "The Rise Guys" on KHTK (1140 AM), then with host Jeffrey Callison of NPR radio in Sacramento (90.9 FM). On Jan. 25, he'll go on television with an appearance on the CBS "Early Show," followed the next day by an in-studio shot on "Cold Pizza." Kreidler will appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Borders, 2339 Fair Oaks Blvd., for a book signing, and maybe some pointers on how, exactly, to escape a half-nelson.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@sacbee.com.
