Staff profile: Meet the Beacon Journal's Marla Ridenour

Marla Ridenour, Akron Beacon Journal

Mon, February 21, 2022 at 11:01 AM UTC

5 min read

Marla Ridenour, sports columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal

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Position:I am the sports columnist and Cavs beat writer, but much of my year involves partnering with Browns beat writer Nate Ulrich, which allows me to rely on my experience dating back to 1981, when I became the first woman to cover the Browns.

I joined the Beacon Journal on Aug. 1, 1999, when my first assignment was Ozzie Newsome's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I've covered Ohio State football, including two national championships, five Cavs NBA Finals appearances and their 2016 title, the Guardians and their run to the World Series that year, along with professional golf and University of Akron and Kent State sports.

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I wrote about the NFL for the Columbus Dispatch from 1990-99, first on the Browns, then switching to the Bengals after Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore. I also handled Cleveland baseball spring training during my time there.

I've worked my way up Interstates 75 and 71, starting my career in 1976 at the Lexington Herald-Leader, where my beats were women's sports and assisting on horse racing. I moved to the Dayton Daily News in 1981, where I primarily covered high schools, thoroughbred racing, and the Browns, worked on the sports copy/layout desk and put together a sports weekend section.

I'm a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University.

Why I became a journalist

When I arrived at EKU, I was going to be a physical therapist. But when I learned how hard it was to get into out-of-state PT programs, I realized my heart wasn't in it. I reverted back to my plan from the fifth grade, when I wrote a report on my career in journalism (cutting out the title for the cover from newsprint). My father ignited my love of sports and I was a voracious reader back then, both of books and the great sports writers at the Louisville Courier-Journal. This career allows me to tell stories. I've always wanted to write about people, not X's and O's.

What I like best about my job

I'm so fortunate to attend sporting events that can cost hundreds of dollars per ticket, so when I can, I try to paint the picture and make readers feel like they're there. But my most cherished memories are not the games, but dinners the night before or winding down afterward with fellow reporters. My favorite event to cover is the NFL Combine, which combines fun moments with player interviews that can dig deep into their pasts. I've sometimes been captivated to follow some of them for the rest of their careers.

A story I worked on that has had a lasting impact on me

One I still get responses about came from 2014, a story about Green High School junior varsity soccer player Grace Riley. Riley went to Wyoming to receive Botox treatments to alleviate compartment syndrome in her legs, which allowed her to continue to play. I received an email recently from another parent who took their child there and there have been several others. I think about University of Akron golfer Ivana Shah, who with her boyfriend, founded Call to Action, a non-profit organization that serves as the middleman between volunteers and non-governmental charities. I think about Lauren Bay Regula, a pitcher who won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the Tokyo Olympics at age 39 after a battle with post-partum depression.

What is the biggest challenge I face?

So much is demanded of journalists in a 24/7 news cycle. Since we essentially publish our own work, which includes choosing photos, writing headlines, and adding links to related stories, the hours are more grueling than ever before.

What I like to do when I'm not working

Travel, wine and fine dining are my passions. I hope my pre-pandemic plan of a trip to Spain will eventually come to fruition, and that might include a stop in wine country. I've been to France, Italy, England, Scotland and the Caribbean. I spent a magical week as Jack Nicklaus played his final British Open at St. Andrews (won by Tiger Woods), but France and Italy have been my favorites outside the U.S. The D-Day beaches of Normandy, the Champagne region, a week in Rome that wasn't enough, getting lost on a drive to Burgundy to see the Fontenay Abbey, a hubcap that came up missing on the narrow roads around Lake Como are experiences I treasure. My go-to spots in America are Phoenix, Arizona and Santa Barbara County, California, where the Rhone-style wines I love are around every bend. But there is much to enjoy with my friends in Akron/Cleveland. One of my most perfect days in the past year started with the Van Gogh exhibit and concluded with a relaxing outdoor dinner in Little Italy (and trips to two bakeries!).

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