Joe Davidson, veteran Sacramento sportswriter, to join Abridged by PBS KVIE

The Abridged version:

• Joe Davidson, who has covered high school, college and pro sports in the Sacramento region, will join Abridged on Oct. 12.
• Davidson is a member of the California High School Football Hall of Fame and received the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Distinguished Service Award in 2021.
• With the addition, Abridged will launch a new free weekly newsletter called Preps Insider with Joe Davidson.

Joe Davidson to join Abridged by PBS KVIE

Legendary sportswriter Joe Davidson, who has served the Sacramento region for nearly 40 years and is a member of the California High School Football Hall of Fame, is joining the Abridged by PBS KVIE team.

Davidson has covered high school, college and professional sports in the region since 1989. The California Prep Sports Writer Association has recognized his work 14 times, and he received the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Distinguished Service Award in 2021. He is also a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Beyond the accolades, Davidson has impacted the lives of thousands of young people and their families through thoughtful storytelling. Davidson was part of The Sacramento Bee’s recent layoffs, and Abridged recognized that the Sacramento region did not deserve to lose his critical voice.

With the addition of Davidson, Abridged is expanding its coverage of the region to include sports. Davidson will write a weekly free newsletter called Preps Insider with Joe Davidson, and will remain a fixture at fields and gyms throughout the region.

Davidson grew up on farms in Half Moon Bay and in the Oregon mountains. He started his news career at the Davis Enterprise when he was 18 years old while going to college, and started at McClatchy and The Bee as a 22-year-old in 1989.

“I am somewhere between delighted, thrilled, giddy and over the moon about joining the terrific staff at Abridged,” Davidson said.  “Local and regional sports has always resonated deeply with me. To profile players and teams and coaches in the greater Sacramento region isn’t just a role and responsibility that I have embraced over the years, it’s an honor.”

Davidson added he is “looking forward to more storytelling, adding to the chapters of this region. We will roll out high school football rankings with insight and flavor. We will cover games with a big-picture peek at what the teams and schools or towns are all about, and why it all matters. We will dig in on issue stories and human-interest profiles; and we will keep a pulse on local colleges, the Kings, the A’s and all things sporty. 

“And we will do weekly mailbag sessions with readers to answer questions about what makes a team tick or what’s going well and what isn’t going well.  We will fill newsletters with insight. What made my Bee experience so memorable was the readers. Let’s continue that trend.”

Davidson will start with Abridged on Oct. 12.