The Writer
Mark Bradford
South Bend Tribune sportswriter since 1977. Author of three books. Northern Indiana soccer advocate. Featured in Reader's Digest. My father.
The Journalist
Mark Bradford has been a sportswriter at the South Bend Tribune since 1977. That's nearly five decades of covering high school sports, Notre Dame athletics, and everything in between in Northern Indiana.
South Bend is a Notre Dame town. When you write sports there, you're covering one of the most storied programs in American athletics. Notre Dame football. Notre Dame basketball. The traditions, the rivalries, the legends. My dad covered them all.
But what sets him apart is that he didn't just cover the big programs. He covered the high school kids. The local soccer leagues. The stories that mattered to the community even when they didn't make national headlines. That's the mark of a real sportswriter — you care about the story, not the spotlight.
Featured Book
Pigskins and Ponytails
A year on the sidelines of a small-town women's football team
From 2002 to 2004, a group of women in South Bend, Indiana did something most people thought was crazy: they formed a full-contact, tackle football team. They strapped on helmets and pads. They hit each other. They played real football.
They didn't win a game.
But if you think that's the end of the story, you're missing the point entirely. My dad spent a year on the sidelines with this team, watching what happens when quirky hits determination head-on. What he found was something far more powerful than a win-loss record.
These women showed up every week knowing they were going to get hit — literally — by opponents who had been doing this longer and had more players. They showed up anyway. They practiced in the cold. They took their lumps. And they came back the next week.
One of the players, Jane Levenhagen, wrote a poem about the experience. My dad says it should be required reading for younger women who feel they are competing in a “Man's World.” He's right. The poem captures something raw and real about what it means to step into an arena where nobody expects you to belong — and refuse to leave.
My dad is donating the proceeds from Pigskins and Ponytails to the South Bend History Museum — the same museum that now has a display on this team.
The South Bend History Museum
Where South Bend's greatest stories live under one roof
If you want to understand South Bend — really understand it — go to The History Museum at 808 West Washington Street. The main entrance is at 897 Thomas Street. Free parking right out front.
My dad's book Pigskins and Ponytails has a display there now — the story of that women's tackle football team that refused to quit. But the museum is so much more than one exhibit. While you're there, walk through some of the most remarkable stories in American history — all of them rooted right here in South Bend.
On Display Now · Through May 2026
Rockne: Life & Legacy
The most significant collection of Knute Rockne artifacts ever assembled. His practice whistle. Personal letters. The cufflinks he wore the day his plane went down over Kansas in 1931.
Rockne coached Notre Dame for 13 seasons. His record: 105 wins, 12 losses, 5 ties. Three national championships. Five undefeated seasons. An .881 winning percentage — still the highest in major college football history, nearly a century later.
He popularized the forward pass. He invented the Notre Dame Shift. He gave the “Win One for the Gipper” speech — the most famous halftime speech in sports history — and Notre Dame came back to beat an undefeated Army team 12-6 at Yankee Stadium.
Permanent Exhibit
The Women Who Played Baseball
During World War II, Philip Wrigley founded the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to keep baseball alive while the men were overseas. Over 600 women played across 12 seasons, from 1943 to 1954.
The South Bend Blue Sox were one of the four original teams and played every single season without relocating. They won back-to-back playoff championships in 1951 and 1952. Virtually every AAGPBL player came through South Bend at some point.
The History Museum is the national repository for the AAGPBL collection — uniforms, trophies, film footage, scrapbooks, signed scripts from A League of Their Own. If you loved the movie, you need to see the real thing.
Connected Museum
The Studebaker National Museum
The Studebaker brothers opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend in 1852. By 1900 they were the world's largest builder of horse-drawn vehicles. Then they built cars. At their peak, they employed 24,000 people in South Bend and produced half a million vehicles a year.
The museum shares an entrance with The History Museum and houses roughly 120 vehicles spanning 150 years — including the carriage Abraham Lincoln rode to Ford's Theatre the night he was assassinated.
New Display
Women's Tackle Football
The display on the women's tackle football team from 2002–2004 — the team my dad wrote about in Pigskins and Ponytails. They didn't win a game. They played anyway.
Make sure you read the poem by Jane Levenhagen, one of the players. My dad calls it required reading for younger women who feel they are competing in a man's world. He's not wrong.
Plan Your Visit
Address
808 W. Washington Street
South Bend, IN 46601
Main entrance at 897 Thomas St.
Hours
Mon–Sat: 10 AM – 5 PM
Sunday: Noon – 5 PM
Admission
Adults: $13 · Seniors: $11
Youth: $9 · Under 5: Free
Both museums: $20 adults / $17 seniors
Nice Girls Finish First
The Notre Dame women's basketball championship story
In 2001, the Notre Dame women's basketball team won the NCAA Championship under coach Muffet McGraw. My dad wrote the book about it: Nice Girls Finish First. It's the inside story of that remarkable season — the players, the coaching, the culture that made it possible.
The title captures something real about that team. They weren't just talented — they were good people who played the right way. And they won it all.
Nice Girls Finish First
by Mark Bradford
The remarkable story of Notre Dame's 2001 NCAA women's basketball championship.
Julie and the Odd Duck
A children's book about courage, trust, and an unusual friendship
Julie and the Odd Duck is my dad's children's book. It tells the story of a young girl named Julie who discovers a strange green duck in a mysterious place called Treeplace. Together they go on an adventure that teaches Julie about courage, standing up to bullies, trusting yourself, and loving others.
I grew up with this story. It's the kind of book that sticks with you — not because it's flashy, but because the lessons are real. Trust yourself. Stand up for what's right. The people who seem odd might be the ones worth knowing.
Screenplay
Julie and the Odd Duck — The Movie
A cinematic adaptation of the children's book, reimagined as a family film screenplay.
Reader's Digest
My dad was featured in Reader's Digest. For a writer from South Bend, Indiana who spent his career at the local paper, that's a big deal. Reader's Digest has one of the largest circulations of any magazine in America. Getting featured means your work resonated far beyond your local beat.
Northern Indiana Soccer
Beyond his writing, my dad has been deeply involved in Northern Indiana soccer. Covering the sport, supporting local leagues, advocating for youth programs. In a football town like South Bend, championing soccer takes conviction. He believed in the sport and put in the work to help it grow in the community.
The Father
This is my dad. I grew up watching him work — watching him come home from football games at midnight, sit down at his desk, and write the story on deadline. Watching him cover high school kids with the same care he gave Notre Dame. Watching him write books on weekends and coach soccer on weeknights.
He taught me that work ethic isn't something you talk about — it's something you demonstrate. That writing is a craft, not a hobby. That you can make a living doing what you love if you're willing to do it every day, even when nobody's watching.
He's there with Joe Lightner and Wendy Wolf Bradford — good people, South Bend people. The kind of people who show up to museums, who care about local history, who remember the stories that matter.
The reason I can write at all is because I grew up in a house where writing mattered. Thanks, Dad.
Disclosure: Book links on this page go to Amazon and include an affiliate tag. If you buy something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This page was compiled with AI assistance.
Get Glen's Musings
Occasional thoughts on AI, Claude, investing, and building things. Free. No spam.
Unsubscribe anytime. I respect your inbox more than Congress respects property rights.
Keep Exploring
Julie and the Odd Duck — The Movie
A cinematic adaptation of the children's book as a family film screenplay.
Read moreThe Billionaire Bookshelf
65+ books recommended by Buffett, Musk, Gates, Bezos, and a guy from Indiana.
Read moreGear I Actually Use
17 real product comparisons from things I've bought and tested.
Read moreMiami Beach
The people and stories from Miami Beach that I know personally.
Read moreMovie Scripts
All AI-generated screenplays — billionaires, icons, and more.
Read moreStart Here
New to the site? This is the best place to begin.
Read more