Trecker, Jamie

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Trecker, Jamie

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Chicago, IL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Journalist and sports writer. Fox Sports, Chicago, IL, senior soccer writer.

WRITINGS:

Love and Blood: At the World Cup with the Footballers, Fans, and Freaks, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.

Contributor to a number of periodicals. Writer for the Fox Sports Blog.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jamie Trecker is a journalist and sports writer. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Trecker is a contributor to a number of periodicals and magazines around the United States. He is a senior soccer writer for Fox Sports and contributes regularly to the network's Fox Sports Blog.

Trecker published his first book, Love and Blood: At the World Cup with the Footballers, Fans, and Freaks, in 2007. The book gives an account of the FIFA World Cup in 2006 held in Germany. Trecker covers general information about the sport, its history in the United States and throughout the world, player profiles, and a bit of historical background on Germany, the tournament's host country. The account is told through Trecker's personal experiences as a journalist covering the games and as a participant in the hype it creates on the grounds of the tournament throughout the country that is hosting it. Trecker discusses his insecurity at certain places he stayed while covering the game, how the fans interact with each other, and how his personal health, which suffered greatly shortly into the game, altered his ability to cover the tournament. Trecker finds comparisons between soccer stars of various countries and their contribution to the sport with similar figures in sports more popular in the United States.

Lou Bruno, reviewing the book on EPL Talk, expressed his support that Trecker discussed his personal health issues in the book "since it gives the readers an even better insight of what it took to produce this book. I know there are those out there who find the author an unnecessary critic of the MLS or US Soccer, your views on his opinions should not deter you from buying this book." Bruno "highly recommended" the book, stating: "I look forward to his next book and hope he will find the time and good health to write a longer piece on any one of the various subjects he touched on in this World Cup saga." A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented that "while not without its pleasures, this is mostly for the already initiated rather than the general reader." Booklist contributor Keir Graff observed that the chronicle "of soccer madness is lively and intelligent, as full of funny anecdotes as it is opinionated commentary." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews noted that Trecker tells the story by "finely balancing his personal experiences with comprehensive historical detail, and a generous supply of factoid footnotes." The same contributor concluded: "A devoted and comprehensive tour guide, Trecker delivers the goods with gusto."