News Archive October 2009

ESPN To Reprise KISS/Cadillac Story
From: CadillacNews.com
by Jeff Broddle
Posted: October 4, 2009

The story that has been told and retold, of the rock band KISS visiting Cadillac in 1975 at the invitation of the Cadillac High School football team, will be retold again, this time by the cable sports network ESPN.

Vikings football coach Jim Webb confirmed Friday that an ESPN crew asked permission to film the homecoming game Friday night. The crew also filmed part of the homecoming parade.

Webb said the players were "pumped" to hear the news that ESPN would be on the sidelines for the game.

"I told the players, in case they needed a little more motivation than homecoming, that some of them might be on national TV," Webb said.

ESPN crews will return to the area in coming weeks to conduct interviews with select individuals who had a part in the event.

ESPN Producer Dan Arruda said ESPN learned about Cadillac's role in "KISStory" after the recent Cadillac News article was posted on sportsbybrooks.com.

"I can't believe we hadn't heard about this story before," Arruda said.

No date has been set yet for the airing. The segment is likely to be five to eight minutes long, or possibly longer depending on where the story goes, and may air on Sportscenter or possibly Outside the Lines.

"We're coming at this from a sports perspective," Arruda said.

ESPN is looking for film, old photographs, home movies, and other memorabilia to help flesh out the video, especially film or photos of the 1974-75 team. Local folks who have these items, or perhaps have a ticket stub or a really good story to share about the KISS visit, may contact Arruda at danny.f.arruda@espn.com

"I'll try to get back to as many people as I can," Arruda said.