David Lowery was an award-winning editorial writer and columnist with the Austin American-Statesman in Texas. He earned his Mud Daddy credentials by actually enlisting in the Army in the middle of the Vietnam War. "I'm not sure what I was thinking when I did that," he said. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." John Eckberg was an award-winning business columnist and reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer. He earned his Mud Daddy marks by completely rewiring a '60 Chevy bread truck converted into a camper for a cross-country trip after high school graduation. No big deal except that he and his pal, Jerry Sliger, were broken down in a KOA campground outside Lincoln, Nebraska, and had to hitchhike to the library for a Chevy car wiring diagram, then back again. They rewired the truck with no clue if it would really work. It did, and they pressed on with their search for America. That, too, seemed like a good idea at the time. And it was. John Erardi was an award-winning former columnist and sports writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Erardi, three-time Ohio Sports Writer of the Year, earned his stars early in his career by wrestling a bear at a shopping mall. Entering the ring with a bag of circus peanuts - supposedly Victor the Wrestling Bear's favorite treat - Erardi found he had a big problem - Victor. The match ended when Victor grabbed the backpedaling E-man, dragged him across the ring and held him nose down in a pool of bear piss. Erardi isn't sure what he was thinking when he accepted the assignment, but it was definitely not a good idea.