Mike Pesca
Mike Pesca first reached the airwaves as a 10-year-old caller to a New York Jets-themed radio show and has since been able to parlay his interests in sports coverage as a National Desk correspondent for NPR based in New York City.
Pesca enjoys training his microphone on anything that occurs at a track, arena, stadium, park, fronton, velodrome or air strip (i.e. the plane drag during the World's Strongest Man competition). He has reported from Los Angeles, Cleveland and Gary. He has also interviewed former Los Angeles Ram Cleveland Gary. Pesca is a panelist on the weekly Slate podcast "Hang up and Listen".
In 1997, Pesca began his work in radio as a producer at WNYC. He worked on the NPR and WNYC program On The Media. Later he became the New York correspondent for NPR's midday newsmagazine Day to Day, a job that has brought him to the campaign trail, political conventions, hurricane zones and the Manolo Blahnik shoe sale. Pesca was the first NPR reporter to have his own podcast, a weekly look at gambling cleverly titled "On Gambling with Mike Pesca."
Pesca, whose writing has appeared in Slate and The Washington Post, is the winner of two Edward R. Murrow awards for radio reporting and, in1993, was named Emory University Softball Official of the Year.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife Robin, sons Milo and Emmett and their dog Rumsfeld. A believer in full disclosure, Pesca rates his favorite teams as the Jets, Mets, St. Johns Red Storm and Knicks, teams he has covered fairly and without favor despite the fact that they have given him a combined one championship during his lifetime as a fully cognizant human.
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After the death of cyclist, the British star made the case for helmet laws. For that, he's been denounced in the U.K. by those who say such a law would make cycling less popular. -
If the Olympic badminton players could be faulted for anything, it's for not throwing their matches better. Manipulating the draws in tournaments has a long tradition in sport. In the early rounds of track or swimming competitions, athletes who've qualified will routinely not push to win a heat. -
The London Games have conspicuously defied traditional notions by having cheerleaders, in a few different styles, at a few different venues. In basketball, dance teams perform between matches. In beach volleyball, highly choreographed teams delight attendees. -
The result of a judo men's quarterfinal bout was announced, and then reversed, Sunday. Since then, it became the source of international indignation over a perceived injustice. But the controversy stems from judo officials' attempt to avoid such confusion. -
The 37-year-old New York Met makes his All-Star Game debut on Tuesday, and it's been a long, strange trip. Abused as a child, missing a crucial ligament in his throwing arm — Dickey overcame obstacles by putting his faith in a rare and fluttering pitch. -
In Monday night's Stanley Cup championship, the Los Angeles Kings won for the first time, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1.
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The conference finals are underway in the National Hockey League playoffs. In the East, the New York Rangers will face the New Jersey Devils Monday. In the West, the Los Angeles Kings have won Game 1 — beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2.
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Big name medal winners in high-profile Olympic sports can count on support from sponsors. But not so for lesser known athletes. That's forced some of them to take an unorthodox approach to fundraising.
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The New York Giants came back with a last-minute score to beat the New England Patriots 21-17 Sunday night for New York's fourth Super Bowl title. It was a rematch of the 2008 NFL championship, when Eli Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.
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The latest round of the NFL playoffs didn't disappoint. The Green Bay Packers, the team with the best record in the regular season, lost to the New York Giants. Among the other games, the New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos.
