Mike Pesca

Credit David Banks

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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3:44am

Thu March 28, 2013
Sports

Deflections: The Unofficial Stat That Measures Success

Originally published on Thu March 28, 2013 12:08 pm

Credit Andy Lyons / Getty Images

The Louisville Cardinals are among the teams dominating at this year's men's Division 1 NCAA basketball tournament, which resumes Thursday night. The team credits harassing, active defense for its wins.

But there's something else at work, too: deflections. The team puts a lot of stock in them, though deflections aren't an officially tracked statistic.

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8:13am

Sat March 23, 2013
Sports

Rhymed Wrap: NCAA So Far, In A Poem

NPR's Mike Pesca rhymes his way through the 32 opening-round games of the NCAA basketball tournament.

4:38am

Fri March 22, 2013
Sports

March Madness Report From Lexington, Kentucky

Originally published on Fri March 22, 2013 10:55 am

Transcript

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: And I'm Mike Pesca in Lexington, Kentucky where Marquette, Louisville, Butler and Colorado State all advanced. That was the big story for sure, but there was something else that had all the players talking. Other than the memories of a lifetime and the chance to keep living their dreams and all that, there was - as Jamil Wilson pointed out to this Marquette teammate Vander Blue - this amazing room they just walked by in the hallway.

JAMIL WILSON: It was, like, nuts. And me and Vander were, like, yo, we gotta see the locker room.

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5:39pm

Fri March 15, 2013
Sports

College Basketball Teams Hope For More Money By Leaving Big East Conference

For years, the Big East conference has been an elite force in men's college basketball. That ends this weekend. Realignment has dramatically transformed the Big East, as major powerhouse teams are moving on to other conferences.

5:01pm

Fri March 1, 2013
Sports

Major League Soccer Finally On Solid Footing, But Hasn't Reached Big Time

Originally published on Fri March 1, 2013 8:01 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The Major League Soccer season starts tomorrow. Superstar David Beckham is gone and there aren't any new teams to get excited about this year. But the MLS is on solid footing, and as NPR's Mike Pesca reports, the league has big ambitions.

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5:38am

Mon February 25, 2013
Sports

Jimmie Johnson Wins Daytona 500 For 2nd Time

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 2:10 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 yesterday, only his second career victory. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: It was his second win at Daytona.] And he made it past Danica Patrick, the first woman to ever win the pole position with the fastest qualifying time. She finished eighth. NPR's Mike Pesca was at the race.

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4:47pm

Fri February 22, 2013
Sports

DOJ Joins Whistleblower Case Against Lance Armstrong

Originally published on Fri February 22, 2013 6:47 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

There is some legal news in American sports as well today. The Justice Department announced it will join a whistleblower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong. The suit was filed by one of Armstrong's former teammates on the U.S. Postal Service cycling team. And for more, I'm joined by NPR's Mike Pesca. Hey, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.

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5:28pm

Tue February 12, 2013
Sports

Summer Olympics To Drop Wrestling After 2016 Games

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 1:19 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Finally this hour, an unexpected announcement from the world of Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee Executive Board has decided to drop wrestling from the games beginning in 2020. It is a major blow to the sport, which is among the world's oldest. Today, wrestling is represented on every continent. NPR's Mike Pesca reports on fallout from the decision.

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5:55pm

Mon February 4, 2013
Sports

49ers' Coach Questions Ref's Call On Pass Interference At Super Bowl

Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 10:29 am

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Twenty-four hours after Super Bowl XLVII, the headlines are: superstar Beyonce and a midgame power outage. But in addition to the hip-shaking and the strange third quarter intermission, there was also some pretty good football played last night in New Orleans. The Baltimore Ravens proved they were no fluke. They held off a come-back by the San Francisco 49ers to win the pro-football championship, 34 to 31.

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5:38am

Mon February 4, 2013
Sports

Lights Out For 49ers, Ravens Are Super Bowl Champs

Originally published on Mon February 4, 2013 12:09 pm

The Baltimore Ravens are the new Super Bowl champions. They defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34 to 31 Sunday night in New Orleans. The game threatened to be overshadowed by a momentum changing 34 minute power outage.

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