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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When the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals meet Sunday in the Super Bowl, one player to watch is Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. His optometrist grandfather gave Fitzgerald unique vision training that has helped him on the football field.
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The Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals will meet in this Sunday's NFC championship game. It has been an up-and-down year for the Eagles, who are one game away from the Super Bowl. Coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb have been the focus of fan ire.
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US Airways CEO Douglas Parker offered few new details on flight 1549, which crashed into the Hudson River. All the passengers were declared safe, and many were able to walk away once they were rescued.
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A US Airways plane has crashed into the Hudson River. It is not clear if there are any injuries. More than 100 people were on board flight 1549 that had taken off from LaGuardia Airport on its way to Charlotte, N.C.
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While the race for the playoffs continues in the NFL, one big question remains: Can the Detroit Lions go the entire season without winning a game?
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One of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of professional football has died. Sammy Baugh, who played for the Washington Redskins, was 94. Nicknamed Slingin' Sammy, he transformed the quarterback position with his accuracy and long passing.
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Game 1 in the World Series goes to the Philadelphia Phillies. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Wednesday night's opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. Game 2 will be played Thursday, also at Tropicana Field.
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One day after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer admitted involvement with prostitution, NPR's Mike Pesca reports on how the news is playing in Albany.
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In 1960, a team of documentary filmmakers descended on the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary in order to record the campaigning between John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey. Politically, the results propelled Kennedy to the nomination. Artistically, the documentarians invented a new form.
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The former New York mayor is expected to pull out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after poor showings in early primaries and caucuses. New Yorkers react to his likely departure.