Tom Goldman

Tom Goldman is NPR's sports correspondent. His reports can be heard throughout NPR's news programming, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and NPR.org.

With a beat covering the entire world of professional sports, both in and outside of the United States, Goldman reporting covers the broad spectrum of athletics from the people to the business of athletics.

During his more than 20 years with NPR, Goldman has covered every major athletic competition including the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, golf and tennis championships, and the Olympic Games.

His pieces are diverse and include both perspective and context. Goldman often explores people's motivations for doing what they do, whether it's solo sailing around the world or pursuing a gold medal. In his reporting, Goldman searches for the stories about the inspirational and relatable amateur and professional athletes.

Goldman contributed to NPR's 2009 Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and to a 2010 Murrow award for contribution to a series on high school football, "Friday Night Lives." Earlier in his career, Goldman's piece about Native American basketball players earned a 2004 Dick Schaap Excellence in Sports Journalism Award from the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University and a 2004 Unity Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

In January 1990, Goldman came to NPR to work as an associate producer for sports with Morning Edition. For the next seven years he reported, edited and produced stories and programs. In June 1997, he became NPR's first full time sports correspondent.

For five years before NPR, Goldman worked as a news reporter and then news director in local public radio. In 1984, he spent a year living on an Israeli kibbutz. Two years prior he took his first professional job in radio in Anchorage, Alaska, at the Alaska Public Radio Network.

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Sports
11:04 am
Sun April 14, 2013

A Controversial Drop Puts Woods Behind On Final Day Of Masters

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It is the final round of The Masters today. American Brandt Snedeker and Argentine Angel Cabrera share the lead at 7 under par. Pre-tournament favorite Tiger Woods is four shots behind, which isn't bad considering what he went through yesterday. From Augusta, Georgia, NPR's Tom Goldman reports on how golf's greatest major almost lost its greatest player.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Fore, please. Tiger Woods now driving.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

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Sports
5:02 pm
Sat April 13, 2013

Down To The Putt: Golf Analytics Gain Traction

Originally published on Sat April 13, 2013 6:09 pm

Numbers crunching has become a big deal in sports. Analytics have been slower to take hold in the tradition-bound game of golf, but it is happening. NPR's Tom Goldman reports on the phenomenon from the tournament most steeped in tradition, the Masters.

The Two-Way
2:44 pm
Tue April 9, 2013

Giant-Killing Louisville Women Look To Keep Charmed Run Alive

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 7:34 pm

Tonight, there's a chance for a rare double in NCAA Division I college basketball.

As we reported earlier, if the University of Louisville scores a victory in the women's championship game, it will be only the second school to capture both the men's and women's titles in the same year.

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Sports
5:16 am
Sun April 7, 2013

Old Guard And Fresh Faces Square Off At Women's Final Four

Credit Sue Ogrocki / AP
Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel (23) and the Louisville bench react to her 3-point shot against Tennessee in the second half of the regional final in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Louisville won 86-78.

Originally published on Sun April 7, 2013 12:51 pm

A women's Final Four without Baylor, Stanford or Tennessee? That's happened only one other time in the last dozen years. We've become so used to it being a power party, that it's downright disorienting.

Or maybe that's just vertigo from trying to track the movements of the Final Four's breakout star, Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel. She's a big reason why two of those teams — Tennessee and Baylor — aren't in New Orleans for a chance at the title.

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Sports
5:33 am
Sun March 24, 2013

Make Way For Ducks, Out To Prove They're A Better Seed

Originally published on Sun March 24, 2013 8:05 am

There's a team in the NCAA men's basketball tournament making some noise in the West. The Oregon Ducks, seeded 12th in their region, now have two double-digit wins over much higher-seeded teams. NPR's Tom Goldman reports from San Jose, Calif.

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