Tom Goldman

Down To The Putt: Golf Analytics Gain Traction

Tom Goldman — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:02:00 +0000

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.

Giant-Killing Louisville Women Look To Keep Charmed Run Alive

Tom Goldman — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:44:00 +0000

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.

Connecticut did it in 2004. Coincidentally, it's the Connecticut women who'll try to deny Louisville's bid for a twofer.

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

Tom Goldman — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:16:00 +0000

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.

Oregon's Arsalan Kazemi: From Iran To NCAA Hoopla

Tom Goldman — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:13:00 +0000

San Jose, Calif., is just a piece of a very big March Madness pie.

World Baseball Classic's All-Caribbean Showdown Is A Winner Either Way

Tom Goldman — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:57:00 +0000

NPR's Tom Goldman is covering the World Baseball Classic tournament and sends along this report:

Tonight's championship game of the World Baseball Classic is certain to produce a dramatic image after the last out.

Lawsuit, Investigation Loom Over Lance Armstrong

Tom Goldman — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 05:04:00 +0000

There are more troubles for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

A Texas-based promotions company sued the former cycling champion Thursday for more than $12 million, which was paid to Armstrong for several of his record seven Tour de France wins. Armstrong publicly admitted last month that those herculean victories were aided by doping.

The lawsuit is part of a flurry of activity: Armstrong still is in talks with the U.S.

Film: Sam Bowie Insists NBA Career Wasn't A Bust

Tom Goldman — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:58:00 +0000

In 1984, the Portland Trail Blazers chose Sam Bowie, a 7-foot-1 center from the University of Kentucky, with the second pick in the college draft. The Chicago Bulls then took Michael Jordan.

The words "Bowie over Jordan" are part of pro basketball lore, and are still a source of pain for many fans of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Bowie's tenure in Portland was marred by leg injuries; Jordan became a legend. ESPN recounts it all in a documentary about Bowie on Thursday night.

Moments after he was drafted on June 19, 1984, Bowie did his first TV interview as a Trail Blazer.

Lance Armstrong And The Business Of Doping

Tom Goldman — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:05:00 +0000

The story of Lance Armstrong's alleged doping is, in part, the story of an astonishing business enterprise — an enterprise that drove what the U.S. anti-doping agency called "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program" cycling has ever seen.

The story of that enterprise starts in 1998, when the Festina cycling team was caught at the Tour de France with a car full of banned drugs.