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Hank Goldberg, the legendary handicapping expert and ESPN reporter for two decades, passed away on his 82nd birthday from chronic kidney disease, per his family. He has fought long odds over the last couple of years in his battle with chronic kidney disease. As he was too old to be eligible for a kidney transplant, he’d undergo dialysis four hours a day, three days a week, for the last five years.
In October last year, Goldberg had his right leg surgically removed below the knee at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas due to issues from the disease.
Goldberg certainly had a memorable career
He moved to the city of Miami to take up advertising, but later got his first job as a sports talk show host on the Miami radio station WIOD. He landed the job thanks to a recommendation from legendary talk show host, the late Larry King, who had worked at the station.
He earned the moniker “The Hammer” on his radio show for slamming down a gavel on the desk when he disagreed with his co-host. For 14 years (1978 - 1992), the journalist was an NFL color analyst for the Miami Dolphins on WIOD radio and also worked as a sports anchor at WTVJ in Miami.
He learned the fine art of sports handicapping from oddsmaker and former NFL Today contributor Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. Goldberg said he used to write Snyder’s syndicated column, which ran in over 100 newspapers across the United States.
He also helped collect data for Snyder’s “The Greek’s Grapevine” TV segment on The NFL Today. Goldberg said he’d phone Al Davis, the late Oakland Raiders owner, every Sunday morning:
“I used to call (late Raiders owner) Al Davis every Sunday morning for information.”
Goldberg and his time at ESPN
He had a record of .500 or better in 15 of 17 seasons while predicting NFL games at the network. He made appearances on the Sunday morning NFL pregame show NFL Countdown and ESPN Radio while adding to their coverage of thoroughbred racing on the network.
The sports personality has also been a contributor on ESPN's sports betting show, Daily Wager, since the show’s been on the air in March 2019. He also made weekly hits during the NFL season and made periodic appearances around the Triple Crown races.
His final appearance on ESPN was in May of this year, when he did an interview via telephone from the Kentucky Derby.
Condolences to his family for their loss.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Las Vegas Review Journal, ESPN and H/T Sportskeeda.
