VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Andy Gardiner

Burlington

Media-Sports Writer

Inducted 2023

Mal Boright Media Inductee

A talented sportswriter who has served Vermont for over 25 years along with close to two decades at the national level with USA Today. Andy Gardiner was named Vermont Sportswriter of the Year four times. He gave the same quality effort to whatever sport he covered at any level, local, state, national or international competitions.

Since 2017, any media inductees to the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame will be known as the Mal Boright Inductee in honor of one of the Hall’s founders, who also is a member of the VSHOF.

A native of Tennessee who graduated from Florida State, Gardiner came to Vermont in the mid-70s to earn his masters degree at UVM, while beginning his sportswriting career at the Burlington Free Press in 1975. He began covering college and high school sports for the Free Press including coverage of University of Vermont men’s and women’s athletics.

Gardiner was named the Vermont Sportswriter of the Year in 1977 and 1981 by the state’s chapter of the National Sports Media Association. In 1982-83 he was recruited as an inaugural staff member of USA Today, the national newspaper that was part of the same ownership group as the Free Press. He later returned to the Vermont with the Free Press, where he was named the state’s sportswriter of the year again in 1987 and 1988.  

In both his stints at USA Today, he covered national college sports, pro golf and Olympic Sports. Gardiner covered more than 10 Olympic Games as part of the USA Today team, beginning with the Winter Games in Calgary in 1988. He rejoined the newspaper's permanent staff in 2000, focusing primarily on college sports including some key moments in UVM and Middlebury College athletics.

After retiring from Gannett and USA Today, in 2012 he returned to Vermont and remained involved in the state’s sports media as a freelancer and a contributor to Vermont Public Radio.

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Board Chairman John Maley offered the following comments on behalf of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame on the passing of veteran sportswriter Andy Gardiner.

It is with a very sad heart that the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame acknowledges the passing of longtime sportswriter Andy Gardiner of South Burlington.  We send our prayers and thoughts to his family and friends.

Andy Gardiner was a gifted journalist, whether it was covering games, serving as a columnist or writing features for The Burlington Free Press and USA Today. He was an award-winning writer, including a four-time winner as the Vermont Sportswriter of the Year as voted by his colleagues in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Andy Gardiner was due to be inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night (April 29, 2023). He will still be honored this coming Saturday at the banquet, including with a moment of silence and acceptance comments on his behalf.

When Andy's health began to fail recently the Hall of Fame Board decided to make his presentation early.

I was joined this past Saturday by two other board members: Mike Donoghue, a former co-worker with Andy at the Free Press, and Nini Anger, a former Vermont Athlete of the Year.

We will not forget the twinkle in Andy's eye when he awoke and saw us in his home.

As family and friends looked on, I made comments and the early presentation.

Mike also made comments, and we played a special video message from Gov. Phil Scott thanking Andy for his service in Vermont, nationally and internationally.

As Andy hugged the Vermont granite plaque, Nini Anger shared reflective thoughts about what it meant as a young athlete to be covered by him.

Nini's comments are included below:

"It is a privilege to be here, Andy, as a Vermont Sports Hall of Fame board member and as one of the many athletes you covered, from the high school gyms in Vermont to the Olympic mega-stars on the world stage.

Your career spanned decades, and encompassed everything from triumph to tragedy in the sports world.

Your words wove together the stories that allowed athletes, teams, and coaches to celebrate the joy of that winning game all over again the next morning on the pages of The Burlington Free Press.

And at times of unthinkable tragedy, your words consoled and brought comfort to families, teammates, coaches, and the community.

You saw beyond the talent, the points, the scores, and portrayed the very human side of the athlete.  You touched the lives of so many, and your words will live on, Andy, for generations to come.

I was not blessed with your gift for words, so I will borrow from those written by you, as you take your place as a member of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.  It is a signal honor, Andy, one which you richly deserve.  You are one of the most marvelous writers I have ever known, and you have my congratulations and deepest admiration."

- Nini Anger