R.I.P., Tom Borrelli

[Lori]

Updated with the sad news that Tom Borrelli, a Tonawanda native and sports writer for The Buffalo News, died this morning due to complications from his injuries. (Thanks for letting us know, grunt67.) The BN story is on Page 2 of this thread.

****

 

From the BN's Prep Talk blog: Best wishes to Tom Borrelli

 

On Saturday, I got the shocking call that my colleague and friend Tom Borrelli had an accident at All High Stadium.

 

He spent the first part of his Saturday shift at All High to get some details and grab a few quotes to help our coverage in the paper and on this blog.

 

Tom is a pro. He was the first member of the media to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the league also named its writing award after him, because of his passionate coverage of the sport.

 

He is passionate about high school sports as well.

 

So on Saturday afternoon he went to All High -- to make sure a story got told, that competitors were recognized, that statistics were recorded.

 

As The News has forged ahead in this relatively new Web world, Tom has consistently, as always, been a pro. Given the additional outlet to cover things, he's made the most of it (not only here, but Fantasy Fix and Sports, Ink).

 

That might have meant saving some notes and quotes from a phone call he had with a coach from our office, or stopping by a high school game to start his work shift. While we might have only been able to fit a few paragraphs in the paper on a particular game, there would be 10, or 15, or 20 paragraphs on the Web. Just Friday night he posted items about wins by St. Francis and Burgard.

 

On Saturday he was trying to do right by his job, this paper and the high school sports it covers.

 

Get well soon, Tom.

 

Feel free to wish him the same in the comments section below.

 

---Keith McShea

 

• • •

 

Tom Borrelli was injured on the job Saturday when he fell from a stairway leading to the press box at All High Stadium.

 

Tom is a sports reporter and a copy editor at The Buffalo News. He covers the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team, writes a fantasy sports column for Football Friday and jumps in whenever a good local story needs reporting. He was working on college basketball previews (look for his capsule on UB's team in Tuesday's News) and was at All High to cover the Harvard Cup game Saturday when he was injured.

 

This is being posted on the Fantasy Fix, Sports, Ink and Prep Talk blogs because Tom loves all sports.

 

Click on the comments section below to wish him a speedy recovery.

 

---Steve Jones, Sports Editor

[Steely Dan]

God Bless. In my prayers until he's better!!

[Beerball]

Best wishes Tom.

[Bmwolf21]

I saw this over the weekend on the BN page and couldn't believe it. I don't know Tom, but I know what it's like to try to navigate the structures that some high schools call "bleachers" and "stairs" leading into a shanty that could loosely be called a "press box," and I am usually saying a silent prayer that everything holds up the way it is supposed to and I get in and out safely. I am completely surprised that this is the first accident of its kind I've read about or seen.

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to Tom and his family. What a scary situation.

[The Dean]

Holy crap. Here's wishing a fast and full recovery.

[Lori]

I hear you, Bmwolf. At "my" team's home field, the upper level of the press box (used by coaches, mostly) is accessed by a metal ladder that isn't even attached to the wall. And since my seat is nearest to the door on the lower level, I've had to help catch a couple of people when it moved underneath them ...

 

All the best, Tom. Be well.

[Chalkie Gerzowski]

depends on the school....some are fine, others are rickety, pathetic old relics that wouldn't pass a safety test in Bulgaria.

[mead107]

prayers

[Bmwolf21]

I hear you, Bmwolf. At "my" team's home field, the upper level of the press box (used by coaches, mostly) is accessed by a metal ladder that isn't even attached to the wall. And since my seat is nearest to the door on the lower level, I've had to help catch a couple of people when it moved underneath them ...

 

All the best, Tom. Be well.

Sadly there are a lot of HS stadiums where you're taking a risk just by trying to climb into the press box. Last year I had a storm window fall -- untouched -- out of its track and land on my laptop. Thankfully I wasn't sitting there when it happened, or it would have knocked me out cold. This was the same press box where I had trouble getting into the box because the box was apparently an afterthought to the bleachers - it was significantly behind and above the bleachers, leaving us to navigate (in the rain) what amounted to a fixed three-step metal step stool with one handle attached to the door frame for balance.

[Gordio]

Sadly there are a lot of HS stadiums where you're taking a risk just by trying to climb into the press box. Last year I had a storm window fall -- untouched -- out of its track and land on my laptop. Thankfully I wasn't sitting there when it happened, or it would have knocked me out cold. This was the same press box where I had trouble getting into the box because the box was apparently an afterthought to the bleachers - it was significantly behind and above the bleachers, leaving us to navigate (in the rain) what amounted to a fixed three-step metal step stool with one handle attached to the door frame for balance.

 

I am not a reporter or anything, but do high school football stadiums seriously need a press box???? Can't the media just sit in the bleachers like everybody else? I remember the press box in my old high school. I always thought to myself this thing is going to give way any minute. If the school can not afford to maintain & make access safe for all who go there, then they should not be allowed to have them. The harvard cup schools can not even afford to chalk the lines for the baseball games, I could not even imagine what the press box looks like at their football games.

[Bmwolf21]

I am not a reporter or anything, but do high school football stadiums seriously need a press box???? Can't the media just sit in the bleachers like everybody else?

If they want media coverage of their games, then yes, they do. In theory a reporter might be able to get away with doing the odd game here or there from the bleachers, but it is incredibly difficult to do so, and most papers and writers won't cover a game or school that doesn't provide an adequate work space that, at the very least, shelters the media from the elements.

 

Plus most schools have coaching staffs in the press box boxes and the PA announcer and scoreboard operator are there as well.

[Gordio]

If they want media coverage of their games, then yes, they do. In theory a reporter might be able to get away with doing the odd game here or there from the bleachers, but it is incredibly difficult to do so, and most papers and writers won't cover a game or school that doesn't provide an adequate work space that, at the very least, shelters the media from the elements.

 

Plus most schools have coaching staffs in the press box boxes and the PA announcer and scoreboard operator are there as well.

 

 

Well, if they have them, they should at least be accountable for making them safe. I am surprised some of them pass safety codes.

[The_Philster]

Really hoping he gets well soon. Besides the obvious humanitarian reasons, he's by far the best writer around for the NLL and we need him back to cover the Bandits' drive to repeat as Champs

[The Senator]

I was sitting - or trying to, anyway - in the seat next to Allen Wilson (who really should have to pay for the two seats he occupies) on the flight from Boston Monday morning, and overheard him talking to someone on his cell phone about Tom having more surgery and possibly a tracheotomy - sounded pretty serious.

 

Get well soon, Tom.

[theesir]

BUffalo News said a Buffalo Police spokesman said that there were "conflicting reports" as to how the accident happened. I hope to hell this does not mean that there are witnesses who said he was tripped or pushed by some idiot "prankster".

[Lori]

I am not a reporter or anything, but do high school football stadiums seriously need a press box???? Can't the media just sit in the bleachers like everybody else? I remember the press box in my old high school. I always thought to myself this thing is going to give way any minute. If the school can not afford to maintain & make access safe for all who go there, then they should not be allowed to have them. The harvard cup schools can not even afford to chalk the lines for the baseball games, I could not even imagine what the press box looks like at their football games.

What BMWolf said. At the very least, as he noted, you need hookups for the PA and scoreboard. If there's a local radio broadcast, add multiple phone lines (and space for at least a pbp guy and a spotter); double that if more than one station is calling the game, which is common even out here in the sticks.

 

And that's without even taking print media into consideration. Since I'm not writing for a Friday night deadline, I don't take my laptop with me (recorder, steno pad for pbp, a separate running-stats sheet, and a pair of binocs is how I roll). And a lot of people are both writing and shooting, so it's not a big deal for them -- they're on the sideline. But guys like BMW who are filing on those skin-tight deadlines absolutely need to get a start on their running copy before the game ends, and a lot of places (including The News) are live-blogging games now. Trying to do that while balancing a laptop on your knees in the bleachers, in semi-darkness (since a lot of the schools around here have crappy lighting)? Unpossible.

 

Screw 'em. Cross that school off the list of places to cover, and wait for their coach to call in his stats instead. I tried to do one game from the bleachers this year at a particularly unhelpful venue. There will not be a second.

 

But your more recent post is absolutely correct: Safety codes and laws should apply, just like any other workplace. Yes, it IS a workplace.

 

*****

 

Back on topic, one of Tom's friends weighs in -- Sports, Ink: Score one for Tom Borrelli

 

The news at the top of that post is grim, but not unexpected.

 

Be well, Tom.

[Gordio]

What BMWolf said. At the very least, as he noted, you need hookups for the PA and scoreboard. If there's a local radio broadcast, add multiple phone lines (and space for at least a pbp guy and a spotter); double that if more than one station is calling the game, which is common even out here in the sticks.

 

And that's without even taking print media into consideration. Since I'm not writing for a Friday night deadline, I don't take my laptop with me (recorder, steno pad for pbp, a separate running-stats sheet, and a pair of binocs is how I roll). And a lot of people are both writing and shooting, so it's not a big deal for them -- they're on the sideline. But guys like BMW who are filing on those skin-tight deadlines absolutely need to get a start on their running copy before the game ends, and a lot of places (including The News) are live-blogging games now. Trying to do that while balancing a laptop on your knees in the bleachers, in semi-darkness (since a lot of the schools around here have crappy lighting)? Unpossible.

 

Screw 'em. Cross that school off the list of places to cover, and wait for their coach to call in his stats instead. I tried to do one game from the bleachers this year at a particularly unhelpful venue. There will not be a second.

 

But your more recent post is absolutely correct: Safety codes and laws should apply, just like any other workplace. Yes, it IS a workplace.

 

*****

 

Back on topic, one of Tom's friends weighs in -- Sports, Ink: Score one for Tom Borrelli

 

The news at the top of that post is grim, but not unexpected.

 

Be well, Tom.

 

 

Thanks for the info, both you & BMwolf.

 

Anyways, hopefully Tom will make a speedy recovery.

[Bmwolf21]

What BMWolf said. At the very least, as he noted, you need hookups for the PA and scoreboard. If there's a local radio broadcast, add multiple phone lines (and space for at least a pbp guy and a spotter); double that if more than one station is calling the game, which is common even out here in the sticks.

 

And that's without even taking print media into consideration. Since I'm not writing for a Friday night deadline, I don't take my laptop with me (recorder, steno pad for pbp, a separate running-stats sheet, and a pair of binocs is how I roll). And a lot of people are both writing and shooting, so it's not a big deal for them -- they're on the sideline. But guys like BMW who are filing on those skin-tight deadlines absolutely need to get a start on their running copy before the game ends, and a lot of places (including The News) are live-blogging games now. Trying to do that while balancing a laptop on your knees in the bleachers, in semi-darkness (since a lot of the schools around here have crappy lighting)? Unpossible.

 

Screw 'em. Cross that school off the list of places to cover, and wait for their coach to call in his stats instead. I tried to do one game from the bleachers this year at a particularly unhelpful venue. There will not be a second.

 

But your more recent post is absolutely correct: Safety codes and laws should apply, just like any other workplace. Yes, it IS a workplace.

 

*****

 

Back on topic, one of Tom's friends weighs in -- Sports, Ink: Score one for Tom Borrelli

 

The news at the top of that post is grim, but not unexpected.

 

Be well, Tom.

Well put, Lori. I didn't have the time to get into the stuff I carry to each game or the difficulties that we face each week, but it is a lot more involved than most realize. For most games I carry my laptop (and all that entails) notebook, recorder, and 3-ring binder with stat sheets, rosters, and paper for the PbP charts. It can be real easy to get behind in a game at a nice stadium with good spotters and referees, and can quickly turn into a nightmare at a facility with poor sightlines, staff who are less than helpful, and limited workspace, and once you add in the early deadlines, it can be a very tough job. And it really sucks when you go to a school that is not helpful and you feel unsafe in the bleachers and press box.

 

But back to the topic at hand - that was a fantastic read. Liz wrote a great piece about Tom, and it makes me even sadder to think of him all hooked up to the machines.

 

But thanks for sharing it.

[bbb]

Wow - this is such horrible news......I will pray for Tom tonight.

 

I hate fantasy sports, but I would always read his columns, because he such a great grasp of sports history and would be chock full of info that I didn't know about. He really wrote some interesting stuff. I sure hope he continues to do so.

[Chalkie Gerzowski]

Well put, Lori. I didn't have the time to get into the stuff I carry to each game or the difficulties that we face each week, but it is a lot more involved than most realize. For most games I carry my laptop (and all that entails) notebook, recorder, and 3-ring binder with stat sheets, rosters, and paper for the PbP charts. It can be real easy to get behind in a game at a nice stadium with good spotters and referees, and can quickly turn into a nightmare at a facility with poor sightlines, staff who are less than helpful, and limited workspace, and once you add in the early deadlines, it can be a very tough job. And it really sucks when you go to a school that is not helpful and you feel unsafe in the bleachers and press box.

 

But back to the topic at hand - that was a fantastic read. Liz wrote a great piece about Tom, and it makes me even sadder to think of him all hooked up to the machines.

 

But thanks for sharing it.

 

I covered some HS games one year (central PA). Luckily I didn't run into such a problem with access to a press box, but the press boxes certainly varied. All-High Stadium should have been closed years ago. That thing looked like a bombed out monstrosity 20 years ago. Who gave that building a benediction...Bishop Timon? Was Joseph Ellicott master of ceremonies?