A very very sad day – Tom Borrelli is gone

I am numb as I write this. My heart is very heavy. Our colleague, our friend and our mentor, Tom Borrelli, died overnight from complications due to his freak fall down a ladder while covering a high school football game a couple of weeks ago.

Tom was one of the first people we ever met and interacted with in the media. It was January of 2001, and we had been awarded credentials on behalf of Sportsblast to go and cover the Buffalo Bandits. This would be one of our first forays into a big league pressbox, and needless to say, we were very intimidated by our surroundings.

That January night was when we first met Tom. The pressbox at Bandits games is never crowded, and we got a chance to introduce ourselves, and that night we told him all about the USRT, which at that time was just past the halfway mark on the way towards 121. He was impressed; he was enamored. He became our fan right on the spot. Also that night we had no idea where to go and what to do. Are we allowed in the locker room after the game? Does the coach have a press conference or do we just walk into his office? Can we use a video recorder? “Just come with me and follow my lead” said Tom, and he practically took us by the arm down to the postgame and showed us the ropes.

Tom was a true die-hard fan of the MLB Cincinnati Reds, and spoke wistfully of that great “Big Red Machine” dynasty of the 70s. He would make his own road trips to see his beloved Reds play, whether down in Cincy or on the road in other cities. When we made the official visit to Great American Ballpark in 2003, Tom was first in line to get a hold of us, wanting to know every detail of our impressions of their ballpark and stories about our trip (Yep Tom, we toasted you as we wolfed down those Skyline Coneys smothered in chili and cheese!).

This past lacrosse season was a magical one for the Buffalo Bandits… sitting next to Tom at the last regular season game against Portland, a western division also ran backing into the playoffs, I jokingly said “Could be a preview of the NLL Championship game, which Buffalo will win again, right Tom?” “Yeah, right” was his sarcastic reply. So wouldn’t you know it… a few weeks later there we were at HSBC Arena, and indeed it was Portland and Buffalo in that big game, a thriller won by the Bandits 15-14. In the chaos of the locker room, corridors, and press room following the game, Tom came up to me and said “Andy you sure called this one right”. He was such a passionate fan of the Bandits, but amidst the excitement and jubilation of the moment, he was still all business – he had interviews to conduct, deadlines to adhere to and a story to write.

January 3 will be a joyous occasion at HSBC Arena, when the Bandits raise their 2008 championship banner to the rafters. It will also be a bittersweet moment because there will be an empty chair up in the pressbox. I am sure that the Bandits will do something special on that night to remember and pay tribute to Tom.

I will try hard not to lose it. I can say right now I will not be successful.