Tom Borrelli dies from fall injuries; praised as '100 percenter'
Tom Borrelli, the Buffalo News sportswriter who died Thursday, was the consummate professional reporter, a talented and knowledgeable “100-percenter” who lived and breathed lacrosse and other sports, his colleagues recalled.
Borrelli, 51, died at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in Erie County Medical Center of complications from a fall he took down a steep staircase two weeks ago while covering a high school football game at All High Stadium.
Editorial staff members who gathered in the newsroom after hearing about Borrelli’s death were comforted by a message relayed by Sports Editor Steve Jones from photographer Bill Wippert, a lifelong friend of Borrelli’s.
“Tom died on the job, doing what he loved, covering a game,” Jones said.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Nov. 8. Borrelli scaled the approximately dozen metal stairs to the press box, before apparently striking his head on a steel girder and falling backward down the stairs.
The accident left the veteran sportswriter paralyzed from the neck down and breathing with a respirator.
While his family hoped his condition would improve once the swelling went down, Borrelli had several serious setbacks in recent days.
“The newsroom is in shock,” Managing Editor Howard Smith said. “Tom was a total professional who knew how to do his job and did it as well as anyone can. He was as dedicated to his work as they come, and a first-rate human being. We will miss him terribly.”
Colleagues remembered Borrelli as a multitasker, a two-fingered typist who could write or edit while sitting at his desk with an earpiece, listening to his beloved Cincinnati Reds, University of North Carolina or — gasp — Toronto Maple Leafs; as a considerate person who often walked female colleagues to their cars late at night; as an occasional prankster; and as a man with a crusty exterior but a kind heart, always buying gifts for his colleagues’ young children.
Borrelli also was known for spending days off and vacation time attending games — high school, college and pro — often with his wife, Karen.
And once he embraced The News’ online product, he spent countless hours posting items about high school sports, lacrosse and fantasy sports.
“He was a 100-percenter, and there aren’t many 100-percenters,” Smith said.
Among his duties at The News, Borrelli covered the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team, becoming the first sportswriter inducted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame. The league also named its writers award for Borrelli, not just because of his writing skill but also because “he was a great person,” Commissioner Jim Jennings said Thursday.
Whenever Jennings attended a Bandits game in Buffalo, he would spend most of the game in the press box, sitting next to Borrelli, picking his brain.
It’s something Jennings doesn’t do in other cities.
“I enjoyed his company as a person, but he also gave me so much insight into the world of lacrosse,” Jennings said. “He covered it, he lived it, and he loved it.”
Borrelli contributed to Lacrosse magazine for 17-plus years, covering the NLL and assisting with the magazine’s college lacrosse coverage.
“Tom was an editor’s dream: infinitely knowledgeable about his subject matter, talented at his craft, highly productive and no-maintenance,” Lacrosse magazine editor Paul Krome said. “I never had to worry about what I was going to get from Tom, ever.”
Borrelli, a City of Tonawanda resident, graduated from St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in 1975 and Buffalo State College in 1979.
He worked in the sports departments for newspapers in Painesville, Ohio; Bluefield, W. Va.; and Binghamton before joining The News in October 1989.
Surviving in addition to his wife, Karen, a News sports department employee, are his father, George J., a retired News political reporter, and a brother, Dr. George W.
A funeral Mass will be offered at 11:30 a.m. Monday in St. Amelia Catholic Church, 2999 Eggert Road, Town of Tonawanda. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday in the Amigone Funeral Home, 2600 Sheridan Drive, Town of Tonawanda.
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