Feb. 28, 2007

Tom Borrelli is the best beat writer the sport of lacrosse, and Lacrosse magazine, has ever known. His induction into the National Lacrosse League's Hall of Fame was a generous testament to this fact. So what was the catalyst for Borrelli's start in the sport during the medieval 1970s, when lacrosse was about as cool as Jimmy Carter?

Well, as it turns out, Borrelli chose lacrosse for the same reason millions of college-aged men, both past and present, have based their decisions.

"I didn't know anything about lacrosse, but I knew one of the players who lived on my street and every day in class there were a whole bunch girls around him, so I said, `Yeah, I'll give it a shot. Why not?'"

That was 1979 and Borrelli was a sophomore at Buffalo State. He had just given up his original Law Enforcement major to follow the same profession as his parents, who were staples at the Buffalo News and the now-defunct Buffalo Courier Express. Borrelli was covering what he described as the `glamour beats' -- basketball and baseball -- for Buffalo State's The Record, but the editors were in a pinch and needed someone to cover the newly created lacrosse team on its maiden trip to Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania.

The team bus never showed up, so Borrelli and the rest of the team had to drive down in separate cars. And a legendary career was born.

"The game turned out to be incredible," remembered Borrelli. "It ended up in either double or triple overtime and from that day on I fell in love with the game. I studied it to learn the nuances of it and basically educated myself on the fly about the sport."

Twenty-eight years later, Borrelli was clutching a bronze plaque embossed with his likeness in front of an appreciative NLL crowd in Philadelphia.

The sport was in his blood, but Borrelli had to go to a couple of figurative lacrosse rehabs for five years after graduation. He took a job in Painesville, Ohio -- which he notes is the hometown of former NFL coach Don Shula -- but that lacrosse-less stint lasted about six months before he moved on to West Virginia. While Bluefield, W.V., had no lacrosse either, he was close enough to the fledgling Virginia Tech team and ACC lacrosse to satisfy his fix.

"I did a few stories on [Virginia Tech] and kept my head in it, and while I was down there I was really close to ACC country so I got to see Virginia and North Carolina play and at the time NC State still played," Borrelli said. "On off days, I was able to make the three hour drive and watch them play."

Borrelli's big break came in 1984 when he signed on with the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. A straight-shot down I-81 from Syracuse, he got his first taste of the man who would define the game.

"It was the only year the Gaits didn't win the national championship when they were there; they lost in the semifinals to Cornell," said Borrelli. "And I covered that for the paper, and then the next year I covered it at the Carrier Dome the day Gary did his `Air Gait' move, and of course Syracuse went on to win that championship. I also got to cover a lot of high school lacrosse and I really got to be a much better lacrosse reporter from my days at Binghamton."

But just like that, again lacrosse and Borrelli would be separated. Although he had no particular goal of returning to his hometown, professional needs and the bottom line brought him back to Buffalo.

"I thought that would be the end for me covering lacrosse because Western New York at the time was nothing like Central New York in terms of lacrosse interest," Borrelli said. "As luck would have it, the MILL decided to come to Buffalo for the '92 season and it was almost like the same thing happened all over again that happened in college.

"Nobody here knew anything about lacrosse and nobody liked lacrosse, but, lo and behold, there was someone here who had experience with it. Even though at the time I was hired completely as a desk guy, I harassed my boss and finally he got tired of listening to me and said, `Alright I'll give you one day a week in the winter to cover this team,' hoping all along that they would go out of business after the first year.

"Nobody has come along and said I want to take this beat from under you. And now they would have a hell of a fight on their hands."

That year also marked the first for Borrelli writing under the Lacrosse magazine flag. Jamie Hunt, the then-editor of our magazine, saw the writing on the wall.

"He called on the spur of the moment before the Philadelphia championship and said, `This little league of yours is drumming up some good interest so why don't you do a story on us when it's over?' So I did that first year and have been writing for you guys ever since. This is my 16th season writing for you guys."

As much as we'd like to think it is Lacrosse magazine that is keeping Borrelli attached to the sport he loves, the simple fact is it comes down to the players, especially those who play in the NLL. He speaks with reverence about those he has covered and is truly taken aback that he has been put on the same level as the players he has highlighted.

"I don't know how I'm worthy of it after all these years. It's not my body that takes a beating during the course of a game and I'm not the one who comes up with rug burns on the knees or elbows," Borrelli said. "To share the same stage as Darris [Kilgour], Tommy Marechek and Mike French, I thought to myself that it's kind of unfair and I'm still humbled by the fact."

"It's a great a feeling that people around the league respect what you do. Believe me the feeling is mutual. One of the reasons I love to cover lacrosse is because it's not like other sports. In all the years I've covered lacrosse I can't think of anybody who I ever had a major problem with. They bend over backwards for you and do things that guys in other sports just wouldn't do."

Whereas some other beat reporters might mindlessly check in every night to a thankless job, Borrelli never hesitates on his way to work.

"As I said in my induction speech, there is no such thing as a bad lacrosse game. There are bad nights in the office, but never, ever out when I'm covering a game. I'm still like a kid. I consider it absolutely a perk and not part of the job, although I take the job very seriously, bringing as many stories to the people as I can. I enjoy it probably more now than I did because I have a greater appreciation for the game."

The appreciation is not a one-way street, by any means. Every lacrosse player at every level is indebted to Borrelli. He's the longest-tenured writer for Lacrosse magazine, and for that we are the most thankful.

In his typical humble way, Borrelli chalks up his success to being in the right place at the right time, and he feels there are other writers around the league, particularly Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, who are worthy of the same praise he receives.

"There are a lot of us now," said Borrelli. "A lot of it is just luck and being the first guy. I've just been around and done it the longest. There are a lot of people who do a lot of great stuff. "

He is who every lacrosse writer strives to be. Although his name is featured on the same website and magazine as mine, I am not on the same list. He's a Hall of Famer and I'm a wannabe. But know this: I am honored to be associated, however indirectly, with The Best, Tom Borrelli.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.