Nov. 20, 2008

from staff reports

Tom Borrelli, a valued contributor to Lacrosse Magazine for the last 16 years and the first media member inducted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame, died Thursday morning of complications stemming from a fall from a press box staircase two weeks ago. He was 51.

Borrelli had been hospitalized in critical condition since Nov. 8, when he hit his head on a steel girder and spiraled backward from press box stairs while covering a high school football game, according to the Buffalo News - the area's newspaper of record for which Borrelli, his wife Karen and previously his father George all worked.

The injuries sustained left Borrelli paralyzed below the neck and breathing on a respirator. Family members had hoped his condition would improve with reduced swelling. As recently as Monday, Mike Beebe, Borrelli's colleague at the Buffalo News who first reported the accident, told LM in an e-mail that Borrelli could sit "60-percent upright" and communicate. "Tom being Tom," Beebe wrote, "ESPN is on all the time in his room."

However, Borrelli's condition worsened in recent days. He died at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in Erie County (N.Y.) Medical Center, according to the Buffalo News.

"The newsroom is in shock," managing editor Howard Smith said in the report. "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."

"Tom was an editor's dream: infinitely knowledgeable about his subject matter, talented at his craft, highly productive and no-maintenance. I never had to worry about what I was going to get from Tom, ever," said Paul Krome, editor of Lacrosse Magazine. "His contributions to Lacrosse Magazine were invaluable over the years, as was his 'steady-Eddie' approach. I'm very saddened by his passing, and my prayers go out to Tom's family and friends. May his memory be eternal."