SPORTSCASTER GONILLO WAS ONE OF A KIND

Courtesy Danbury News Times

(September 25, 2007) More than anything, he'd find a way to make you smile. Or better yet, laugh out loud. That was Bill Gonillo in a nutshell. He'd wander into the press box or sidle up next to you on the playing field, and the next thing you knew, you were trading good-natured barbs, or cracking up from one of his jokes.

Sadly, no one's laughing today.

Today, there are only tears.

Bill Gonillo's life ended far too quickly. On Sunday, he was found dead at his home in Woodbridge. He was just 44. Gonillo, a known diabetic, died of natural causes, Cablevision's News 12 Connecticut reported on Monday.

For the last 12 years, Gonillo worked as the sports director for the Norwalk station.

If he wasn't covering a high school game, he was at a Fairfield University or a Sacred Heart game ... or a Bluefish game ... or a Sound Tigers game. Maybe it was a charity golf tournament, or any one of a number of other sports functions, Gonillo was there with his camera balanced on his shoulder, looking for highlights for that evening's show.

He was Fairfield County sports.

"I'm crushed," said good friend and fellow Inside Yankees Baseball co-host Rich Marazzi, who did the show on ESPN Radio 1300 on Saturday morning with Gonillo. "He was fine, he was wonderful and in good spirits. As a matter of fact, the last several weeks he's been very feisty on the show and high-spirited and he'd been challenging me, which I loved, you know? And the chemistry between us was just tremendous I thought. He was just a wonderful guy."

It wasn't unusual to see Gonillo pop into the press box at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, dragging that trusty camera along to shoot some Bluefish highlights, but only after he'd been to a Norwalk High boys lacrosse game and a Darien girls tennis match and a Fairfield Warde softball game earlier that afternoon.

That was how he was. He loved covering sports. Period.

And he loved to joke with people. Especially me. I don't know what it was, but Gonillo got this insane pleasure from taking quick cut-a-away shots with me in them. We'd be covering a press conference or something together and he'd come over to me and say, 'Look for yourself on TV tonight' and sure enough, on his sportscast, you'd see a brief three or four second shot of me, interviewing someone or writing in my notebook or generally looking stupid.

For Bill, he called it his, "Where's Elsberry?" Much like the "Where's Waldo?" books.

He loved it. There was magnetism about him. An electric pull that you couldn't resist and drew you in. I don't think there ever was a time that I didn't see him with a smile on his face or with a warm greeting. And if there was something funny going on, Gonillo would always dive headfirst into the middle of it.

"There were a lot of times when the food would be brought into the press box," Connecticut Post Bluefish beat writer Rich Elliott said. "And, if it wasn't that appealing, Bill would tap twice on the counter, going 'B ... B ... Bucks' so we could go buy something else with some Bluefish money and within seconds, everyone in the press box was tapping and shouting 'B ... B... Bucks.' That was the great thing about Bill. He always did something to make you laugh."

There would be running jokes about his wardrobe, which usually consisted of whatever the area colleges tossed his way. On more than one occasion, Bill wore a Sacred Heart sweatshirt to a Fairfield news conference. Then there was his eating habits — Bill and the buffet line will be forever intertwined.

But he was a true professional. And he loved doing his job.

He worked at News 12 Connecticut for 12 years, three times winning the Associated Press "Broadcaster of the Year" award. Before that, he was the radio voice for Yale University sports for WELI-AM. He also worked as a sports anchor for a time at WVIT-TV Channel 30 in Hartford and was a pre- and post-game host for Hartford Whalers hockey on WTWS-TV in New London and WTXX-TV in Waterbury.

But what best describes Bill are the stories. Especially the ones about food.

This one comes from Fairfield University sports information director Jack Jones: "Bill and I were travelling with a women's team when they decided to stop at a Hometown Buffet because it had a salad bar," Jones said. "Bill points to the (All You Can Eat Buffet) sign and says, 'My five favorite words in the English language.' "Bill gets a salad to start and just about when he's finished, the coach says it's time to leave. Bill looked at me in horror. He jumped up and went to see the manager. And a minute later, he came back with a to-go box. I've never seen anyone get a to-go box from an all-you-can-eat buffet, but Bill did. He laid on the charm and walked out with an entree, two sides, a piece of cake and a half-dozen cookies."

And there are touching stories, too.

Former Post sports writer Mike Puma shared one when he and Gonillo were once in Buffalo covering the Fairfield men's basketball team.

"We were going over to the Casino Niagara ... Bill was never shy about wagering a few dollars," Puma said. "And we started talking, actually Bill did most of the talking. He was talking about life and about how he might have missed his opportunity to get married and start a family. "I think he was trying to get a point across to myself, a 30-something single guy, in a big-brotherly kind of way. That the years speed by faster than you can imagine and if you find the right person, don't run away thinking you've got all the time in the world."

Time. That's the one thing we didn't have enough of with Bill Gonillo.