Leading off today: Tom Borrelli, the Buffalo News sportswriter critically injured two weeks ago in a fall down a steep staircase, died this morning.

   Borrelli, 51, died at Erie County Medical Center, where he had been in critical condition since the Nov. 8 incident at All High Stadium. He was injured while covering a high school football game for the paper. He apparently struck his head on a steel girder and fell backward down the stairs, causing massive injuries.

   The accident left Borrelli paralyzed from the neck down and breathing with a respirator. Borrelli had several serious setbacks in recent days, the paper reported.

   Borrelli covered the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team, becoming the first sportswriter inducted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame.

   First call for nominations: Neil Kerr is beginning to pull together the pieces for the 2008 all-state football team. Reporters are encouraged to pass along nominations sooner rather than later. Don't feel obligated to wait until your special section publishes; sending a quick e-mail to Neil listing name/school/position on your candidates (ranked in order in each class) will suffice.

   Coaches who wish to nominate their players may also do so. However, we ask one favor: Please also supply us with a quick mention of one or two other deserving players in your league (or 2-3 players locally in your class). It means something to us when a coach takes time to recognize deserving athletes from competing schools.

   Stupid adults alert: Here's the lead from this week's story in The Press & Sun-Bulletin:

   "The Southern Tier Athletic Conference wants more crowd control and a ban on booing in the wake of last month's soccer game between Vestal and Horseheads in which Horseheads claimed racial slurs were made."

   Yes, you read that correctly. They are talking about banning booing.

   Hey, I'm all for promoting sportsmanship and stamping out genuinely inappropriate behavior, but a ban on booing ranks as one of the stupidest proposals I've ever heard. If the adults in charge took even a moment to consider what they are proposing, they would realize that there is virtually no actual difference between booing and cheering. Each is a reflection of fans' passion and support of their team; cheers amount to commentary on positive events while

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boos are an expression of dissatisfaction with certain other developments such as a made basket or a goal scored by the opposition.

   With the exception of boos aimed from time to time at officials (who are getting paid for their trouble, by the way), the booing is seldom as passionate as is the cheering. (An aside: The one possible exception has to do with Spencerport wrestlers at the Monroe County championships. Unless you're sitting in front of a bank of speakers at a Who concert, there is no louder sound known to mankind that the booing often heard when a Spencerport wrestler wins a match in someone else's gym . . . but I digress.)

   Richard Stank, the STAC president, told the newspaper that ADs recommended revising part of the s code of conduct dealing with crowd control, and that a vote is scheduled for Dec. 1. It's unclear if the proposed ban on booing will be put to a yea/nay vote at that time.

   Reaction to the boo-ban has been swift on forums and in print.

   "Booing the opposition is a time-honored tradition," Rob Centorani wrote in a column in The Daily Star. "When a rival comes into an opponent's gym, it is supposed to feel uncomfortable -- that's part of the home-court advantage. That's why fans make a rivalry as much as the teams. It's the fans who create the atmosphere."

   And this from Jared Kraham, a senior at Chenango Valley: "As a student coming from a school with loads of school spirit and as an avid follower and supporter of my basketball team, I was troubled to learn of STAC's recommendation. I have a feeling that these new 'crowd control' measures are an overreaction for a conference that has been under pressure for its handling of an alleged racial remark at a soccer game."

   Unless I'm mistaken, STAC officials actually wanted no part of investigating the alleged racial mark, instead kicking the matter back to the respective schools. That's got to make it a little bit awkward for them to try to assume the high moral ground on the (non)-issue of booing.

   And if the boo-ban passes, what's next? Banning the teams from keeping score at games?

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