The
Communicator
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"... I got to know (founder of the Department of Journalism) Dr. Jandoli very well, a privilege I’ll always treasure ...”
– Mike Vaccaro, '89
“There’s nothing that beats the buzz and the adrenaline attached when one of the teams you cover wins a championship,” Vaccaro said. “It doesn’t affect you the way it would a fan. You know people are reading and can’t get enough of what you’re writing. I grew up around here but I wasn’t a fan of any of those teams, and it doesn’t matter; the rush of writing a column off the Giants winning the Super Bowl … it’s what I do this for.”
Though he is 24 years removed from graduation, Vaccaro is still an avid supporter of the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. He covered the men’s basketball team on their tournament run last year and wrote a piece after the Atlantic 10 Championship win over Xavier that appeared in the Olean Times Herald . Vaccaro gives St. Bonaventure credit for making him the reporter he is today.
“I can say this without qualification: I would never have gotten where I’ve gotten if I hadn’t gone to SBU,” Vaccaro said. “Because of the size of the school, I was writing for The Bona Venture my first week on campus, writing columns for the paper by my sophomore year and editing it my junior year. I was taking overnight shifts on The Buzz my second month on campus, something I never would’ve been able to do at Syracuse or Missouri. I got to know (department founder) Dr. Jandoli very well, a privilege I’ll always treasure.”
Sports Illustrated named St. Bonaventure graduate and current Yahoo Sports NBA columnist, Adrian Wojnarowski ‘91, the sixth most powerful person in sports media in its Mar. 6 issue.
The article, written by Richard Deitsch, listed the 10 most powerful sports media members with the stipulation that they must appear on television or have a byline. Deitsch referred to Wojnarowski as “the NBA’s preeminent writer and reporter.”
Yet Wojnarowski refuses to take full credit for earning the recognition. Instead, he shares the honor with the staff at Yahoo.
“Obviously, it’s great that someone recognizes the work,” Wojnarowski said. “But I think it’s recognition of Yahoo Sports, not so much me. I don’t do anything alone there, so I think it’s more recognition of the site and guys like Marc Spears (NBA Writer), Johnny Ludden (editor) and Dan Wetzel (columnist).”
“I took it more as somebody acknowledging what we built at Yahoo Sports more than being singled out individually," Wojnarowski said. "That’s how I see it.”
Wojnarowski’s former Bona Venture newspaper colleague and New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro believes the power he holds in the NBA is special.
“His power is the best kind of power in our business,” Vaccaro said. “He gets his phone calls returned, he gets his questions answered and the people who matter most in the NBA know that it’s every bit as important that they have a relationship with him as he has with them.”
According to Deitsch’s article, Wojnarowski’s derives his power from Yahoo’s popularity. The website receives the most unique visits of any American sports site.
SI names Woj one of sports'
most powerful media members
Listen to Mike on a popular sports podcast
Fall '13