At the end of the east wing on the fourth floor of Devereux Hall, Adrian “Woj” Wojnarowski, then a freshman, knocked on Mike Vaccaro’s door. Vaccaro, once editor for The Bona Venture and now New York Post Sports columnist, opened the door, and in doing so, opened the door to Wojnarowski’s journalism journey and a friendship that means the world to both of them.
Wojnarowski ‘91, has covered the NBA for Yahoo! Sports and now serves as ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider. The two-time National Sportswriter of the Year won more awards, accolades and has received more recognition than he could probably care. On Friday, Oct. 18, though, Wojnarowski received an honor that evidently means more to him than anything else: his name on the wall of distinguished graduates in the Jandoli School of Communication, right beside so many greats that came before him.
With current students, faculty, friends and his wife, Amy, watching, he spoke about those people and the school that made Woj, Woj.
“There are some incredible names up here,” Wojnarowski said. “Dan Barry, Chris LaPlaca, who I interned for and now work with at ESPN. Dr. Hamilton and Lee Coppola, two great teachers. When I think of Bonaventure and this journalism school, I think of the great teaching and the care from Dr. Jandoli.”
He continued, “My wife, Amy,” Wojnarowski said while holding back tears.“She was a Hellinger Award winner and the ideal Bonaventure senior. Everything good that’s happened to me from 18 years old has come from Bonaventure. It started with meeting her at The BV. Bonaventure has been an affiliation for me wherever I’ve worked. Nothing means more to me than being a Bonnie.”
Though it was a day for reflection, Wojnarowski looked toward the future, too. With dozens of aspiring journalists before him, Wojnarowski said he looks forward to watching the next generation of journalists come out of St. Bonaventure. Wojnarowski, one of the faces of the Jandoli School of Communication, hopes to see the tradition of excellence carry on. Under Dean Aaron Chimbel, he is confident it will.
“Put Bonaventure up against any journalism school in the country,” Wojnarowski said. “There are bigger ones, there are more famous ones. But I know this: the best of Bonaventure are as good as anybody’s best. As exciting as our history is, I am even more excited for our future. Aaron has taken the department and moved it forward.”
He said, “Seeing a lot of these young faces here, it’s your responsibility to carry this on and to understand your part of something that is important and respected in our industry. I am glad to have played a small part in the St. Bonaventure story, but there’s a lot more of the story to come.”
In the ever-evolving, oftentimes perplexing field of journalism, Wojnarowski’s advice for the next generation remains simple: stick to the fundamentals. He would know. It’s what got him to where he is today. You can never beat the basics.
“The business changes. The platforms constantly evolve,” Wojnarowski said. “The fundamentals don’t change. Writing, communicating clearly and reporting. The basics of the business translate to however the platform evolves. The fundamentals of it are timeless. What I learned here carries me today. There are no shortcuts.”
He continued, “This is a business that rewards hard work. It’s a job where you will get a lot of rejections. Whether that’s with interviews or jobs you may pursue, the people that can keep pushing past all of the no’s to get to a yes are the ones that will have success.”
From the late nights, long road trips to Bonnies basketball games to everything in between, Wojnarowski looks at Vaccaro as his biggest influence. Not only in his career, his writing and his profession, but in life. For Woj, knocking on that door as a freshman was worth it. For more than one reason.
“Mike answered the door, and he assigned me to the men’s soccer beat,” Wojnarowski said while holding back tears. “He became one of my closest friends. He’s a godfather to my child. We went to Buffalo for Bonnies games, shared beds at Atlantic 10 Tournaments, a lot of long car rides to cover the Bonnies. I learned so much from him that made me better. It still does reading him every day.”
By Mike Hogan, Managing Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
