Gerry Fall Calls It Quits At KEYT

Gerry Fall, the main sports anchor for KEYT Channel 3 for the last 14 1/2 years, handed in his resignation on Monday afternoon and closed the door on an era in local sports journalism.

Fall had been at KEYT so long, I couldn't tell you who was the sports guy at the local ABC affiliate before he arrived there in June of 1995.

"I'm really going to miss it. It's been an absolute joy to work there," Fall told me when I reached him by phone Monday night.

Gerry had not been on the air at KEYT since early September as a result of a car accident that involved him being rear ended by another driver. He sounded fine over the phone though. When asked for more particulars surrounding his decision to leave KEYT, Fall, always the gentlemen, declined to elaborate.

So, if Gerry were going to put together his own personal highlight reel covering his time at the station, what would make it?

At the top of his list would be doing the Friday Football Focus show with Mike Klan, interviewing tennis great and local resident Jimmy Connors when he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, and getting to know San Marcos High quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt before the rest of the world did.

Gerry wanted to make a point of thanking the station's general manager, Mike Granados, who he said, "was always very fair to me," and Anne Smith Towbes and the late Bob Smith, who owned the station for much of Gerry's time there.

Gerry plans to continue to do play-by-play for UCSB Gaucho basketball.

So, it's a sad day as a familiar face moves on, but, the news is not all bad: Coleen Sullivan is still at the station.

© 2009 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com