Gold Key recipients meet with media before upcoming banquet

CHESHIRE, March 20 -- Four men who will receive the prestigious Gold Key award from the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance at the annual Gold Key banquet next month met with representatives from the state media on Wednesday.

Former NBA players Chris Smith and John Bagley will receive a Gold Key at the Alliance’s annual Gold Key banquet on Sunday, April 28, at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington along with Jere Quinn, the long-time boys basketball coach at St. Thomas More in Montville; Chris Palmer, a collegiate and pro football coach who won a Super Bowl ring as an assistant coach with the New York Giants in 2008 and Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN in 1979.

Smith, Quinn and Palmer visited with the media at CIAC headquarters in Cheshire with Rasmussen on the phone from his home in Seattle. Bagley was unavailable on this day due to a work commitment.

The five men will be honored at the 78th annual Gold Key banquet. Tickets to the Gold Key Dinner are $75 apiece, and may be reserved by contacting CSWA President Tim Jensen of Patch Media Corp. at tim.jensen@patch.com or 860-394-5091.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Bo Kolinsky Journalism Scholarship, named after a longtime Hartford Courant sportswriter and past CSWA president who died unexpectedly in 2003.

Top photo: Chris Palmer, left, Chris Smith, center and Jere Quinn. Bottom photo: Palmer, Smith, Quinn and CSWA president Tim Jensen at the news conference. Photos by Gerry deSimas, Jr., Collinsville Press.