history, catchphrases, career of radio and TV commentator

Synonymous with football in Paraná on radio and television, Abrilino Fernandes Gomes no longer sports the black hair of yesteryear.

At the age of 75 – 57 of them as a reporter, narrator or sports commentator –, the gaucho from small Herval, almost on the border with Uruguay, today has a gray head of hair that immediately reminds him of his experience.

But the striking voice, the peculiar mannerisms and the catchphrases are still there, noble and dynamic reader, as the journalist would say. No expiration date.

“I never planned to stop. I have no idea. I love doing what I do, I don’t want to retire”, says Abrilino, or rather Fernando Gomesafter more than an hour and a half of interview with OneTwo Sports.

With “spirit of 30”, the commentator of the Radio Transamerica fills his mouth to tell you that he had played two hours of tennis the night before, as he usually does three times a week.

“But now I only play doubles”, points out the owner of the never-failing spreadsheet, which marked an era mediating (and spicing up) the iconic debate program Round tableby CNT, on Sunday nights in the 1990s and 2000s.

“I made mistakes, mistakes, who doesn’t? I regret things in my personal life, but as a professional, public profession, I feel happy to be able to do something that people recognize. There are always those who don’t like it, but they are a minority”.

The beginning

Long before influencing generations of fans from Paraná, Fernando Gomes was just a kid passionate about football – and the Guild – in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul.

Born in 1947, he narrated his own button football games by simulating the microphone of a fictional radio station with a can of talcum powder tied to a string. The descriptions were reproduced at such a loud volume as to be voiceless.

The objective was clearly to attract attention. “There was a neighbor, Seu Alberto, who always went by on horseback and asked: Abrilininho, how long is the game?”, He recalls.

Frustrated by the limited performance shown as a winger or left-back in matches on the dirt street near his home, his dream of working with the ball in a different way began to mature.

Turning Fernando Gomes

When he turned 18, Abrilino moved to Bagé, practically a metropolis compared to his hometown.

In 1966, the first job in the area was as an assistant on duty at the broadcasting radioa position won through sheer insistence, when he stayed from 9 am to 6 pm waiting at the reception to be attended by the director.

already in Farroupilha, in the capital Porto Alegre, an error transformed his career. Director Armindo Antônio Ranzolin suggested forgetting the first name to bet only on the last name Fernandes Gomes. However, the person responsible for recording the vignette got confused. Thus was born Fernando Gomes.

“I said it was wrong, but it wouldn’t be possible to record it on the same day, just another week. I said: so leave it at that. And the curious thing is that I have a brother called Fernando Fernandes Gomes”, he comments.

Life in Cascavel

The city of Cascavel, in western Paraná, became Fernando Gomes’ base from 1970 onwards. At the invitation of the narrator Paulo Martins, he went to work as a reporter at Beehive Radio, where he stayed for a year. Afterwards, he moved to Apucarana for his first screen experience, on TV Tibagi, in 1971.

Gomes even completely distanced himself from sports journalism between 1973 and 1977, when he became press officer for the city of Cascavel under Pedro Muffato. Later, he was appointed secretary general of the municipality.

The return to origins happened in 1978, again on television. “I was the first guy to go on the air. He opened the vignette and said: TV Tarobá de Cascavel is on the air”, he recalls.

Photo gallery:

Nominated by Galvão Bueno

In 1982, Fernando Gomes was hired to be the narrator, presenter and executive producer of TV Bandeirantesin São Paulo, replacing none other than Galvão Bueno.

The indication came from the carioca narrator himself, whom he had met during motoring broadcasts in Cascavel. “He went to Globo and left my name to director Fernando Solera, who invited me to do a race in Goiânia. After the broadcast, I went to São Paulo to talk and I received the proposal”.

The adventure in São Paulo lasted a year and ended due to family issues. But Fernando Gomes continued to be hired by Band as a narrator of events: from football to basketball, from boxing to running.

Landing in Curitiba

Fernando Gomes left the West of the state in 1985, when he was called to be a commentator for the team commanded by the narrator Lombardi Jr.. at Radio Club, from Curitiba. Already on television, he began working as a narrator on OM Brazil Network, which would later turn into CNT.

The journalist assumed ownership of the Round table in 1992, after Galvão Bueno left the OM network – the passage lasted only ten months.

And he made history running what would become the most traditional sports program in the state.

“There are 500,000 stories from Mesa Redonda. Valmir Gomes, Sicupira, Capitão Hidalgo, Edu Brasil, Walter Xavier, Mario Henrique, Sidney Campos, Linhares Jr., Bicudo, Caio Jr., Carneiro Neto, Claudio Marques, Dorival passed through there. Chrispim and even more people. It was an audience explosion”, points out the commentator, who during the program advertised everything: from cafes and restaurants to menswear and hotels.

Hear the story about Sicupira and the dog Tigrão

Hear the story about the shame the crowd caused

Hear a story about the provocations at Mesa Redonda

Hear the story of Galvão Bueno and his beginnings at Mesa Redonda

Hear a story about Valmir Gomes and delay

Hear a story about friendship and a discussion with Petraglia

catchphrases

On television, Fernando Gomes enshrined the term “abutuou“, referring to an emphatic victory of one team over another. The list of creations, however, is extensive.

– My noble and dynamic listener
– That said, my noble
– Seu Manoel (or another prominent player in a given game)
– In soccer, I’ve seen everything, I just haven’t seen ball boy fly
– Go get a drink
– I know the rengo seated and the blind man sleeping
– Goodbye Aunt Chica, I’m leaving and you’re staying

“I created some jargon. I think that in communication, if you have a brand, like Galvão has several, things catch on and identify you”, he believes.

Partnership with ET

On the radio, Fernando Gomes and operator Douglas Bay are the only remnants of the original Transamerica Sports. And the partnership between the two, which takes place without a script, has become one of the highlights of the sports programs and days.

“It was kind of improvised, in one of ET’s first appearances, I said something, he made fun of me and I told him to get better. The thing caught on and had a huge impact, it still does today”, he says.

“Nothing is combined. It flows naturally in the air because he is an intelligent horse, he is not a ready-made joke comedian, he builds on what you say, he has a huge general culture. And the friction is in the air, not outside. It is the who ask me the most, but Douglas is a great friend”.