Amid the excitement of the playoffs, we mourn Phil Jasner and Ron Santo

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It's late Friday night or early Saturday morning and I am back from Shamokin and trying to get some rest before going to Delaware for the Lehigh playoff game.

Wow, Central Catholic was impressive tonight. They are just an unbelievably talented offensive team.

They have turned the PIAA playoffs into their playground where they're just running around and having fun.

It should finally get tougher next week when they play Archbishop Wood. It's at least Central's toughest foe since Emmaus in the regular season finale.

Sorry to see Northern Lehigh's season end. It's a lesson about how strong the Philadelphia Catholic League can be and we'll see more of the PCL's power on display on Saturday when La Salle takes on Easton.

District 11 is a strong football district, but the Philly Catholic League has emerged as an even stronger force and has a chance at having multiple state finalists again.

I still won't bet against CCHS, however. The LVC has prepped them well for two more wins.

But while all of the excitement is going on, the sports world lost two good people on Friday.

One I knew better than the other.

Phil Jasner of the Philly Daily News passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Phil was the consummate professional and I watched his work for 10 seasons while I covered the 76ers.

He was the most respected, hardest-working guy in the room. No question about it. I would write my story for The Morning Call and then buy the Daily News the next day to see how Jasner handled it. I tried to think and analyze the way he analyzed games. I learned what I could from him, but knew all along that at least when it came to pro basketball, I'd never be in his league. Not even close.

I left the beat way back in 1994. Phil continued on the beat for 15 more seasons, never losing his passion, his love for the game.

He will be missed on that beat and on the Philadelphia sports scene. He was simply a cut above and a class act.

The other guy I never knew at all personally.

In fact, as a Cardinals fan, I strongly rooted against him when he was a player.

I am talking about Cubs third baseman and broadcaster Ron Santo, who also died on Friday.

I love listening to baseball on the radio and Iove hearing the different commentators from around the country on satellite radio.

When the Cubs were on, I would always have to stop and listen because of Santo. He wasn't the best announcer, and certainly not the smoothest. His voice could be whiny.

But what set him apart was his love for his team. He loved the Cubs and when they made bad plays or blew leads, you could almost hear Santo cry. Yes, he cared that much.

He was just an amusing, passionate guy. He had gone through hell in the latter years of his life, battling bladder cancer.

But he loved the Cubbies and the Chicago fans loved him. He was as much an icon with that franchise as Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn were in Philly. I didn't know him, but just by listening to him, I liked him.

I am sure you'll be reading and hearing a lot about Santo from the national media. He was just another great character who made the sports world a better place.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/