One of the things I love about all the social feeds I have is that there is always something to learn, to listen to, to curate for later as long as it doesn’t become all consuming. There are always things that pop up that you suddenly realize were not on your dance card that day.
Most days those are good things…wow, aha, happy moments. Then there was this morning. Scrolling through X I saw a post by one of my “must follows,” longtime Philly sports scribe Mike Jensen. It was very straightforward about the sudden passing of Andy Jasner.
WHAT?
I Dm’ed Mike while Googling and hoping it was a mistake, and he got right back to me that it wasn’t. Andy Jasner, a proud dad and husband and always “The Son of Phil’ as I he said many still referred to him as, had passed away suddenly of a heart attack. It’s still hard to get my head around that. Yes, I KNOW it’s a product of getting older. My college roommates just last week were saying how it seems like the reaper knocks more and more now, but when you see people ahead of you…70, 80, 90…or people whose time has come at any age after fighting the battles of illness…you are sad but sometimes understanding.
When these shocks come…man it hurts.
Judging from all the tributes this morning it’s obvious how deeply, even amongst the sometimes cynical Philadelphia sports community, this hurts so many. Andy, as I mentioned was the son of Phil…he being Phil Jasner, longtime Philly sportswriter who taught me so much about the business and about life during my three very young and still learning seasons with the Sixers in the ‘90’s…but he was much more than that. I knew and exchanged texts, emails and calls with Andy for decades, from his time at Syracuse, from when his mom and his dad passed away, and as his career grew and matured along with everything else in his abundant and well connected life. He had the tremendous gift of storytelling that his dad had, and was well adapted to the world we were in and found joy and purpose in everything he did personally and professionally. Even if we only connected a few times a year, the last time was just a few months ago, he was always leaning forward, looking ahead to what’s next, and was so excited and interested in watching his kids grow and chart their own paths.
Now that’s all gone. As I exchanged texts and messages with people in the NBA and Philly community this morning, the response after the shock was “What should we do?” Well, I’m hopeful we will hear about what we can do for the short term to help and preserve all the good that Andy had for the world. But what we can always do in times like this is reach out to someone…anyone…who may need a little lift, and say a prayer and a thanks for Andy. He was such a joy to always be around and listen to and read from, and I think he, and his parents who he is with now, would appreciate the humble lift to pass it along.
And if you want to read more about a relationship, and the impact a father son storytelling duo have had, check out Andy’s tribute he wrote to Phil in 2017. It’s worth your time, whether you knew them or not.
I’m so sorry about this…we never know the time…I get it…but this one hurts more than most.
Heal and keep doing good things Philly folks, just like Andy always did.
