I first met Ron as a little kid when I got his autograph at Wrigley Field and he treated all the kids like they were his own-like gold. Later,when I got into the media,as did Ron, I got to know him very well, be on a first name basis with him,and can tell you there was no more genuine person. 

Being on the air on 670-The Score when news of Ron’s passing came in around 4:15am flashed me back to the summer of 1998 when Jack Brickhouse passes away around 1am when I also was on the Score and I also broke it to listeners. Like back then, callers started lighting up the phone lines with their favorite Ran Santo thoughts,moments and memories and that was a big tonic for me. 

Ronnie, thanks for the great career you gave Chicago, and the friendship. It’s tough to say this, but Rest In Peace. 

The White Sox have agreeed to terms with 1B-DH Adam Dunn on a four year-$56 million deal pending a Friday physical. Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn’t quite go as far on Thursday’s call as full confirmation, but he still stopped all of the hypothetical Dunn questions by deferring to a Friday get-together at U.S. Cellular Field as a better place and time for such inquiries. “Why don’t we do this,” said Williams, when asked the first question about Dunn. “Why don’t we talk about that tomorrow at 2 p.m. [CT] at the ballpark.”

A.J. Pierzynski has re-signed with the for two years and $8 million. The Sox have declined to offer a contract to closer Bobby Jenks, but have exercised a club option on shortstop Alexei Ramirez for next season.The White Sox also chose Thursday to not give a contract to lefty reliever Erick Threets.

Brandon Wood scored 19 points and hit the go-ahead basket in overtime as Valparaiso fought back for a 68-66 victory over UIC in a Horizon League opener Thursday night.The Crusaders (5-2) trailed by as many as 14 points and were down by 10 with 4:47 left in regulation. But they finally tied it 62-62 on Ryan Broekhoff’s 3-pointer with 1:01 left in the second half. Wood then hit the first two baskets in overtime, and Valparaiso won its third in a row.Cory Johnson scored 15, Howard Little 12 and Broekhoff 10.Paul Carter paced the Flames (4-4) with 18 points. Brad Birton added 11 and Zavion Neely 10.The Flames outrebounded Valparaiso 44-34 but went just 1 of 14 from 3-point distance.UIC led 36-24 at intermission.

ROSEMONT—Tony Freeland scored a career-high 25 points and Brandon Young added 17 as DePaul defeated Northern Illinois 86-84 on Thursday night.The Blue Demons (2-4) led by as many as 17 points late in the first half and were up 38-28 at halftime. They finished shooting 26 of 58 from the floor and 32 for 41 from the free-throw line.Xavier Silas helped the Huskies (2-4) rally in the second half and pull within the final score on a 3-pointer in the final second. Silas, who entered the game seventh in the nation in scoring at 24.8 points per game, finished with a game-high 34 points to tie his season best.Jeremy Landers added 14 points for the Huskies while Nate Rucker pitched in with 13.Mike Stovall finished with 16 points for DePaul.

Jameer Nelson scored 24 points and the Orlando Magic dominated the paint and cruised to a 107-78 victory over the Bulls on Wednesday night, spoiling the debut of Carlos Boozer.Boozer played his first game of the season after missing all of the preseason games plus the first 15 of the regular season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right hand in an accident at his home on Oct. 2.He looked like a player who hadn’t played in a while. Tentative most of the game, Boozer finished with five points and two rebounds in 22 minutes, shooting 2 for 5 from the floor.Vince Carter scored 22 points for Orlando, Brandon Bass had 17 off the bench and Nelson added nine assists.Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 16 points in 25 minutes, but failed to grab a rebound. Noah entered the contest as the NBA’s second-leading rebounder with 13.2 per game.Noah hadn’t gone an entire game without a rebound since Dec. 27, 2008, a contest in which he played just six minutes. In games in which Noah has played eight or more minutes, he’d never gone without a rebound.Derrick Rose added 15 points in 32 minutes for the Bulls.Carter scored 20 points during the first half. The Magic finished with a 44-21 edge in rebounding, a 27-13 advantage in second-chance points and outscored the Bulls 46-26 in the paint. The Bulls entered the game third in the NBA in rebounding percentage.Dwight Howard scored 13 points for Orlando and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.Orlando led by as many as 25 points in the first half, but the Bulls closed with 16 a couple of times after halftime. However, Quentin Richardson hit a pair 3-pointers and Rashard Lewis hit another as the Magic pushed the lead back to 26 points.The Bulls got no closer than 19 points thereafter, as the fourth quarter played out with mostly with reserves on the floor, a letdown for the sellout crowd of 21,435 in the United Center,the first game at their since Nov. 13. The game ended to the sound of boos.The Bulls (9-7) last played on Saturday, a 96-85 win over Sacramento that completed a seven-game road trip during which they went 4-3, and should have been well rested. Instead, it was the Magic with the fresh-looking legs.The Magic played at Orlando on Tuesday and despite the short rest — and a virus going around the team that had forward Mickael Pietrus vomiting in the hallway at one point in the first half — Orlando had little trouble in raising its Eastern Conference-best record to 14-4.Orlando has won five straight games overall. The Magic entered the game tied with the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

NOTES—The Bulls are considered one of the up-and-coming challengers to the conference’s elite teams, but also lost to Orlando 105-67 in a preseason game on Oct. 16. … Carter passed John Stockton for 37th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. Carter now has 19,714 points during his 12-plus seasons in the league. … Boozer, considered the crown jewel of the Bulls’ offseason rebuilding plan, was injured shortly before the start of the preseason schedule. He said that he fell over a bag that had been left on the floor when he rushed to answer the door of his apartment.

Matt Howard and Zach Hahn scored 15 points apiece and Butler held on to defeat Loyola 65-63 in the Horizon League opener for both schools Wednesday night.Hahn made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left to give Butler a three-point lead. Loyola could only manage a free throw by Courtney Stanley with 3 seconds left.Butler (4-2), the four-time defending Horizon champion who was the national runner-up last season, led 38-28 at halftime before the Ramblers (7-1) rallied, but Loyola never drew even. Shawn Vanzant’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes left gave the Bulldogs a 63-56 lead. Reserve Geoff McCammon scored 14 points to lead Loyola. Andy Polka added 12 points and nine rebounds and Jordan Hicks had 10 points and nine rebounds.The Ramblers are off to their best start since 1962-63, when they began 21-0 and ended the season with the NCAA championship.

Back from a long and successful road trip and playing on home ice for the first time in 16 days, the Blackhawks were nearly lulled into a false sense of security. Looking strong with a 5-1 lead, the defending Stanley Cup champions eventually needed late goals from young stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to hold off a determined rally by the St. Louis Blues for a 7-5 victory Tuesday night.Kane scored on a rebound off a shot by Viktor Stalberg with 6:18 left to put the Blackhawks up 6-4. Toews then added his second power-play goal of the night about 2 minutes later to give the Hawks a three-goal cushion on its way to a third straight win.Davod Backes scored for St. Louis with 2:39 left, but the Blues couldn’t come all the way back and lost their third consecutive game.Patrick Sharp got his team-leading 16th goal in the first period.That timeout came after the Blues scored three times to make it 5-4. Tomas Kopecky had a goal and three assists and Troy Brouwer also scored. Rookie goalie Corey Crawford ran his winning streak to five games, holding off the Blues’ rally. He made 21 saves.Patrik Berglund, Eric Brewer, Alex Pietrangelo and Brad Boyes scored goals for the Blues, while Backes and Vladimir Sobotka had three assists apiece.Playing without injured forward Marian Hossa, the Blackhawks appeared to build a comfortable lead with three second-period goals against Blues backup goalie Ty Conklin.But St. Louis, which did some switching with its top two lines to start the game, rallied with three goals in an 8:32 span of the second and third periods to make it a one-score game. Hossa is expected to miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury after colliding with teammate Nick Boynton during practice Monday.Jeremy Morin, just called up from the minors with Hossa out, made an immediate impact. His hard check behind the net on Nikita Nikitin forced an errant pass, and Kopecky collected the puck in the right circle and rifled it past Conklin just 4:38 into the game.The Blues tied it with about 3 minutes to go in the opening period on some nice 3-on-2 passing. Backes skated in the center with the puck, moved it to Sobotka, who made a crossing pass to Berglund for the score.Just 2 minutes later, Sharp skated down the right side, faked a pass to get Pietrangelo off balance and then converted for his 16th goal of the season to make it 2-1.Morin got an assist on the Hawks third goal early in the second on a power play when the Blackhawks took advantage of a strange bounce. Morin dumped the puck in and when Conklin went behind the net to make a play, it bounded off the glass and came right out in front of the unguarded goal. Brouwer was there to tap it in for a 3-1 lead.Toews took a pass from Kane just to the right of the net and quickly stuffed a shot between a falling Conklin’s legs for a 4-1 lead. Kane scored the third goal of the period, poking in a shot from in front on a nice pass from Stalberg. Brewer’s shot from the slot late in the period eluded a screened Crawford and made it 5-2.Pietrangelo’s long slap shot from beyond the right circle made it 5-3 early in the third and Boyes’ rebound about 3 minutes later cut it to one, prompting the Blackhawks to take a timeout.

NOTES—Sharp, the Blackhawks’ leading scorer, has goals in five straight games.

CHAMPAIGN -Mike Davis scored 20 points and No. 20 Illinois had five players finish in double figures in a 79-67 victory over North Carolina on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Demetri McCamey had 17 points for the Illini (7-1) while Mike Tisdale had 14, Jereme Richmond 12 and D.J. Richardson 11.North Carolina center Tyler Zeller picked up three early fouls and spent more than 9 minutes of the first half on the bench while the Illini built a 37-30 halftime lead.Illinois opened the second half with an 8-2 run and never led by less than nine points the rest of the way.John Henson led the Tar Heels (4-3) with 16 points while Zeller finished with 10.

EVANSTON—John Shurna scored 21 points, Drew Crawford added 19 and Northwestern shot a blistering 64.6 percent in a 91-71 victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night.The Wildcats (5-0) shot 31 of 48 overall and buried 12 of 19 3-pointers, with Shurna and Crawford leading the onslaught.Shurna hit 7 of 8 shots, including all 4 3s. Crawford converted 8 of 11 overall and 3 of 5 from long range. Michael Thompson added 14 points and four assists, giving him 403 in his career and making him the second Northwestern player to pass 400 assists.Alex Marcotullio hit 3 of 5 3-pointers while scoring 13, and the Wildcats matched the program record they set last year for wins in November.Glen Rice Jr. had 16 for the Yellow Jackets (4-3).

The Bears knew before kickoff that with Green Bay losing to Atlanta 20-17,they the worst they could be at the day’s end was tied for the NFC Central Division lead.How about instead holding the Division lead all alone after knocking off the Philadelphia Eagles 31-26 as Jay Cutler threw for four touchdowns-two to Earl Bennett and the Bears did not turn the ball over the entire game.

Philadelphia won the coin toss and received.They started at their 27.Two running plays and a sack of Michael by Israel Idonije and Matt Toeaina forced a Sav Rocca punt of 46 yards that went out of bounds at the Bears 34.The Bears also went three and out with Cutler getting sacked by Trent Coles and Brad Maynard punted but DeSean Jackson broke around the right side to midfield.On a third and three,Vick overthrew TE Brent Celek and David Akers kicked a 45 yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead with 8:52 left in the quarter.After Devin Hester returned the kickoff to his own 21,the Bears moved quickly.On second down Matt Forte ran around LE for 61 yards before being knocked out at the Philly 9.After a one yard loss by Forte,Cutler dropped back and found Bennett in the end zone and the ten yard TD pass gave the Bears a 7-3 lead.The Bears got another sack on Vick and in turn a three and out Hester returned the 36 yard Rocca punt 9 yards to his own 41.After a one yard loss by Chester Taylor, Cutler his Hester with a screen in which he broke to the left side for 39 yards to the Phila 21.After Taylor picked up a yard, Cutler bootlegged and hit a wide open Johnny Knox as Joselio Hanson slipped at the five. Knox just had to catch the ball ands did to complete the 20 yard TD pass to make it 14-3. Starting at their 35, Vick hit TE Clay Harbor at the Bears 41. On third down,Vick under pressure still hit Jason Avant at the Bears 19 as the first quarter ended with the Bears up 14-3.The Eagles got to the Bears 8 for a first and goal.After two incompleted passes, Vick found Jeremy Maclin at the one and he fell into the end zone to cut the Bears lead to 14-10 just 1:42 into the second quarter. Daniel Manning returned Akers kickoff 45 yards to the Bears 47.On a third a long, Cutler was sacked by DE Brandon Graham and Maynard punted to Jackson at his 36,but Corey Graham was called for stepping out of bounds,and coming back in,so a 15 yard penalty gave the Eagles the ball at their own 41.An 18 yard run up the middle by DeSean McCoy moved the ball to the Bears 41.Then Vick hit Jackson at the Bears 20.Vick then hit Maclin at the Bears ten.After an incompleted pass,Vick called his own number and ran to the Bears 3. Julius Peppers then caught Vick for a sack back at the 18 and Akers kicked a 36 yard field goal to trim the Bears lead to 14-13 with 8:08 left in the half. The kick return by Manning this time only got to the 19.This drive was wrecked by two sacks on Cutler which forced a fourth and 24 and a Maynard punt from his end zone which Maclin fair caught at the Bears 46. The Eagles moved the chains on a third down 5 yd pass to Maclin at the Bears 34. Vick hit Avant at the Bears 22.And a screen to McCoy got the ball to the 8 for a first and goal. A short pass to Jerome Harrison made it second and goal at the four.Vick then was intercepted for the first time this season when Tommy Harris tipped the throw and Chris Harris picked it off in the end zone, and ran it back to the Bears 37.Vick had thrown 244 passes before that first pick.The Bears quickly went 63 yards in six plays.Cutler hit Hester on a screen for 13 yards to midfield.Cutler then found Bennett who broke about three tackles and got to the Philly 20.Knox caught a pass over the middle and got to the Eagles 6 for a first and goal.Two plays later,Cutler bought a few seconds and hit Bennett at the two and he ran it in for his second TD of the game and with :38 left in the half,the Bears took a 21-13 lead which was also the halftime score.

The Bears received the second half kickoff and Hester returned it 46 yards to his own 46.Three plays later the Bears scored.The setup play was a Cutler pass on the right to Hester who was pushed out at and Phil 18 for a 34 yards gain and when Nate Allen was called for a Horse Collar Tackle,the ball was moved to the Eagles 9.Cutler then found Greg Olsen for his third TD pass of the game to make it 28-13 just 1:31 into the half.The Eagles were stopped in three plays and Pocca punted the ball dead at the Bears 12.After a holding call, Forte ran 28 yards around RE to his 34.Cutler scrambled 12 yards to his 46.Passes to Bennett and Hester moved the ball to the Philly 18 for a first down.Forte ran around the right side for six before being knocked out at the 12.He then powered to the ten for a third and two situation.Brandon Manumeleuna then took a screen pass to the four for a first and goal. Chester Taylor was stuffed by Cole for a two yard loss,then got one back to leave it at third and goal from the 5.Cutler hen threw one out of bounds with Knox triple covered and Robbie Gould kicked a 23 yard field goal to cap a drive of 10:05 and increase the Bears lead to 31-13 with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter.The Eagles who did not have the ball much in the quarter got a 24 yard pass play from Vick to Maclin and got to the Bears 40.Vick then fumbled and recovered himself as the third quarter ended.The Eagles got a first down at the Bears 29.Vick then hit McCoy with a screen and he got behind two blockers and ran to the Bears 8 for a first and goal.They got to a fourth and goal at the Bears 4 and Akers kicked a 22 yard field goal as the Bears lead was 31-16 with 11:51 left in the game.The kickoff was returned by Manning to his 28,but Nick Roach was called for holding,so the Bears series started at their 18.On first down, Cutler found Knox for 34 yards on a screen to the Eagles 47. This drive ended after an incompleted pass that was intended for Hester who appeared to be interfered with and Cutler was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for reading the riot act to the officials.The Maynard punt was caught and downed at the Philly 24.A scramble by Vick and a five yard penalty on the Bears got the ball to the 39,then he hit Riley Cooper at the Bears 10.After an incomplete pass, McCoy lost 8 on a screen as Idonije got him.Vick then ran to the 18 and it was fourth and goal. Akers was called in for a 36 yard field goal making him 4-4 on the day.The Bears lead was 31-19 with 4:47 to go.Rather than on side it, Akers kicked to Hester who returned twenty to his 25.Two running plays and an incompleted try to Hester,and Maynard punted 42 yards into a fair catch at the Phila 42.The Eagles with no timeouts left moved slowly into Bears territory and had a first down at the 43.Ten McCoy caught a 12 yarder to the Bears 31.Vick threw an incompletion on first down,and then Cooper was called for offensive pass interference.It became third and nine at the Bears 30 at the two minute warning.Vick overthrew McCoy leaving a fourth and 10 Vick found Celek just out of Brian Urlacher’s reach and with 1:48 to go the Eagles got the score down to 31-16. Aker’s on-side kick was caught by Knox on the fly at the Eagles 43 with 1:47 remaining.Cutler took three kneel downs to end the game

Authorities say a man died after falling at least 20 feet from a ledge at Soldier Field while attending the Bears game. Chicago police say the man fell around 4:55 p.m. Sunday during the NFL matchup between the Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.Chicago Fire Chief Joe Roccasalva says the man landed on a small rooftop on the outside of the stadium. Witnesses told authorities the man ran to a ledge and jumped. Roccasalva says the man was in his 20s, but his name hasn’t been released.It’s the second death in a week at a major sporting arena. On Nov. 21, a 2-year-old boy fell from a luxury box at the Staples Center during a Los Angeles Lakers game

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