Philadelphia has lost one of the best sportswriters and one of the all-time great human beings. Herm Rogul, former Bulletin sportswriter, was laid to rest Thursday at Shalom Memorial Park, Byberry and Pine Roads, at a graveside service. Rogul passed away on Sunday, Feb. 5. He was 72 years old.
Rogul was a long time sportswriter in this town. He spent 20 years at the Philadelphia Bulletin. He started there in 1962 and wrote for the Bulletin until the newspaper closed in 1982. His “People in Sports” column was the most popular feature in the sports section for two decades. Rogul was in the forefront of the sports writing profession, one of the early sportswriters to pen a sports notes column.
“People in Sports” highlighted local sports people on the high school, college and professional levels. If you were a local athlete, coach, official, sports leader, etc., you were one of Herm’s people. He wrote about everybody connected to the Philadelphia area. He had 6,321 byline articles during his career at the Bulletin. That’s big time.
Rogul wrote about Sonny Hill, Sixers executive advisor and Philadelphia basketball legend. Hill really appreciated the coverage as well as the relationship that evolved over the years.
“What he meant to me and my journey,” Hill said. “If it were not for Herm Rogul, the journey that I’ve been on possibly could have not continued after my basketball career. Herm Rogul and I bonded back in the late ’60s. I read his column before I knew him.
“Herm had seen me play when I was in high school (Northeast High). He had followed my career. He would put things in “People in Sports” about my career when I was playing in the Eastern League, when I was playing for Local 169, the old Industrial Basketball League, Harlem Comedy Kids and the recreation Gold Medal Tournament.
“He was a guy that kept my name before the public. Then, when we were finally able to meet and I was able to find out what he was about as a human being, and the better he understood what my journey was all about, that’s when we bonded.”
Hill was certainly one of the names that regularly appeared in his column. In fact, his name was in Rogul’s final Bulletin column along with some terrific sports people such as Wilt Chamberlain, Linda Page, Billy Harris, Eldred “Jay” Bagley, Nate Ware, Joe Anderson, Vince Richardson, Rene Muth, Theresa Shank, Joe Anderson, Mike Bantom, Gene Banks, Dana Clark, Tom Gola and others. Every name was highlighted in his column. That way everybody would stand out.
Rogul wrote about players before they became stars. He wrote extensively about Joe Bryant and John “Chubby” Cox. They were both outstanding players. But Rogul also wrote about Kobe Bryant before anybody knew who he was.
Stanley Greene, former Germantown High and Penn basketball star, was one of the players that Rogul wrote about during his early years in school. Greene remembers reading his name in “People in Sports.”
“I was at Wagner Junior High,” Greene recalled. “It was my first basketball game. I barely made the team. By the end of the season, I moved up to sixth man. I was on the team with Milt Colston and Phil Andrews. Phil played for Frankford. We were a pretty special squad. I wasn’t much of a factor then. At the end of the season, we got a mention in People in Sports. That was the first time I got my name in the paper. I held onto it for years and years.
“Then, when I was a junior at Germantown, we had a super squad with (DeCarsta) “Byrd” (Webster), (Tim) Claxton and George Johnson. We would scrimmage jayvee squads. We scrimmaged Temple’s jayvee. Apparently, Herm was at that scrimmage. He made different comments on me. He mentions that Jay Norman said ‘I needed to play my smart game.’ I said, ‘Wow, one of the coaches from Temple said something about me.’ ”
Norman, a former Temple assistant coach, who also starred for the Owls basketball team with Guy Rodgers and Hal Lear, knew Rogul for a long time. He was more than a sportswriter to him.
“If there was ever somebody with a strong human interest, it was Herm Rogul,” Norman said. “He really cared about people. He was concerned for a purpose. They don’t make them like him anymore. We’re going to really miss him.”
Rogul wrote extensively about the Sonny Hill League and the Baker League. He put a lot of players and coaches on the basketball map in Philadelphia.
After leaving the Bulletin, Rogul was a copy editor and a sports columnist for The Philadelphia Tribune for several years. Then, he wrote various sports articles for a number of local newspapers. He taught a news writing class at Temple University. He wrote a book titled “WINNING SPORTSWRITING For Good People Who Really Care.”
Rogul was a graduate of West Philadelphia and Temple University. He dearly loved both schools. His classmates at West Philadelphia High were actor Robert Hooks and NBA legend Ray “Chink” Scott. Tee Shields, former West Philadelphia High basketball standout, was also one of Rogul’s classmates and good friends.
“I met Herm in 1957,” Shields said. “We both went to West Philadelphia High. We played basketball together at the Hamilton School at 57th and Spruce Streets. Herm had a lefthanded jumpshot. He had the flat foot floozy. He didn’t jump real high. In 1961, I went away to college (South Carolina State). When I came back, Herm was writing for the Bulletin.
“I’m just very sorry to see him go. He was there in the beginning of the Baker League and Sonny Hill League. He really liked my brother Leonard Shields. He always managed to keep my name in the paper.”
Rogul grew up in West Philadelphia, but spent many years in North Philadelphia. He lived in the Yorktown section of the city. Rogul did a lot for me. He always sent me letters of encouragement. He offered great suggestions for different stories. He was a big help with our Wilt Chamberlain postage stamp effort at the Tribune.
In 2004, I wrote the book “Chaney: Playing for a Legend,” with former Temple stars Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones. The book was real a tribute to Hall of Fame coach John Chaney from two of his greatest players.
Rogul really liked Chaney. He was very fond of McKie and Jones as well. I remember asking him to write the preface for the book. He not only wrote the preface, but also
