Saturday reading

I have a few regrets in life – actually, I have a lot, but not all of them are publishable. But among the regrets that are for public consumption, I wish that I would have run on the cross country team in high school instead of wasting my time with football, basketball and baseball. Cross country could have been my ticket to Division I collegiate athletics, but I just never knew it at the time.

I figured I was just too small to be a basketball player and too big to be a runner.

I also wish that I would have studied literature and writing in college. Comparative literature would have been a perfect course of study, but at the time I was interested in history and culture. Too bad there are no do-overs.

But luckily for me, I get the chance to read a lot. Of course I prefer fiction, but over the past couple of days I stumbled over some good journalism and non-fiction writing that I think is just dynamite.

For instance:

Normally I enjoy Kevin Roberts’ blog entries on any day, but the Sept. 5 & 7 offerings were especially trenchant. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Gary Smith. That should explain it all. His latest on Pat Tillman is one of the best stories I've read this year. After reading the story at 2:30 a.m. this morning, I developed a few theories -- none of which are publishable here.

I think I broached the subject a month ago on this site, but Jerry Crasnick went a lot more in-depth on the issue of amphetamines in his story for ESPN.

I'm not sure who sent this story to me, but it made the cut for the annual Best Sportswriting of 2005 book that is due out soon. It's also written by a cat named Charlie Schroeder, who, according to his web site, is a writer and radio dude in L.A. Of course, I remember Charlie when we were combing the hardscrabble streets of School Lane Hills in Lancaster, Pa. back in the day.

I think Charlie was there the day we trapped Pete Horn in a gulley and threw rocks at him at the lower school field at the Country Day School. I could be wrong though -- that day was such a blur and it's hard to keep track of who was there and who did what and who drove the getaway car.

Apporpos of nothing, from where I sit right now I can see that gulley. I see some of those rocks, too. And you should read Charlie's story. It originally appeared in the L.A. Times Magazine and it's really good.

For those interested in running and things related to running, Amby Burfoot's blog is always good. Burfoot, of course, is the former editor of Runners World magazine (you remember, back when it was good and not catering to the three-times-a-week-boy-it-would-be neat-to-run-a-marathon-like-Oprah set) and was the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon.