This is my read for the week -- especially for sports fans. And, if you are a tennis fan, then this is a must-read. 

​I don't love the random first-person interjections the writer uses -- it's distracting to me. "Venus told me another story:," Weil writes at one point. Why not just relay the story? 

Still, this is a fluid, cool analysis that brings so much to the story of Venus Williams. It is the best thing I've read this week. 

This is one of those stories you don't want to end.

You want the words to keep popping up -- for them to keep telling you more about Markelle, to answer the questions you have for him, to paint the images you are conjuring just a little more clearly. You want to keep reading because it is that good. 

Patricia Leigh Brown gives us the story of Markelle Taylor,  a marathon runner who spent 18 years in the San Quentin state prison. 

Brown, who completely coincidentally lives in Hamden (at least, according to LInkedIn she does), is a contributor to the Times, publishing about once a month. Her work is well worth your time.

These are the kind of stories that make journalism so special. This is a human story. And, if not for the journalist, then how do we ever learn this story? We don't... and that makes us less human.