Analysis of April 16, 1998 Rolling Stone

A guy named Richard Ashcroft is on the cover of this Rolling Stone. Nothing against Ashcroft, although he does look like a sick Mick Jagger, but he is not the focus of my attention when looking at this magazine.

The problem isn't Ashcroft. You could have put Michael Jordan on the front and I would have passed over him too. What makes me breeze by whoever else is in the magazine is the fact that there is an article about Chris Herren. At the time, Herren was a player on the Fresno State basketball team.

Herren might not be the most popular guy around. A lot of people probably don't even know who he is. However, I always found him to be fascinating. He was a very talented player but there was more to him than that.

I was only a freshman in high school at the time and Herren represented something that is rarely seen even among athletes. He was a white guy who was cool in a way that is usually reserved for black players. Normally when a white guy attempts this, he fails miserably and looks like a fool. Herren was a natural though. He was white but he fit in. You could tell that his teammates respected him. He wasn't a phony trying to be somebody he wasn't.

Part of what I loved about Herren was that he seemed so honest. You knew if he was going through a bad time. He didn't hide his emotions and cover up his true feelings. On the flip side, you could tell when things were going well too. He would get pumped up and pound his hands together or congratulate a teammate with great physical force.

You could see Herren's passion. Yeah in basketball, but more importantly in life. He was one of those guys that you're drawn to. Anytime his name popped up anywhere I was sure to pay attention.

Fresno State games were not televised often but when they were I would watch. Documentaries done on the team were very intriguing. All of the players were interesting but Herren and head coach Jerry Tarkanian stood out above all others.

Even after Herren left Fresno, I kept a close eye on him. An article in a sports magazine about him would be read before all others. I also would look back at his clips on Youtube to see as much action as possible. A great read is a book that focused on his high school team. Although it's about the whole team, a great part of it focuses on Herren.

What helped is that Herren wasn't a huge star. He wasn't known inside and out like other athletes like a Jordan or an Emmitt Smith. The attention wasn't always on him to such a high degree. This made me more hungry to learn more about him. More importantly, this allowed him to be himself. Unlike stars who have to play certain roles, Herren could act how he wanted. He did that quite well and it certainly made for a good story. At least, for me.