Writing a sports column is fairly new endeavor for me. I was asked to write a column on a bi-monthly basis during my final years at The Gazette (I was there 22 years) and found it difficult.

As I type away for the Times, it hasn't become any easier. In fact, it is downright difficult.

Column writing is quite different from being a straight news reporter. Reporters write facts - shoe-leather journalism, as it has been called - while column writers are asked to insert opinion and personal observations, and even, when required, speculation and predictions.

I always felt no one really cared about my opinions and observations, let alone my speculations and predictions.

That said, I agreed to submit a column for the Times on an intermittent basis which really, by now, has grown into a weekly contribution. I enjoy it, but still, it ain't easy.

In the tremendously entertaining book titled "You Gotta Play Hurt" penned by legendary sports columnist and author Dan Jenkins (Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest and dozens of other publications and books - including "Semi-Tough" and "Dead Solid Perfect" - during his 60-plus-year career) tells the hilarious tale dealing with one year in the life of fictional Sports Magazine columnist Jim Tom Pinch.

During one memorable exchange with up-and-coming writer (and apparent hottie) Jeannie Slay, he relates to Slay an old trick of the trade a columnist uses when he's hard-up for a subject. I guess you could call it recycling.

"It's an old joke," Pinch tells Slay. "Guy's stuck for a column one day so he tore Red Smith off the wire and puts a line on top of it - what did Red Smith mean by this?" He then reprints the column.

"It'll grow on me," Jeannie said.

"The joke?" Pinch asks.

"Journalism," she replies.

I love newspapers, especially sports sections and sports columnists. It is not uncommon for me to buy four newspapers each day at the nearest newsstand. I read dozens of other papers online on a daily basis.

In my quest to become the best sports columnist I can possibly be, I read as many of the great ones as I can. What follows is a partial list of a few of the many columnists in the country who are worth dialing up on the Internet (or opening a newspaper) and giving a read:

Perhaps my favorite sports columnist is Mike Hlas, who does his work locally at The Gazette. Mike is engaging, knowledgeable, witty and funny, and deals almost exclusively with local topics and personalities with which I can relate. He is the best writer at The Gazette regardless of the section (check out the straight news and features he did during the flood of 2008) and, as someone I worked alongside for 22 years, a person I consider a good friend. OK, I'm a little biased.

My other selections you'll probably have to get on the Web to find. Among my favorites are Rick Morrissey from the Chicago Sun-Times (formerly of the Tribune) and Woody Paige from the Denver Post. The New York Times has several outstanding sports columnists, including William C. Rhoden and Harvey Araton.

Paige had one of the best lines I ever read in a sports column, one dealing with a great comeback by the Colorado Rockies in their very early years, a comeback instigated by the great Dante Bichette.

Setting the scene, Paige led to the definitive moment and proudly proclaimed, "That's when Bichette hit the fan!" Priceless.

T.J. Simers with the Los Angeles Times is always worth a laugh (if you thrive on sarcasm), and if you want to read someone who never fails to stir the drink, Jason Whitlock from the Kansas City Star will certainly meet your expectations. And Ray Ratto from the San Francisco Chronicle can be an absolute delight.

In the Midwest, it's more often than not a necessity to call up any recent column from Bernie Miklasz at the St. Louis Post Dispatch, especially if you are interested in the Cardinals. Old, reliable Sid Hartman at the Minneapolis Star Tribune can be entertaining at times, and Sean "Wee Willie" Keeler at the Des Moines Register usually has something interesting to say.

I really miss Bernie Lincicome, who found a home at the Chicago Tribune many years ago, and inexplicably took his considerable talents to the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, only to watch that paper go under. I think he might be blogging somewhere, but it's not the same as reading his columns.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I read these guys cover-to-cover and will probably never match their skills. In the meantime, I'll pull Hlas off the Internet and start my next column, "What did Mike Hlas mean by this?"