Diane NyadA 60-year-old woman, tired of feeling her value had slipped in the world, readies to swim 103 miles in shark-infested waters, from Cuba to Florida, a journey she tried and failed when she was 29.

A 16-year-old girl, chatting on her cell phone at the mall, spots a running would-be thief and tackles the clod, then flips him on his stomach until security guards arrive, proving again that cheerleaders aren't all delicate flowers worried about messing their nails.

A Yale graduate with a hardly unusual American background -- raised by Mexican-American and Anglo parents, a convert to Islam, preacher of peace – eschews high-paying jobs to coach high school football and, more important, help raise a village of young men. Another American success story -- a former Olympian who taught millions of young girls that sweat isn't a dirty word -- embarks on a new dream of nursing ailing horses back to health.

An Ironman triathlete refuses to allow his four broken ribs to keep him from the starting line. A catcher-turned-pitcher who speaks five different languages dazzles in his major league debut. A football player, still in his prime, leaves his profession behind to become a firefighter.

 

Another football player, imprisoned for more than three years, returns to the university where he once won a national championship to pursue his degree. In his spare time, an Indy 500 champion kneads sticky sourdough and coaxes it into mouth-watering bread, where it will be added to special care packages for U.S. troops serving overseas.

Good news in the world of sports is everywhere if you squint hard enough. Actually, you barely have to look for it, once you get beyond the spirit squelching tedium of athletes behaving badly.

Just for a moment, shove aside reports of players causing minor, silly uproars by refusing to carry their teammates' shoulder pads, or provoking major disruptions that end in a courtroom.

 

And those coaches, those small, easily seduced creatures who are meant to lead by example? Pay no attention to the charlatans behind the curtain, the Rick Pitinos and Lane Kiffins and the band of rogues who hog the headlines for all the wrong reasons.