I hope you will forgive me for veering way off course today. But this week is…really hard for me.

Yesterday, I wrote a piece about Sandra Kay Yow and her inspiring life and battle with cancer. Moments after I finished, I found out a friend of mine has to move home from Germany (she just moved there about 2 months ago), because she found out her father is dying of lung cancer. She was coming to me for help and advice. My own mother passed away only a few months ago and I too, had to move home to New York temporarily. She wanted to know how do you deal? What do you?

Also, a year ago yesterday I left my old job and my family of co-workers, which believe me, was devastating to me. By the end of the day, I was drained mentally and emotionally. I needed to write it out of me. I promise there is a girl’s guide to football coming soon, but I needed and emotional release or risk my sanity. But hey, you get to learn about me!

I ask all of you, how would you measure a year in your life?

I know Phil Jackson. I know John Calipari. I know Coach K. I know Jimmy Valvano. Actually, I know the names of a lot of college and NBA coaches–past and present. But I am very sad to say I had never heard of Kay Yow until she passed away on Saturday, January 24, 2009 and everyone was talking about her.

And sadly, unless you were a follower of women’s college basketball or live in North Carolina you probably had no idea who she was. You heard her name but were hard pressed to know who she was or where she coached.

Kay Yow was the head coach of the North Carolina State’s women’s basketball team for over 34 years. Even more importantly, she had been battling against breast cancer–and winning– for over 20 years.

The conclusion of my Fabulous “Feel Good” Sports Moments Series. Dream…. A tribute to the Super Bowl XLIII teams and the idea of dreaming big.

The moments in this category were so improbable, they were believed impossible. Yet, somehow–against all the odds, all the speculations and rumors–somehow, they happened.

The feeling behind inspiration is so complex, multi-faceted and subjective, I don’t feel it can be summed up by half a line in a dictionary.

Imagine. “What is now proved was once imagined.” ~William Blake

So symbolic. So powerful, inspirational and meaningful that they can not be put in an order. Instead, the photos have been placed in a one word category: Hope.