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All throughout sports, there are thousands of heart touching stories about people having to overcome misfortunes to achieve their dreams. Nothing, however, beats having to overcome the trials and tribulations faced with cancer and still bear athletic prowess.

Adam Bender is an 8 year old kid, who despite having one leg, still enjoys playing baseball with his friends. Not only does he bat and throw, he also plays the one of the most difficult positions at catcher. Despite catching from a seated position, Adam is still able to throw and catch the ball like a normal child. Although he lost his leg at age 1, the speed he gains while rounding the bases on his crutches are equivalent to that of the other children, if not faster.

It’s good to see that although Adam might be lacking a leg, he’s still pure boy and in love with America’s favorite past time.

Goose Gossage has finally been written into the history books . . . and no, it’s not for the best mustache of all time. Goose is entering the hall of fame in his Yankees hat, where his career ended with a 124-107 record, 1502 strikeouts, and a 3.01 ERA in nearly 1,002 games. He had 115 wins as a relief pitcher in 1,556 innings. He was also accredited for 310 saves and pitched over 2 innins 52 times. He had 6 outs in at least 125 of his saves.

Congrats Goose, you earned it.

ESPN has just announced the 20 finalists for titletown USA. They include Boston; Green Bay, Wis.; Louisville, Ky.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Detroit; Williamsport, Pa.; New York; Los Angeles; Columbus, Ohio; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; San Francisco; Pittsburgh; Valdosta, Ga.; Massillon, Ohio; Parkersburg, W. Va.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Lawrence, Kan. and Chicago. Out of all these, the clear winner is LA.

As much as I hate to say it, LA has the Lakers, Raiders, UCLA, USC, Galazy, etc . . . way too many titles between them all to count. Sencond place would have to be Boston, with the Celtics, BC, BoSox, Patriots, and many more.

If it were college town, Chapel Hill would win by far. Between the women’s soccer dynasty, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, football heritage, no other school could compete.

“I *****ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a *****ing foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who ******ed it up so you can put that in your paper,” Davidson said. “Bolts and nuts, I *****ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.”

These words were so eloquently spoken by MLB umpire Bob Davidson after he admitted to overruling a home run by Mets player Carlos Delgado last night. The ultimate factor in his ruling: Yankee’s shortstop Derek Jeter arguing against the call. Although clearly a home run, Jeter convinced Davidson that his call was wrong and that it should be reversed. Davidson agreed and regretted it nearly immediately.

Below is a picture of the ball ricocheting off the foul pole. This just goes to show that instant replay is indeed needed in the MLB.

Ken Griffey Jr. reached the pinnacle of his career in the mid nineties, as the Mariner’s outfielder became more

of a household name than modern day A-Rod or Big Papi. Last week, rumors were flying that the Reds outfielder may be in talks of being traded back to the Mariners, where his status as superstar was born. Unfortunately, this is untrue. Since it looks like Griffey will remain out of the limelight and finish his career in Cincinnati, one can’t help but wonder what happened to this athlete.

During the 1990s, Griffey enjoyed fame and fortune as he frequented the All-Star games and appeared on Wheaties boxes. He even had his own shoe produced by Nike.

Not to mention, Griffey also had his own video game out for the Super Nintendo called Ken Griffey Jr.’s Winning Run which nearly everyone owned a copy.

So what happened to this superstar? After being traded to the Reds, injuries forced Griffey to miss 260 out of 486 games from 2002 through 2004. Because of this absence, nearly all sportswriters and baseball fans forgot about the great memories this outfielder has provided us with. Since 2004, he has frequently hit the 40 home run mark and is on pace to become one of six players to ever hit 600 home runs. By transferring back to the Mariners, he will give himself that media boost that will propel him back into the limelight as he approaches this feat. That is, if he even wants the attention.

15 days on the disabled list plus Jorge Pasada (catcher) out as well leaves the Yankees at a loss. To be honest, I can’t really be that upset for them, considering that I am militantly anti-Yankees. Alex injured his leg in an April 20th game.

I know, I know - maybe I shouldn’t take sides, but I just have to gripe against the team that has singlehandedly bought its way to the top of the league season after season.

Maybe they should spend a little less money on player poaching and a little more money on keeping their players healthy and well rested.

• Alex Rodriguez on the “Emotionally Disabled List”
• Mlive story on Alex Rodriguez going on Disabled List