• He was the quarterback no one wanted, a sixth-round pick who had barely made the team's roster. But when the starter was felled by injuries in Week 2, the unknown backup entered the huddle and led his squad to the playoffs. In the Super Bowl he calmly engineered a late-game drive that set up the winning field goal. At 24, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was suddenly the youngest starting QB ever to lead a team to an NFL championship.

• This baseball team had a rich history of collapsing late in the season, but it started the 2002 campaign so poorly (6-14) that choking wasn't even in the realm of possibility. Corporate ownership was actively pursuing buyers. On the eve of a likely work stoppage, the team's frustrated fans nearly incited a riot at the ballpark. Inspired, in part, by a monkey, the team suddenly rallied to steal a wild card spot. The Anaheim Angels never stopped winning and capped as improbable a season as baseball has known by taking the World Series in a seven dramatic games.

• In a previous incarnation, this sadsack hockey franchise played in a mall in downtown Hartford, Conn. It migrated to Tobacco Road and was largely drowned out of the local sports scene by NASCAR engines. With a coach (Paul Maurice) younger than the captain (Ron Francis) and a roster filled with scrappy no-names, the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to reach the Stanley Cup finals.

Just who writes this stuff, anyway? Cinderella stories never get old. The feel-good narrative, the unlikely triumphs, the presence of destiny. It all reinforces what we love about sports. And imbues Red Sox fans with boundless hope.

--Jon Wertheim