Jon Lester Rox!

Congratulations to the Red Sox (aka Rox) on their 7 World Series title, their second in 4 years... and you really don't want to know what time it was this side of the Atlantic by the time the game, let alone the celebrations, ended!

The red and white banner held up by one fan expressed it all - "Believe Again".

Special congratulations to Mike Lowell on winning not just one car but two for being MVP, and, for that matter, to the Colorado Rockies, who have reached their first World Series in only their 15th series - no mean achievement in its own right.

For me, though, the real star has got to be a player whose courage, determination and commitment, let alone his skill, would defeat all efforts to describe them.

At first I thought I hadn't heard aright when the commentator said that this time last year Jonathan Tyler Lester wasn't pitching for the Red Sox - he was undergoing chemotherapy.

It turns out, though, that it's absolutely true. The Red Sox pitcher had a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and might not even have survived it, let alone been able to go on playing baseball... but Jon Lester has an attitude of total focus and determination.

Three months ago, his treatment over, he came back to the Red Sox, and last night he claimed his place in baseball's history books... and his comment on what he'd achieved just to get over it and make it to the Final?

"I was a normal person, and did anything that anybody else would've done."

What's more, he says that the experience has actually helped his playing. Last year, he admits, he could get upset about small things too easily, and lose his concentration and effectiveness.

This year, he believes he's got things in perspective, and can focus better on his game.

Jon Lester's example will be an inspiration and a badge of hope for every cancer sufferer, or loved one, friend or family member of a cancer sufferer, who gets to hear about his heroism and its great and brilliantly-deserved success.