Friday column: Here's 3 down, but also 3 up

At times, it seems as though the sun's always setting in the world of sports. Just in the last few days, we've seen:

• Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor positing that his sexual-misconduct conviction — for patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute — isn't really his fault but that of the "world of prostitution."

• Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant acting like a angry toddler when he and his posse are informed by off-duty police officers that the mall they were cruising with pulled-down pants doesn't appreciate their, uh ... overexposure.

• The beginning of a long and expensive trial to determine whether — try not to giggle — Barry Bonds knowingly took steroids.

But even in Toyland, the spherical, hot plasma ball our globe circles also appears to ascend, as Hemmingway said (not quite in those words). Thus:

• British marathon star Mara Yamauchi and coach Martin Yelling have launched a website, runforjapan.com, to mobilize the running community to help relief efforts in Japan.

The idea is for runners from every nation to dedicate one of their runs to Japan, and make a corresponding donation. Collectively, the runners would cover a distance equal to the earth's circumference — 24,901 miles.

As of Thursday, 497 people had dedicated a race — covering a combined 8,682 miles — and made a donation. Athletes from several others sports also have banded together to help the Japanese.

• NBA players' generosity saved a life, a story that has just came to light.

In September 2004, L.A. Clippers assistant coach Kim Hughes was diagnosed with prostate cancer. A surgeon covered by team insurance told him he could safely wait several months to have surgery. Hughes, a former premed student, didn't think so, and found another doctor who could operate within a week.

But that surgeon's services weren't covered by the team's insurance. The Clippers — the organization — said it couldn't help. The Clippers — the players — said they could. Several, including Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, Elton Brand and Marko Jaric, paid for the $70,000 operation out of their own pockets.

As it turns out, Hughes' cancer was aggressive and was threatening to spread. Says Hughes: "Those guys saved my life."

• As life-savers go, it's hard to beat the story of John Shear, a beloved paddock guard at Santa Anita race track in Arcadia, Calif.

About a fortnight ago, Shear threw his body between a runaway horse and a 6-year-old girl. The girl was physically unscathed; Shear suffered multiple pelvic fractures, a fractured cheekbone, and gashes above his left eye and down his left arm.

Shear has been hospitalized ever since; it's hoped he'll be able to walk again in two months or so.

"Could have been worse," Shear told the Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke. "Something could have happened to the little girl."

Quite a story — worth reading in full at lat.com. Oh, by the way, the body Shear put between the girl and the 1,000-pound animal is 90 years old. Shear has worked at Santa Anita for half a century.