GEORGE STEINBRENNER DIED TODAY

George Steinbrenner, who rebuilt the New York Yankees into a sports empire with a mix of bluster and big bucks that polarized fans all across America, died Tuesday. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday July 4. The Yankees will not be nearly so interesting without him!

I grew up down the street from Mr. Steinbrenner. He was an asshole as a young man and so far as I could see, that never changed. But he was a successful one! From the shipbuilding business he inherited from his father, to owning the New York Yankees - which quite honestly was a betrayal of his Cleveland roots in my view - everything George Steinbrenner touched was successful.

Rest in peace. You lived a full measure of 80 years and will be long remembered.