Yankees prominent, provocative, and paradoxical owner George Steinbrenner passed away Tuesday at the age of 80 after suffering a heart attack. Though Steinbrenner relinquished the reins of everyday control of the Evil Empire to his sons Hal and Hank in 2007, he will eternally be associated and recognized as the man who returned the Yankees to prominence, changing the face of baseball and professional sports forever.

Now, if you're like me, you probably aren't too happy with George and the way he changed the landscape of professional sports - giving prima donna punks like Alex Rodriguez millions...and millions...and even more millions of dollars to play stickball. Most importantly, I remember that jerk face from keeping the hometown Braves - look, I know they're in Atlanta, but I figured from the amount of time they spend on my TV, they had to be from Birmingham - from winning back-to-back World Series championships in the 90s.

Known as a tyrant, even a meddler, as an owner, Steinbrenner was never content to sit on the sidelines, behind-the-scenes, or any other hands-off area. Rather, he was the quintessential micromanager, bickering and fighting with managers (most famously with Billy Martin, whom he hired/fired five different times). Steinbrenner was the money behind the monster that was the Yankees. He took over at a time when the team was run, almost as a fun little side project - the freaking Yankees - by CBS. He did whatever it took to make the team a winner again (which usually consisted of throwing copious amounts of money at high profile free agents).

But little known - certainly to yours truly - were Steinbrenner's many, many philanthropic exploits and ventures. In his hometown of the last decade, Tampa, FL, Steinbrenner was actively involved in numerous charitable ventures such as youth sporting leagues. I think it says a photograph (that's a thousand words) about the man that many did not know of this side. Rather than flaunt his philanthropy and force feed it to us to get good publicity, he was willingly to play the controversial figure for our entertainment while doing the right thing because it was the right thing.

So I just wanted to give a little tip of the cap (I'm as surprised as you are) to George Steinbrenner. I didn't always...okay, ever, agree with you, but I can respect the passion you had for the game. Your commitment is unquestioned and unparalleled. Here's to you George. Cheers.

College Football season is officially here!

I knew it was football season once again when I turned my television to ESPN at 6 pm sharp and saw Lou Holtz’s beautiful, wrinkly, potentially fake-tanned, definitely covered in makeup, smiling face. Oh how I love thee, Lou Holtz. Let me count the ways. Basically, it starts with his slurring and spattering voice that is only slightly harder to understand than the actual words coming out of his mouth. Somewhere admist the “thuffering thuckatashes,” there are supposedly nuggets of football wisdom, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out what they are. But for some reason, that crazy old coot is music to my ears. And that reason is: College Football has finally arrived!!!

No more previews, overviews, reviews, topviews, sideviews, insider views, nor any other views matter now. It’s all about what you do – more specifically, what you do on the field. And there were teams doing just that last night. For the first time in far too long real, live college football was on my television, and in my heart. Sigh.

South Carolina and Southern Miss kicked things off (for me at least). Steve Spurrier had his little, uh, Gamecocks out in full force. Southern Miss was overmatched. Stephen Garcia finally started living up to some of his potential, scoring the game’s first touchdown after a hard, athletic run. Marcus Lattimore, highly touted recruit, burst on the scene with an impressive display of power and speed. After a slow start out of the gate, South Carolina really turned up the heat. The final score was an embarrassing 41-13.

UAB lost a heartbreaker 32-31 at home against Florida Atlantic. The Owls blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Blazers to end the game. Just brutal. But there was at least one bright spot for the Blazers: David Isabelle rushed for a school record (for a QB) 214 yards, scoring 3 times. Unfortunately he only completed 9 of his 19 passes for a measly 79 yards, 1 TD, and 1 Int (which also was caught for a TD). And so it goes.

Ohio State and Miami (FL) both put on impressive displays in their season openers. Ohio State silenced the Thundering Herd from Marshall 45-7 on the back off early season Heisman favorite Tyrrell Pryor. Miami shutout in-state foe Florida A&M 45-0. Jacory Harris is also making an early case for himself in the Heisman race. Every game counts these days. Both Pryor and Harris tossed 3 TDs.

Utah and Pitt brought us our first OT action of the year…on the very first day! Utah controlled the action for most of the game, but the steely Panthers from Pitt clawed their way back into the game, refusing to quit. With 3 seconds left on the clock, Pitt set up for a game-tying field goal to send it to OT. It’s up, and it’s good… oh wait, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham pulled a Bush League move and called timeout right before the ball was snapped. Replay. They set up again. It’s up, and it’s no good! Utah wins … oh wait, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham pulled a Bush League move and called timeout right before the ball was snapped. Great, Utah still has one more timeout. Are they gonna use it again? Nope. This time the kick is good and it counts. OT. Utah wins the toss and elects to go on defense first. Wise Choice. First play – interception. Utah runs it up the middle a few times and kicks a field goal (sans Time Out shenanigans) to win.

USC vs. Hawaii (who was basically representing the rest of the world). Lane Kiffin’s first game as USC tyrant, I mean, head coach. The Trojans are limited to just 70 scholarship players this season due to the majority of the players being financed by the booster clubs. Lane Kiffin held the team out of contact for the majority of fall practice to prevent injury, and some rustiness definitely showed. Trojan defenders missed many a tackle on the shifty, speedy receivers of Hawaii. But USC still had a ton of top end talent, which proved to be the difference. QB Matt Barkley looked sharp, finding new favorite target WR Ronald Johnson for 3 TDs, plus another 2 more (that’s 5 total, not too shabby). But what really caught my attention was how Lane Kiffin went out of his way to change the perception of USC. I know it’s been a bit of a dark spot for you USC, but never fear, Lane Kiffin? is here. It didn’t take Lane very long to let us know the new face of USC football. Pretty much the same arrogant, cocky, meany-pants approach as before. Kiffin decided to go for 2 on his first three touchdowns. Me being wildly optimistic I thought, “Well, maybe they don’t have a scholarship kicker right now…or any kicker.” But no, on the fourth TD, they brought in the kicking team and the kicker blasted it through the middle of the uprights. Nope. Lane Kiffin’s just a schmuck.

Well, shenanigans and hi-jinx certainly ensued, but nothing was great enough to distract me from the glorious news that college football had returned and all (almost) is well with the world.

Here’s to a great year. Cheers!

The State Farm Home Run Derby was Monday night. The Derby has come under fire recently by both players and fans alike. Many player (especially winners) have seen second-half drops in production from the plate, complaining the contest alters their swing and goes on too stinking long. I thought these guys were supposed to be elite athletes in top shape. Your job is to swing the bat and hit the ball hard. You’re killing me. Suck it up and have some fun.

For many fans, the format seems to drag a little bit. Too many rounds. Too many hitters. Too many outs in each round. Here’s a thought: don’t watch it. The Derby is fun. Enjoy it. Home runs are, in a word, awesome.

Though it lacked the big names and star power of some of the previous Derbies, 2010 was still a good show. ‘Big Papi’ David Ortiz beat out Hanley Ramirez 11-5 in the finals to take the coveted title. Throughout the contest Ortiz displayed a refreshing, first-class attitude saying multiple times that it’s all about having fun and giving the fans a show. All you anti-derby punks listen up – you get to play a game (cheers! Allen Iverson) for millions of dollars. You can’t take a few extra cuts for some fun and for charity?

But enough ranting. Let’s get to the real highlight of the night – the Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Yep, that Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Watching Bo Jackson and Ricky Henderson teeing off on Jennie Finch, Mario Lopez struggle to get the ball out of the infield, and John Kruk up to hijinks and shenanigans couldn’t have been more fun.

Bo Jackson took one pitch from Finch and sent it rocketing to the warning track – the real warning track – proving Bo knows softball too. He hit a slow pitch softball 300 feet. In this writer’s admittedly biased opinion, he’s still the greatest athlete that’s ever lived.

The game was a slugfest, with home runs every time you blinked your eye. Mike Piazza stepped up to the plate in the top of the 5^th (the last inning) with the bases loaded, down to the last out, and sent a monster shot over the center field wall. Unfortunately for the National League, that only made the score 15-11, the way the game would end on the next pitch as some celebrity popped out to some other celebrity I don’t know.

There were 26 runs scored and 38 hits total between the teams. If you like the long ball (redirect to the title), then you were in heaven on this night.