I don't hate the Yankees...

I hate people's excessive fawning over them when it's a product of them not knowing the game. Props to Keown for breaking it down simply by illustrating one example of good, smart baseball being packaged as something superhuman. Derek Jeter is an incredibly smart baseball player, but he's not the only one in this series (let alone the big leagues) who would have made that play. This is an indictment of the coverage of this series and, really, the sports media as a whole.

The people reporting on sports don't know the games on which they are reporting. A first baseman trailing a runner and calling for a backpick is not uncommon. I get on my freshmen if they DON'T do that. I could cite a million different examples of this, but the point is that commentary has actually gotten to the point of detracting from the game and making fans dumber. Stop it. Most fans are dumb enough already.

Debunking the Church of Jeter

By Tim Keown, espn.com

Here's one reason so many people love to hate the Yankees: The lovefest for Derek Jeter knows no bounds. It's natural to attempt to find fault with a guy who is constantly praised to the heavens and beyond, and that's why so many people get so excited in the effort.

And this isn't a criticism, just an observation: If I had watched Bobby Abreu's Game 3 baserunning mistake -- back-picked at second by Jeter and Mark Teixeira in the bottom of the 8th -- with the sound down on the television, I would have considered it a perfect example of the Yankees' ability to execute defensively. They're pros.

But since the sound was on, it's a different story. We were shown replays of the play and told over and over how brilliant Jeter is because he thought the play was at third but the play ended up being at second and there was nobody there to tell him.

Nobody there? Really? Even though Teixeira was right there to take the throw and apply the tag? I mean, let's get real: Jeter is a great player, but sometimes things happen on the field -- really cool things -- that don't center on him.

Teixeira followed the runner, just like every first baseman is supposed to do but not all do. He was right there. He made the play. Jeter would be the first to admit that.