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It seemed most likely that Ramadan would start today, but our mosque didn't find any reliable indications, so we start tomorrow. Ramadan Mubarak!

Part of the meaning of "Islam" is peace. Sorry.

Went to the Yankee game last night. Great to see Jeter pass the Babe. Berkman also came through with key hits after his early struggles. What an outing by Moseley on the big stage.

It's not sending much of a message when anything having Allah's name written on it that is being disposed of is supposed to be burned.

Post your favorites. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SogXrmAnpWU

I picked up Carlos Marmol yesterday...

Dave D'Alessandro Thorn shares some pretty interesting flashbacks. Thanks for everything, Rod.

ESPN Boston

I'm loving the enthusiasm coming from this crowd. You don't hear such loud responses for every member of the all-star teams in all stadiums.

How fitting that after growing impatient with eight ring-less seasons, the last full season George Steinbrenner lived to see had the Yankees as champions. The timeline of not only his ownership, but his whole life, is incredible. His toughness as someone who did not accept losing in any way or form overshadowed his great personality. As the owner of a baseball team, there aren't many others out there that could make as many controversial decisions as him and still be recognized as a great leader simply because of all the changes he made to our team that were for the better. It wasn't only the signings of players. He established a new home for the franchise. He had a presence that was sure to be felt whenever he visited the clubhouse. He introduced a new tradition that spread over to the rest of the team and the whole fanbase and that is well alive today. Many fans have to wonder whether they would even be apart of this fanbase were it not for Steinbrenner. Rest in peace, George M. Steinbrenner III.

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Well there's the whole thing about Favors taking a couple years to develop. I don't exactly agree with it. Outlaw is flexible and can play the 4, and Humphries is there to play some minutes as well. That should be enough padding around Favors as he improves (and that is IF he really needs a couple years to develop).

I'm not sure about Swisher's chances considering Kevin Long is giving him some precautions, but Swish's personality should keep it entertaining.

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You find drafting Favors the only thing to like about the next three years? Even if we may be committing a lot of money to Outlaw and Petro, it isn't like they can't perform. At the same time, people forget about the talent on this team last year simply because of 12-70.

Monday: Tex homers. Tuesday: A-Rod homers twice, including a grand slam. Wednesday: Tex hits a three-run HR. Thursday: A-Rod scores the tying run following a key baserunning play, and drives in the go-ahead run with a two-run single in the ninth. Friday: Tex homers twice. Our pitching has been nothing short of incredible: 6 runs allowed over the last 5 games.

Sigh of relief! I was listening to Francesa and 1050 in the car for over an hour hoping to hear the rumors off. I thought there was no way to turn back around when they "were putting the finishing touches on the deal." I saw quite a few issues in this deal. 1) The obvious observation was that all five of our starting pitchers have been outstanding as of late. What was the point of building on something that was already dominant? Even if someone gets injured, we have Ace hopefully on his way back as well as Gaudin to give us some assistance. 2) Francesa brought up an interesting point. C.C. was a significant pickup when we added him, and it was filling in a hole. The Tex signing was also filling in a slot that was somewhat empty. This deal, though, seemed to be taking a big step forward in possibly knocking down competition. "Overkill" was the word Francesa used, and I think I agree. 3) This deal could have also made a turn for the worse. We already gave up Austin Jackson, someone fans were anticipating to see in the big leagues for a while, in the Granderson deal. Montero's arrival in the big leagues, regardless of whether he's ready as a catcher, has been anticipated by Yankee fans for a while now. If we gave him in the three-man package that included McAllister and David Adams, who knows whether we'd be seeing incredible stars rising in Seattle. Meanwhile, looking at all possibilities, bringing Lee back would not be a guarantee. If he signed somewhere else after this season rather than returning to New York, this deal may have been looked back at as a nightmare.

Woj says Golden State isn't expected to match the offer considering the David Lee contract.

It's tough as a fan of any team to look at Cleveland's reaction after LeBron's decision. I feel for the city. I'm still not ready to buy the Heat being favorites, but we'll see as the offseason goes along.

Add Hanley Ramirez to the list of participants.

Where did he say that?

http://i28.tinypic.com/289a23s.jpg http://i31.tinypic.com/a1rh9w.jpg

Exactly. I think the Nets avoided more mistakes than they made. We could have gone after Boozer, an older player, or STAT, a player with health issues. We avoided those risks. We'll see whether trading Yi turns out to be a mistake, but for the time being, the Nets situation is far from a problem. We still have a new home. We still have a big-name owner. We still have a big-name coach. There's an incredible amount of talent just when you look at players within the first three years of their career. Along with that, health does not appear to be an issue. There aren't any sources that can confirm the Nets being out of the race for James. But even without him, this team has taken a big step forward and can continue building with other talent in free agency.

Cano is pulled out of the Home Run Derby with a minor back injury.

Rafael Soriano replaces Rivera, and Heath Bell replaces Yovani Gallardo. Youkilis is back in the lineup today.