Yes The Yankees are the perfect villain. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

By Jacob Luft

I used to be like you. I used to hate the Yankees.

The smugness. The self-adoration. The flaunting of their tradition, how they wave those 26 world titles in your face constantly. Derek Jeter's mannerisms -- the little golf-clap, the MJ fist pump -- can be enough to make anybody's blood boil.

Then I watched the Angels and Twins play in the 2002 ALCS. Anaheim, having ended New York's AL dominance in the wild-card round, won in five colorless games. The ensuing World Series was nice, featuring some memorable Barry Bonds-Troy Percival showdowns. But it was missing something.

It was missing the blood. The hate. The shot of adrenaline that pumps through your veins when you realize the Yankees might be going down in flames on the biggest stage possible, the way Luis Gonzalez, the Big Unit and Curt Schilling had knocked them out in 2001. The way Josh Beckett made them look like schoolgirls in Game 6 this past season.

Weren't those moments delicious? What would they have meant to you if the Yankees were just another team, if they didn't spend more than the GNP of entire nations?

So George Steinbrenner gobbles up superstars faster than Carrie Bradshaw collects designer shoes. Bring it on, George. We'll just savor it that much more when you lose.

No C'mon now. Is this really necessary? Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

By John Donovan

I hate to sound like Grandpa Purist here, prattling on about the good ol' days when the grass was greener and George Steinbrenner cared more about shipyards than ballyards. The fact is, though, Steinbrenner and his damn Yankees have darn near ruined baseball over the past few decades, the latest example being the Alex Rodriguez deal.

Now, everybody knows that's just baseball nowadays. It's just George. No one has a fatter wallet than Steinbrenner's, and no one's more willing to use it. But just as baseball salaries have started to get a bit more reasonable and payrolls slightly leaner -- and baseball, not coincidentally, healthier -- The Boss goes and stuffs his team with All-Stars. Damn the payroll tax! Full speed ahead!

Maybe the rest of baseball will simply sit and watch the Yankees sign every great player in the game. And maybe the Pope will grant Pete Rose sainthood. More likely, some owner will get all itchy again trying to compete, and soon there'll be another Tom Hicks who writes a check his butt can't cash. It'll spread through baseball and we'll be in the same fine mess we were a few years ago, with owners crying bankruptcy and strikes and lockouts looming.

Ol' Georgie is just playing by the rules. But he's also alienating more and more fans playing this way.

The truth is, Steinbrenner's the lead dog, followed by a few owners dumb enough to try to stay with him, then it's everybody else. That can't be good for anyone.