The Rule of Three

This is a little morbid, but I have to admit that after hearing of the passing of Harvey Pekar and Tuli Kupferberg yesterday, the thought flitted through my mind that there was another celebrity death imminent. I don't know where the idea started about how famous people seem to die in threes, but it did prove true this time as long-time New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner also died last night. I consider myself a long-time Yankee hater, and my disdain for the team corresponds almost exactly with Steinbrenner's emergence as the the boss. As much as I approved of the notion of free agency for players, I detested his willingness and ability to monopolize the biggest name players for his team (starting with the acquisitions of guys like Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson). So, I became a Yankee hater, though I usually liked many of the players wearing pinstripes at any given time. That feeling of antagonism softened considerably when Seinfeld started regularly poking fun at Steinbrenner, and he apparently took it with good humor, so now I do feel a little bad that he's gone. At least the sitcom version of the big guy will keep his memory alive as long as the show is rerun, and that's a happier version than the blustering egomaniac he seemed to be thirty years ago.