My colleagues Nick Cardamone and Nikhil Bramhavar have established that they love sports. Nikhil has even gone so far as to say he hates some things about sports (namely the New York Yankees, and all they stand for). In light of these recent columns, I thought I would throw my navy hat, complete with the interlocking N and Y, into the mix. Partly because I lack originality, mostly because I want to defend my Yankees, here are a few of my favorite (and least favorite) things about baseball… I love that, as I write this column, the Yankees are two wins away from their 27th World Series Championship. That’s almost three times the amount of championships the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with the next highest number of World Series trophies, have. I hate when Boston fans chant, ‘Yankees Suck,’ but I love that I can retaliate with ‘1918.’ I love being a Yankee fan. I love knowing that my team will always come through for me. Not because we have a $164 million payroll, but because the Yankees exemplify New York’s never-give-up attitude. I love that George Steinbrenner invests his revenue back into the team, instead of pocketing the money, like other owners. I hate when people attribute the Yankees’ success to money. Look at the Knicks and the Rangers (baseball and hockey), the Twins and the Athletics. Money does not guarantee anything. I hate when Boston fans make their team sound like an underdog. The Red Sox had the highest payroll in baseball at the end of the 2001 season. The Red Sox currently have the third-highest payroll in the league, at $100 million. That’s twice as much as the Marlins and five times greater than the Devil Rays. So what if your payroll is not as large as the Yankees’? It’s still larger than 27 other teams. So, as Dr. Evil would say, ‘Boo-frickity-hoo.’ I love going to a game at Yankee Stadium. I love sitting in the bleachers and doing roll call. In no other sports venue will the players actually acknowledge fans’ cheers with a wave of the hand, like the Yankees acknowledge the Bleacher Creatures. I love when Ronan Tynan sings ‘God Bless America.’ I love hearing the little-known first verse. It’s like going to a 311 concert and hearing the additional verse for ‘All Mixed Up.’ I love that the extra time it takes Tynan to sing the verse ices opposing pitchers. I hate that the Red Sox and their fans complain about it, even though the Fenway Park grounds crew purposely makes the dirt in front of home plate into a sandbox when Derek Lowe pitches. I love Babe Ruth. I love Bucky Dent. I loved being at Yankee Stadium for Game 7 to witness Aaron Boone end one of the best games ever played in the Bronx. I hate that Red Sox fans think Karim Garcia is the devil for defending his teammate against what he thought was a crazed fan. I hate that these same fans consider Pedro Martinez a deity even though he threw a 72-year-old man to the ground. Even the evil Count Dooku showed more chivalry in his duel against the 500-year-old Yoda in Episode II. I loved the look on Pedro’s face hood and all when he watched the Yankees celebrate their 39th pennant. I love the way Derek Jeter plays the game. I hate when people say he’s overrated. I love that Derek hit .323 this season, silencing all the critics who pointed to his declining batting average over the previous four seasons. I love watching the no-look shovel pass to Jorge Posada in the 2001 ALDS. It still amazes me. I hate that people stopped watching baseball just because neither the Red Sox nor the Cubs are in the playoffs. I loved watching the pitcher’s duel between Josh Beckett and Mike Mussina on Tuesday night. It was almost as good as the duel between Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore at the end of ‘Order of the Phoenix.’ I love that Boston fans think their team is cursed. I hate that they blame Grady Little for leaving in Pedro Martinez. In July, would you have told Little to take out Pedro for Mike Timlin? The guy pitches a few good innings and all of the sudden he’s Cy Young? I love I don’t have to worry about that. I love that the Yankees have Mariano Rivera. I love that I was born in New York, into baseball royalty. As the old adage goes: Thank God I’m a Yankee fan. Josh Stern, a senior in the School of Management, is a weekly sports columnist for The Daily Free Press.