Yankees Lose! Yankees Lose! Yankees Lose!

The New York Yankees lost the 2010 ACLS to the Texas Rangers. It's been over since last week, but I just want to say it again. It feels good. Let's see: how about expressing it a few different ways?
-- The Yankees failed to win a championship for one more year of the Jeter/Rivera/Pettite/ Posada era that links them to the other painful times they won since 1996.
-- The Yankees lost in 2010 despite being loaded up with so much talent that one could argue they should have won another title. So, in a way, the lineup with Jeter, A-Rod, Teixiera, Cano, Posada, Swisher and Granderson should have won. If you factor in Sabathia, Pettite, Rivera and the rest, yeah, they blew it. I still feel the positive after-effects!
--The Yankees lost and their veteran players will all be a year older in 2011 - That's a good thing.
--The Yankees have won only one championship (2009) in the past ten years. Translation: They've been the most loaded team in baseball for virtually this entire decade, but, have found ways to lose in 9 of the last 10 years. (8 times in the playoffs) Yippee!

It remains a mystery, even to me, why I hate the Yankees so much, but, it's true.

I want to highlight a few other things I noticed about their performance that led to their exit:

In my view, some of their players didn't appear to be that fired up about the series vs. the Rangers. They didn't seem to care quite as much about whether they won or lost. Maybe it's understandable, in a way. Guys like Jeter and Posada have won so many damned times that they might have a little "playoff burnout."
Staying on Jeter for a second, he had a particularly mediocre series - by Jeter's post-season standards. Could it be that the Yankee captain is finally showing his age? He's getting married soon, right? Maybe he's a bit distracted by off-field activity, for a change.
Posada seemed to show his age a bit too. He got a few hits, but, in other at-bats, he seemed a bit
slower in his reaction time than some of his moments vs. the Red Sox in past playoffs. Plus, he's become a lousy catcher in terms of his ability to throw out runners attempting steals. Posada's arm is simply not as quick or accurate. Plus, Posada's defense behind the plate seems to have slipped a bit. Every year, in the playoffs, he seems to have more trouble preventing passed balls.
Mariano Rivera looked dominant and fine. No surprise there. Rivera never seeems to change. Pettite pitched well in his one game. No surprise there.

C.C. Sabathia had one good game and one not-so-good game - That was a change. A.J. Burnett, who pitched well for part of one game, still blew it by giving up a big 3-run homer. That seems a trend with Burnett, who the Yankees payed a bundle to get. And, besides Kerry Wood, who pitched OK, the rest of the Yankee bullpen performed badly. That was good to see.

So, is it possible that we're seeing a few "chinks" in the Yankee armor? Are there signs of "decline" in the Evil Empire? I hope so, but, my guess is they'll acquire more star players to try to bolster their sickening, monopolistic hold on baseball.
And, I know one thing for sure: Come Opening Day of the 2011 season, I'll still hate the Yankees as much as ever.