The Mariano extension became official yesterday, and all was well in Yankeeland. Chicken soup for the soul. According to the Daily News:

"I think I was born to be a Yankee," Rivera said. "I could've gone and tried to test the market after the season, but I wanted to remain a Yankee. It's priceless, the pinstripes. Putting on that uniform every day in and out is priceless. If I have a chance to go in the Hall of Fame in the pinstripes, that's big for me."

Next up: Joe Torre.

Part two of T.J. Quinn's profile of Alex Rodriguez is up today. It is worth taking a peek at because Quinn concentrates on Rodriguez's skills on the field.

The Yankees host the Red Sox tonight in Tampa, but trainer Gene Monahan is more concerned with preparing his players for their long trip to Japan.

And You Can Quote This

I remember on one of my first days working for the Coen brothers, DVD copies of "Fargo" arrived at their office. This was in the fall of 1996, and the movie—which had been released earlier in the year—was a hit. But I still hadn't seen it. Anyhow, the guys popped in one of the disks in to check for color, and definition, and almost immediately they started chuckling. They laughed at everything: violent scenes, and straight scenes alike. Maybe these guys aren't pretentious after all, I thought. The chuckling turned into wheezing. Hey, these guys are fun.

I was reminded of this when I read Joel Stein's article on the boys in the current issue of Time. Stein concludes his piece:

Despite all the careful prep work and their rep for being brusque and quiet, the brothers are known for being loose on the set, laughing repeatedly at their own lines of dialogue and gags. "In the movie Tom [Hanks] sort of does an Ed Grimley, where the house blows up andhe's running up the steps," says Ethan. "One of our voices is all over the track, laughing," finishes Joel. That wasn't the only scene that had to be dubbed over in the recording studio because of Coen brother laughter. The brothers, it turns out, are most interested in amusing themselves.

Amen, brother.