On Tuesday, the sports world lost one of its biggest titans. George Steinbrenner, aka “The Boss,” a graduate of Williams College, passed away at the age of 80.

It’s been rather interesting, and somewhat disturbing, to hear the reaction from some members of Red Sox Nation.

I could barely stomach the local sports-talk radio yesterday; several callers called Steinbrenner a “lousy person” and “the worst thing that could’ve happened to baseball.” I also talked to my grandmother, who, to give you a better idea of her unrelenting fandom, swears that she wants to be buried in a Red Sox uniform.

“So Grandma, Steinbrenner’s dead. What’s your reaction?” I asked.

“I’m not crying, are you?” she said.

OK, then. Of course I wasn’t crying (I didn’t know the guy). But I certainly didn’t get any satisfaction from the passing of the man. (NOTE: My grandmother is a very sweet lady, so don’t judge her by this story alone.)

It seemed that, even in Steinbrenner’s death, Sox fans couldn’t help but express their resentment for the man who built an Empire, one that overshadowed Boston’s baseball team for so many years.

Let’s be real here. Perhaps without Steinbrenner, the Red Sox wouldn’t be the uber-successful franchise they’ve proven to be for the last decade. Boston has won two world championships in the last six years, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 and topping the Colorado Rockies in 2007. But let’s be honest. There’s only one team the Red Sox were built to beat: Steinbrenner’s Yankees.

Some fans are disgusted by the Yankees’ brand of baseball: big-money free-agent signings and a ridiculously expensive ballpark experience. Some believe that the Yankees’ way (“Buying a championship”) has disgraced the sport, and it’s the reason why Major League Baseball will never stack up to the parity-driven National Football League.

My reaction to that? Get with the times, folks. We can all complain about the swelled salaries of pro athletes, or the audacity of charging $6 for a hot dog, but the teams who get away with it are -- 99 percent of the time -- the teams who sell the most tickets and win the most championships.

Red Sox fans (especially those who enjoyed the 2004 and 2007 titles) shouldn’t complain about Steinbrenner’s business model, but instead credit him for setting the bar so high. The Red Sox brass may have billed the Boston franchise as this loveable group of scrappy underdogs, pitted against the clean-cut, spoiled rich kids in pinstripes, BUT the Sox are No. 2 behind the Bombers in team spending.

The Sox are rich bullies, too. Don't forget that.

Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett……The Sox have spent A LOT of money on championship-caliber talent. And why? Because Boston had to keep up with Steinbrenner and his Yankees.

 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The search for the next head football coach at Williams College is over, and the job hunt has ended with a historic hiring.

On Monday, the college officially announced Aaron Kelton as the successor to Mike Whalen, who left Williams in March to become the coach and assistant athletic director at Wesleyan University. Although records at Williams College cannot verify every coach in the program's 126-year history, it is believed that Kelton is the first black head football coach in school — and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) — history.

Kelton said in an interview Monday afternoon that he has been informed by other sources that he is the first black head football coach in Williams history.

"This is monumental," Kelton said. "I'm elated by it. It shows the commitment Williams has by making sure it goes about the process in the right way, by giving everyone an opportunity. It helps carry on the rich tradition that Williams already has."

In a press release, Williams College Athletic Director Harry Sheehy expressed his excitement in the hiring of Kelton.

"I’m thrilled that Aaron and his wife Charlotte will be joining the Williams athletic family and college community," Sheehy said. "The search committee was impressed with Aaron’s energy and passion for teaching the game of football to young men, and this passion resonated with people on our campus throughout the process. He’ll be a tireless teacher, coach, and recruiter. Current and future Eph football players will be inspired and challenged to reach for their potential under Aaron’s tutelage. It’s with much enthusiasm that we call on him to carry forward the great tradition that is Williams football."

Kelton joins the Ephs after four seasons coaching in the Ivy League at Columbia University — he was the Lions' defensive coordinator for the last two seasons following two seasons as their secondary coach. He came to Columbia after five seasons as a defensive coach at Virginia State, where he spent four as the linebackers coach and one as the secondary coach.

Following his graduation from Springfield College in 1992, Kelton was an assistant at his alma mater, Wellesley (Mass.) High School, for four years and an assistant at Wayland (Mass.) High School for one season. After one season each as an defensive assistant at Clarion and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he filled roles as the defensive coordinator, defensive special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Concord College (West Virginia) from 1999 to 2001.

The job at Williams will be his first head coaching position.