Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was called the "George Steinbrenner of Iran" in a leaked 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable made public by Wikileaks, after he fired two soccer coaches from Team Melli weeks apart from each other. Ahmadinejad also kept secret files on the team's players, similar to when Steinbrenner payed a gambler to dig up dirt on Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield.

George Steinbrenner was a goldmine for sports journalists—the kind of public figure who never said anything that didn't deserve to be recorded for posterity. On Sunday morning, ESPN paid tribute to The Boss via his own words.

Tonight, in Anaheim, Major League Baseball's All-Star game is underway. This morning, the sport lost one of its most well-known figures: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. And as expected, the late powerhouse was honored before tonight's game. Videos inside.

Rush Limbaugh's touching tribute to deceased Yankees owner George Steinbrenner: "That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires!" Sure: Don Mattingly, Joe Torre, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens...Come on, fat boy. At least be human. Remember Donovan McNabb? [Media Matters]

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died of a heart attack at 6:30 this morning according to the New York Times. We TV-nerds remember him as George Constanza's boss, and pay tribute with this clip from Seinfeld.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has reportedly had a "major heart attack" in Florida. A "high-placed source" with the Yankees tells the New York Daily News that Steinbrenner has died. UPDATE: The AP also says he's died.

A roundup of people who will be celebrating their birthdays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is below.

• Two waitresses at 1Oak say they were fired from Scott Sartiano's club so that they could be replaced with white girls. Now they have a lawsuit in the works. [P6]

The world's most famous half-Puerto Rican/half-Jewish man with a moustache, Geraldo Rivera, will turn 65 tomorrow. Also celebrating on the fourth of July: Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who will be 78 and playwright Neil Simon, who is turning 81. Other people celebrating birthdays over the long weekend: RZA, 50 Cent, Chuck Close, Matthew Barney, Chuck Klosterman, Edie Falco, and former Mets manager Willie Randolph.

The famously volatile owner of the New York Yankees, Steinbrenner had been the terror of rivals and underlings for over three decades. He passed away in 2010.

Apparently the pretense that George Steinbrenner is still in charge of the Yankees is over!

Attaway, Joe. Yankees manager Joe Torre dropped into Tampa for an hour today to turn down the team's offer of a $5 million one-year extension to his contract. During this year's playoffs, the best boss in town among those bosses who aren't actually, shall we say, "present," George Steinbrenner, publicly held Torre's job over his head, threatening to fire him if he didn't turn in another series win.

Sad news from Portfolio. The September issue reveals the world's worst kept secret: George Steinbrenner is unwell. The Post, writing about the piece today, describes a tragic moment from Franz Lidz' article:

James Brady is not easily shocked, but in his recent Forbes column, he admitted to surprise about the subject of George Steinbrenner's alleged senility.