I recently had the great pleasure of doing a story on Michael Sofokles.

For those who didn't get a chance to see the feature in Sunday's paper or read it on-line, Michael is a senior at Red Hook High School who tripped and fell down a flight of stairs in his home and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in two hospitals for a total of seven weeks.

He had several surgical procedures, including having a portion of his skull removed to allow his brain to heal. As he continued his recovery, students, teachers and coaches in both the Red Hook and Kingston communities stepped up and held a fundraiser football tournament on his behalf.

A lot of money was raised so far, and a lot more can be donated. See the story on-line for more information.

I met Michael this week when his mother, Terri, brought him in for an interview. Michael is walking, talking and with the exceptions of the missing piece of his skull (which is to be placed back in the next couple of days) and the lack of use of his right hand, he is every bit the smiling teenager you would find.

I wish Michael and his family nothing but good health from here on.

They deserve it.

Three games into the season and many Yankee fans are already beginning to panic.

The Bombers were swept by the Rays in the opening weekend series in Tampa Bay, and while there were few — if any — positives to take from the 0-3 start, there is one thing I want to emphasize to Yankee fans:

There's still 159 games left in the season.

Most sane Yankee fans might laugh at this, but after listening to sports talk radio over the weekend and Monday, you might think the Yankees have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race.

It was laughable to hear some fans suggest the Yankees fire Joe Girardi and trade the majority of the team.

For their sake and the sake of some of their fans, let's hope the Yankees win at least 1 of the next three 3 games in Baltimore. With an 0-6 record heading into Friday's home opener, the Yankees will surely be hearing it from their fans.