George Steinbrenner is dead at 80 from a heart attack. As a survivor of 4 heart attacks myself and finally a heart transplant, I feel a special kinship for "The Boss" and his family. A figure of controversy, at the very least, I come to praise George not to bury him. My appreciation for Steinbrenner as a sports owner has nothing to do with his personality, his warmth - or lack of same - or any personal qualities he may or may not have exhibited in life. I praise him for two reasons.
First, George Steinbrenner stood taller than all other sports owners (with the possible exception, for a few years, of Ted Turner) in his fidelity to the Cardinal Rule of Team Ownership which is: Do All You Can To Win! Sport is unique among business enterprises. Its goal is not profit alone. It's winning. Unlike any other commercial activity, in sport there is a scoreboard. A definitive, final score is posted daily for each and every contest. In other businesses while many claim to be "winners" only sport can celebrate the real "winner" by pointing to a conclusive victory, a league championship, a national or even a world title. So unlike other businesses, in sport there are no pretenders. You wear the ring, or you don't. Steinbrenner was truly a man of the ring.
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