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[align=center]George Steinbrenner[/align]
[align=center]1930-2010[/align]

[align=center]A Great Sucuess. A Great Man. A Great Legend. We will miss you George.[/align]

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Rest in peace, Jerry J... George Steinbrenner.

And George laughs at you in his grave with his all his rings and penants while you sit and cry wishing you were slightly close to being a fan of a real, sucessful baseball team. :)

RIP George 🙂

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I'm trying to figure out how to articulate this without seeming a cad.

But what makes Steinbrenner such that we ought to give his passing particular attention?

80-year-old men die every day. In fact, he already had about 7-8 years more of life than the average man.

Now, certainly Steinbrenner was economically successful. And if I were a Yankee fan (perish the thought), I'd be grateful for the success he brought my team.

But why is it that we feel compelled to talk about certain 80-year-olds upon their death, and not others. If any of us had a personal relationship with the man, that would be one thing, but as far as I know none of us do.

And, I'm not attacking Green Ninja for starting this thread. After all, I started a similar one when Don Coryell passed a few days ago.

I'm just remarking about how it seems passing strange, this willingness we all have to publicly mourn *some* perfect strangers who have lived a full and successful life. We're not talking here of a Roberto Clemente who was "taken before his time", but someone who lived longer and who had opportunities most never have.

RIP, George.

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I'm a Yankees fan, although I'm just about the most reluctant Yankees fan you'll ever meet, and Steinbrenner is a big reason why. I've never loved a team, yet hated how the team was run like I do with the Yankees. George's sons are no better. It's sad that he died. He's a huge figure in baseball history.

I'll defend Steinbrenner on this front; the Yankees get crap constantly and are hated for spending tons and tons of money for their players, but the Steinbrenners aren't even in the top ten of the richest owners in the league. The Nationals owner is the richest. He can afford do what the Steinbrenners do more than the Steinbrenners can. Pay the big bucks to make your team better, but he never will. At least George gave back to baseball with the product he put on the field and putting his money back into baseball instead of taking all the profits and running.

I don't agree with how he did it, and I never will, but he did it his way and it worked.

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Umm, because he had a major impact on one of our most popular sports?

I understand the attention, but not the laudatory tone from so many people. I've always thought of him as one of the great villains in sports. From what I hear, he mellowed somewhat in his later years, but that was after I stopped following baseball.

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He "bought" championships with his money. Was it wrong? In the eyes of fans of the teams that can't afford to do that, yes.
But it wasn't illegal.
Until the time comes that the playing field is level (like a salary cap) guys like that will keep doing things like that.

As far as him "laughing in his grave, with all his rings and pennants"........i highly doubt that. He left with what he came in with, nothing.

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George Steinbrenner and Jerry Jones represent problems I see with society in a the respect people want to find the quick route to success instead of doing it through good ole hard work.

Why earn it when you can buy it?

I think both men did a great job in assembling winning teams, (Jones in the early 90's did it the 'right' way in my opinion thanks to the Vikings), but George seems to jus buy buy and buy.

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Yeah, it was hard to take, growing up as a Brewers fan, when Steinbrenner would just buy the players he wanted. Your point is well-taken that it was not (and still isn't) against the rules to do that in baseball. That's one of the reasons I stopped following the sport.

But even beyond the thing about buying championships, Steinbrenner always seemed obnoxious and egotistical, like the worst stereotype of a New Yorker.

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I don't know what the man was like on a personal level. But i'm sure he wouldn't have bothered with "riff raff" like me!LOL!

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