The death of long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is sure to generate differing reactions from sports fans across North America.

While it is sad that the man known as “The Boss” is gone, many fans will not mourn his passing.

The Steinbrenner apologists, many of whom are Yankees fans, will gush at his impact on the team. He helped rejuvenate the organization. Under his watch, the Yankees won seven World Series titles, and they provided many cherished moments for their ardent fans.

Steinbrenner bought the team for $10 million in 1973. The organization’s estimated value is now $1.5 billion.

Critics will paint Steinbrenner as a bombastic, mercurial and belligerent tyrant who clashed with players and coaches, and was suspended for life in the 1980s for consulting with gamblers about baseball. He seemingly hired and fired managers on a whim.

He also made it difficult for small-market baseball teams to compete on an annual basis, thanks to the expensive salaries he authorized while he was the Yankees owner.

I wasn’t a Steinbrenner fan, but he won championships with a team that expects to win the World Series each year.

Steinbrenner probably enjoyed the polarizing opinions that he generated.

And he certainly enjoyed his fame. There isn’t an owner of a North American professional sports team who has transcended his sport like Steinbrenner.

For non-baseball fans, their introduction to Steinbrenner might have come through his host gigs with “Saturday Night Live,” or the faceless Steinbrenner impersonator who appeared on “Seinfeld” when George Costanza was employed by the New York Yankees.

There was only one owner of a North American professional sports team who could have been portrayed on a regular basis on a show like “Seinfeld.” And that was George Steinbrenner. “Seinfeld” was set and filmed in New York, but the creators of “Seinfeld” wouldn’t have based a character on the owner of the New York Rangers or the New York Mets.

And a show set in Los Angeles wouldn't be able to have a satirical portrayal of the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Los Angeles Lakers.

Steinbrenner reportedly enjoyed the “Seinfeld” Steinbrenner portrayal, even if it wasn’t always flattering.

The Yankees have had a lot of great players and a lot of great teams since Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973. But he was the constant. If you ask people about the Yankees since 1973, the first name that will usually come up is Steinbrenner. Those people might not be Steinbrenner fans, but he’s the man associated with the Yankees.

There aren’t many opinions about Steinbrenner that will generate agreement, but this is one of them: he was the right man for the right team in the right city at the right time. And he was always an original.