Giants Owner Wellington Mara Dies

Longtime Giants owner — and just about the only sports owner we can ever remember professing affection for, if just because he was old and spindly — Wellington Mara has died at the age of 89. Mara was one of the most influential owners in sports history, pioneering the notion of sharing television revenue among all the teams, which is why, say, we have a team in Green Bay right now. Mara was a busy man, but his wife might have been even busier; they had 11 children and 40 grandchildren.

Another thing a lot of people didn't realize about Mara: He was a staunch pro-life advocate, once writing an open letter to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo blasting him for his criticism of Church opposition to abortion.

And he was notorious for showing up at every Giants game. It almost became a Giant team tradition to give him a game ball toward the end of the season, apparently for surprising them all and surviving the year. Expect a very, very long column by Mike Lupica tomorrow that was probably written six years ago.

Wellington Mara Dies [ABC Local] Mara's Response To Cuomo [Life Athletes]