Michael Ventre

As Sunday night’s series finale of “The Sopranos” approaches, it’s important to point out that organized crime doesn’t have a monopoly on powerful bosses.

In the sports world, there are many who, over the years, have fought ruthlessly for money, power and new stadiums and arenas with luxury suites. Sometimes the action in the board rooms of the sports teams and leagues in the U.S. rivals anything that can happen during a typical episode of the hugely popular HBO show.

With that in mind, here are “The Top 10 Sports Bosses.” They don’t all have AK-47s hidden in their attics, or stashes of gold Krugerrands buried in their gardens. Nor do they necessarily step out with their “goomahs” on the weekends. And very few of them — that we know of, anyway — bet on sports.

But they’re all powerful, ambitious and will stop at nothing. The scariest part is, they’re not fictional:

Al Davis
When you look in the dictionary under the word “vendetta,” there is not just a picture of Al but rather a commemorative pullout wall poster. A Mafia boss demands loyalty above all else. When he’s crossed, he never forgets.

Al Davis probably still remembers the time he failed to get saltines with his soup at a diner in 1963. The Raiders owner enjoyed sticking it to Marcus Allen even though it weakened his team at the time. He probably still is pondering ways to get back at the late Pete Rozelle for trying to stop him from moving to L.A. in the early 1980s. And he still wants to make someone pay for his inability to move back to Los Angeles from Oakland.

All that has kept him from being invited to join a mob family is his refusal to wear fine Italian suits. Those black and white warm-ups he wears all the time? They probably fell off a truck.

David Stern
He rules the NBA with an iron hand, even if it doesn’t have a diamond pinky ring. He will have guys whacked without thinking twice about it; just ask Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and the Phoenix Suns. He doesn’t like having his authority questioned; just ask Dan Patrick.

Some commissioners like to lay low and make believe they’re crazy — see Bud Selig — but Stern isn’t one of them. He’s from the John Gotti school, flouting his public persona and allowing himself to appear on more media outlets than Joey Buttafucco. No one has ever seriously attempted to usurp his position because Stern is considered the only man tough enough to continually battle with the most dangerous entities in American life: Advertisers and TV networks.

George Steinbrenner
In the mob, they have a term: “Capo di tutti capi.” It means “boss of all bosses,” and at one time this applied solely to the Yankees’ owner. But alas, times change, men age, power shifts. Just like Tony Soprano is on the run after an attack from the New York family, so too is George on the lam after an assault from a certain Boston mob.

Slide show ‘Sopranos’ family album From Adriana to Ralphie, the friendly and not-so-friendly faces that surrounded Tony and crew more photos

What made the New York Yankees owner distinctive over the years was his habit of whacking his own people. But with Brian Cashman and Joe Torre, he finally has a crew around him that he can trust. Now all he needs are better players.

Kobe Bryant
Perhaps no soldier has ever wielded as much power as Kobe. Not Christopher. Not Paulie Walnuts. Not Silvio. In fact, Kobe is more like a combination of a present-day A.J. and a young Meadow.

He has A.J.’s immaturity and inability to cope with stress along with the type of spoiled-brat selfishness that Meadow used to have before she moved out of the house and faced reality. But the Lakers guard has amassed an unusual amount of power, and he seems willing to rub out an entire franchise hierarchy to get what he wants.

Of course, when he accomplishes that, he’ll be playing alone, or more accurately, he’ll be playing even more alone than he is now.

Michael Vick
Not every boss is in charge of a mighty empire. Some bosses preside over pathetically small domains inhabited by the dregs who can’t hook on with other crews.

In Vick’s case, I’m not talking about the Atlanta Falcons but rather the vermin who allegedly gathered at Vick’s property in Virginia to salivate over the cruelty of dogs ripping each other apart while they gambled. If Vick and his buddies walked into the Bada Bing, nobody would serve them. They wouldn’t be considered classy enough.

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