George Best

[Whisky7up]

Gone but not forgotten.

Cheers, George.

 

[Blangis]

RIP Georgie Best

A true legend for Manchester United, Northern Ireland and Britain, but it's a tragic tale of wasted potential all the same. Sadly I am too young to have seen him play in his prime, as a Manchester United fan I'd have loved to have been born several decades earlier to witness him, and his various illustrious teammates in action. The old footage of him at his best truly does stand up to even the most flamboyant brilliance of say, Ronaldinho or Henry nowadays, his example on the pitch was flawless but off it, you couldn't escape the conclusion he brought all this onto himself. But still, his courage over these past months, and his willingness to use himself as an example against alcoholism, is a fitting and lasting memory of this man, who brought joy to countless millions with his phenomenal talent, and truly deserves to mentioned alongside the true greats like Maradona and Pele, neither of whom would argue against Bestie being elevated to a status above.

Of the vast volume of words written and said about George Best, perhaps the most telling came from the mouth of the man himself.

The ultimate laddish tale tells of the night when a waiter delivering champagne to Best's hotel room saw thousands of pounds of casino winnings and the current Miss World both arranged tastefully on the bed.

The scene prompted the legendary question: "Mr Best, where did it all go wrong?"

But it was only some years later that Best observed: "Perhaps he saw something in me that I didn't."

Best was always ready with this self-deprecating put-down when questioned on his lifestyle.

"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I squandered" he was often quoted as saying.

A more reflective Best also said: "I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town."

What is evident is there were plenty of people who cared more about Best than perhaps he did himself, and they nearly all found it galling that Best arguably squandered some of his gifts.

Current Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson hails Best as "unquestionably the greatest. There was nobody to compare with him."

United team-mate Paddy Crerand described Best as "a one-off" and Denis Law said Best was "the complete player."

But one of the most apt tributes to Best's talents came from former West Brom defender Graham Williams.

In the middle of a game in which he was being run ragged, Williams asked Best: "Will you stand still for a minute so I can look at your face?"

"Why?" asked Best in return.

"Because all I've ever seen of you," explained Williams, "is your backside disappearing down the touchline."

At the same time, there are more sober reflections on Best's life and career.

Ferguson himself also conceded it was "so tragic that circumstances led to such an early retirement from the game".

Former Wales manager Bobby Gould said "Best's rare talent was allowed to fade before its time.

"When George looked at how Alex Ferguson handled the likes of Eric Cantona, I wonder whether he regrets that someone did not handle him in the same way."

It was Sir Matt Busby who came closest to playing that role for Best.

Aware that he had a particularly fragile talent at his disposal, Busby warned: "Don't coach him, he's a genius."

"We had our problems with the wee fella but I prefer to remember his genius," added Busby, who was one of the few figures to command Best's respect.

David Meek, who covered United for the Manchester Evening News for more than 40 years, offered an alternative view to those who criticised Best's early retirement.

"I thought the criticism levelled at him when he finished at 27 was unfair," said Meek.

"He played 11 seasons of First Division football with United and paid his dues to the public. He started early and was entitled to finish when he did."

Equally, Best was acutely aware of his standing atop the pecking order, and could be cutting in his impish dismissal of other players.

"Geoff Thomas? Isn't he the player who can trap a ball as far as I can kick it?" he once asked.

In a similar vein, he said on another occasion: "Who knows, one day they might even say I was another Ryan Giggs."

His allies in the media would also weigh in on his behalf.

Parodying Best's claim that Kevin Keegan was not fit to lace his boots, football writer John Roberts said: "Keegan isn't fit to lace Best's drinks."

Michael Parkinson became a close friend because of Best's regular appearance on his chat show.

And perhaps it was that close friendship that allowed Parkinson to make a more balanced assessment when he asserted that Best "lost a lot of goodwill when he kept drinking after his liver transplant and that's very sad."

So perhaps it should also be left to Parkinson to put things into a final, telling perspective.

"The only tragedy George Best had to confront," Parkinson concluded, "is that he will never know how good he could have been."

 

[English Lady]

Au revoir George

I'm going to remember the football


http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetmQXk/legends/best5.jpg

 

[scheherazade_79]

Very sad, and I feel for all his family.

I can't say I could take part in all the shrine-building, eulogies and national mourning, though. He wasn't some kind of demi-God, but a human prone to very human rages, where he'd beat his wives black and blue if they tried to stop him killing himself with alcohol.

Why must we deify every celebrity who dies? Why is it that over the last ten years or so, celebrity death has turned into a nationwide grieving process, regardless of how little we knew the individual behind the persona?

It sometimes seems like we hold someone who's good at kicking a ball in much higher regard than someone who saves lives or revolutionises the way we live.

Thought-provoking stuff.

 

[hunting_tiger]

Goodbye George

You were .. Simply The Best

 

[bloodsimple]

I can't remember who said this, but they made a worthwhile point;

They say Einstein was a genius, but 99.9% of us don't know enough about physics to know if that is really true. But most of us who watch football know genius when they see it, and George Best was a genius.

The word "genius" is often over-used, but when someone can get 70,000 people on their feet, screaming and cheering, just by taking possession of a football, that is surely something worth remembering.

All the people I've ever met who spoke to him, said that he was a humble and charming man away from the football field. In an age of stupid divas (Mariah Carey, I'm talking to you) and up-themselves mini-celebs, George always had time for a chat, an autograph and a good word.

So whatever you think of his drinking and his self-destructive ways, we have lost a bona-fide genius at what he did, who never forgot the people who made him famous - a rarity in itself.

 

[LLs Man]

I'm old enough to have seen him play at his peak, and frankly I've never seen anyone else who could do the things he did, as regularly as he did (except Pele, but he's in a class of his own). Beckham can get close, as could Paul Gascoigne on a good day (remember the goal against Scotland in Euro 96?), but neither of them can turn on the magic every game the way Best could. Even past his best, when he played for Fulham among others, he could still dazzle, if not as often.

Like Ian Botham, he was a talent you'll only see once in a lifetime, if you're lucky.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

you lived it, George.

 

[Andreina]

richard burns died too. i didn't know he had a brain tumor. farewell richard and george!

 

[kendo1]

Once said, I gave up women and drink. It was the worst twenty minutes of my life.

 

[hurricane64]

I don't really keep up with "football" and wouldn't have had a clue who George Best was until Thanksgiving Day. Somehow the television had gotten switched to some attic show on BBC America and they were auctioning off a soccer ball with autographs. Somebody mentioned that George Best was one of the autographs and mouths dropped to the floor, oohs and ahhs and whatnot. The ball went for about 150 GBP.

That's when I knew this guy must have been pretty good.

Very odd he died soon after I heard this.

 

[a.j.angel]

You were the best George!

 

[Blangis]

Great tribute to him today, huge credit to the West Ham fans who honoured him not with a minutes silence but a minutes applause, and massive credit to the United players who offered their best, most spirited performance of the season so far. Wayne Rooney deserves special mention, he offered a performance that would've absolutely delighted Bestie if he were still alive alongside Stelling and co.