George Best

D

Diddles

Guest
Just a thought for the great man.
May he rest in peace.
Thanks for all the memories George.

D
 
He was a fool to abuse his body with alcohol after getting preferential treament in getting a new liver.
 
SteelBlue05 said:
He was a fool to abuse his body with alcohol after getting preferential treament in getting a new liver.
Click to expand...

Hope you never get a disease of any sort.
Steelblue05 I presume you have never made a mistake,the man has died lets remember him for the football and his wit.

D
 
Didnt mean to be that harsh, I just think its a waste after he was given such a great chance, he could be alive for another 10 years if he heeded what every one was telling him and tried to change himself. So I do think he was a fool for doing that.

But I suppose its not a time for that now. It is sad to see he finally died, although I am too young to have seen him play he is an icon for the 20th century.
 
SteelBlue05 said:
He was a fool to abuse his body with alcohol after getting preferential treament in getting a new liver.
Click to expand...

A bit harsh, for the day that's in it.

The George Best we mourn is the football genius who gave so much entertainment and pleasure to football fans.

The other George Best, the media cariacture, won't be missed, except by tabloid reporters looking for an easy day's work.
 
Diddles said:
Hope you never get a disease of any sort.
Steelblue05 I presume you have never made a mistake,the man has died lets remember him for the football and his wit.

D
Click to expand...

I hope I dont either, I hope you dont either as well.

We all make mistakes but we usually try to mend them and not keep making the same mistakes for years on end.

Thats all my point was, but I chose the wrong day to make it.
 
May he rest in peace, a sporting genius, and a very sincere man with great wit... thoughts go out to his family and friends....

On the bright side we still have his son...and as young as he may be...he's as lovely as his father once was!!!! Yum!
 
Sarah said:
May he rest in peace, a sporting genius, and a very sincere man with great wit... thoughts go out to his family and friends....

On the bright side we still have his son...and as young as he may be...he's as lovely as his father once was!!!! Yum!
Click to expand...

Steady on there Sarah
As his famous saying goes
'I spent a fortune on fast cars,booze and birds and I blew the rest'
 
Well i can only dream...... im about as likely to meet him as Georgie was going to give up the drink!
In fairness though apperantly in the early years when Best tried to give up the drink or was playing matches people (and at this stage it was well known that he had a drink problem) used to come up and put pints on front of him just for the laugh to get him back on the drink!
he never recieved the help he needed, be it that he never asked for it or didnt know how to or whatever,at the end of the day he was a great fotballer and a lovely man. If nothing else he was an example to many other footie players and sporting members of how wrong it can turn out when you abuse the money and fame that comes with being in the spotlight. Some good came out of it i suppose. And Callum dosent seem to have a drink problem...just a "too many women,not enough time problem"...Just like his daddy!!
 
Sarah said:
Well i can only dream...... im about as likely to meet him as Georgie was going to give up the drink!
In fairness though apperantly in the early years when Best tried to give up the drink or was playing matches people (and at this stage it was well known that he had a drink problem) used to come up and put pints on front of him just for the laugh to get him back on the drink!
he never recieved the help he needed, be it that he never asked for it or didnt know how to or whatever,at the end of the day he was a great fotballer and a lovely man.
Click to expand...

I also remember (I think it was around the time of the liver transplant) his doctor going on TV and pleading with bars not to serve him. His point being that Best was so high profile no barman could not know who he was and that he was an alcoholic with a severe liver problem and that serving him was assisting him in killing himself.
 
Whatever about his drinking and problems off the field sky news has been running clips from his sporting days.

The guy was a special talent as a footballer, like many people in his boat (talented and troubled) you don't get to see their genius in the media until they pass!

I would imagine there will be some brilliant documentaries about his career.
 
Was kind of non affectted by the imminent passing of Georgie but have to be honest and say that although I thought most of the things he did were self serving, and destructive, for himself and others, he exuded so much charisma and brought affection on so many not to mention his absolute genius on the pitch; for that alone his failures and shortcomings should pale.

This well written article I think sums it all up!

Copyright material reproduced in full removed - please note the and post a link rather than reproducing copyright material. Please note The Observer's terms & conditions:

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]You must not reproduce any part of Guardian Unlimited or the material or transmit it to or store it in any other website or disseminate any part of the material in any other form, unless we have indicated that you may do so.
Click to expand...
[/FONT]
 
had the pleasure of seeing him playing twice. once for man u against liverpool around 1972. man u won 2-0 ( think mcdougall scored twice) best was brilliant on the right wing. absolutely brilliant. there was a buzz everytime he got the ball.
next time was at flower lodge against dundalk in a first round cup game in 1976 .I thought it was for cork hibs but the radios today said he played for cork celtic. cork won 3-0 and georgie was only going through the motions.
rest in peace georgie. you gave plenty of pleasure to us all in you time.
 
If a specialist says to you that you will die if you drink with new liver one has to take the advice.
Poor George got his get out of jail card but did not take it.
So sad.
What would he have been worth today if he was in his prime.....50 million plus?
 
George was a flawed genius like a lot of other high profile and highly skilled names in football - Jimmy Greaves, Gazza,Charlie George,Tony Adams etc etc who could not cope with a pocketful of money and instant fame and who turned to the bottle for solace or escape. These guys seemed to surround themselves with drinking 'friends' who in the end deserted them.
It has to be said though that Bestie did not help himself when he retired at the age of 27 from Manu (Matt Busby where were you) just when he was at the peak of his career - though he probably thought that his career was over, having won the Euro Cup four years previous and Manu just about to be relegated to Div 1.

Still, he was a great player (saw him play with 'The Doog' once in Belfast against England). People say that he is the one player from days gone by that would fit into the Premiership today - maybe but he wouldn't get the space afforded him in all those clips we have seen in the last couple of days.
 
Have to say I really don't wear rose-tinted glasses when it comes to Best. A footballing genius he may have been...of that there's no doubt. But he was a very sad and pathetic man if you ask me. Much like Oliver Reed - a great actor but a raving and very pathetic alcoholic.

I've seen alcoholism first hand and know its bitter reality. Perhaps Best never got the right support. I suspect he had plenty of it in his later years mind you. Not someone I would have any great respect for. Perhaps that's because I'm not a footie fanatic. I can appreciate his footballing genius in his early years. After that however there's really nothing to look up to this man about.
 
Gabriel said:
But he was a very sad and pathetic man if you ask me. Much like Oliver Reed - a great actor but a raving and very pathetic alcoholic.

I've seen alcoholism first hand and know its bitter reality. Perhaps Best never got the right support. I suspect he had plenty of it in his later years mind you. Not someone I would have any great respect for. Perhaps that's because I'm not a footie fanatic. I can appreciate his footballing genius in his early years. After that however there's really nothing to look up to this man about.
Click to expand...
Not a football fanatic either, the opposite I'm afraid, but he was a great player and may have been genetically predisposed to alcoholism - his mother died of the same disease in her fifties.

Just because you get a new liver, doesn't mean the craving disappears. AFAIK, it's not the liver that craves the alcohol it's the brain.
 
I've always been uncomfortable with the term 'disease' when used in relation to alcoholism. I may be wrong on that...but I've always thought of it as more of an addiction than a disease.

Like all addictions it can be beaten with support and will power.
 
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
George seemed to be an incredibly competitive man, obsessively learning sports trivia etc. in his later years, maybe things would have been different if he had something to channel his energies on besides drinking.
I feel really sorry the family. And Sarah you are spot on, I wouldn't mind giving Callum a bit of comfort - he's magnificent!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top