Goodbye to a footballing legend

[SilverSaloon]

BBC NEWS LINK

R.I.P.

good quote from him "i hope they remember the football".

 

[glojo]

A footballing icon and hopefully lessons will be learnt from his early loss.

I will never forget the skills he regularly displayed and now never seen amongst the so called cream of our premiership.

Where-ever he has gone, I just hope there is a good goal keeper.

John

 

[Howard]

Sorry to hear the news....

 

[PJH]

Howard, how could you....

 

[grasmere]

One of the very, very few footballers who inspired me in football

sad day -

 

[SEM]

Sorry to see a true sporting LEGEND go. Sad day for football

 

[blassberg]

Thanks George

 

[Howard]

Not wanting to rock the boat here but......

It should be remembered that he had a liver transplant in 2001 ( i think ) , following years of boozing.... he had the chance , maybe not to start again, but to continue with his life...

Instead he continued boozing (ok , it is hard to kick, and then stay on the wagon, but i'm sure he would have had the best help available ) , which utimately, has led to his death, ok the news are saying chest infection etc, but we all know really whats done it....

Now, an ordinary person who has had a liver transplant would be counting their blessings, and toeing the line .... So effectively this healthy liver that could have gone to ( i won't say more deserving person ) has been destroyed and wasted thanks to George loving the high life....

I hope the news and all the people saying 'what a great guy' remember this , the next time we see an appeal on TV for someone who needs a liver (or any organ ) transplant, and there are none available....

I don't want to knock the guy, he obviously was a legend, and deservedly so, but he had a second chance at life and he has wasted it ultimately.....

Sorry, to bring up the other side....

 

[Mozzer]

I've been struggling all day trying to express what Howard has just written so eloquently.

I got as far as "supreme footballer, waste of a liver" which may be slightly too harsh, but I have just heard a woman on 5 Live saying that she watched her husband die on his 47th birthday because there wasn't a liver available.

Well put Howard.

 

[SilverSaloon]

i see howard's view and agree that its a sad thing he didnt take the opportunity to start over.....

there are good and bad sides to everyone. i do however feel that perhaps the liver could have gone to someone who hadnt self-inflicted the damage, as i would say with any similar problems people have.

it is a sad loss tho that he is now gone.

Not wanting to rock the boat here but......

It should be remembered that he had a liver transplant in 2001 ( i think ) , following years of boozing.... he had the chance , maybe not to start again, but to continue with his life...

Instead he continued boozing (ok , it is hard to kick, and then stay on the wagon, but i'm sure he would have had the best help available ) , which utimately, has led to his death, ok the news are saying chest infection etc, but we all know really whats done it....

Now, an ordinary person who has had a liver transplant would be counting their blessings, and toeing the line .... So effectively this healthy liver that could have gone to ( i won't say more deserving person ) has been destroyed and wasted thanks to George loving the high life....

I hope the news and all the people saying 'what a great guy' remember this , the next time we see an appeal on TV for someone who needs a liver (or any organ ) transplant, and there are none available....

I don't want to knock the guy, he obviously was a legend, and deservedly so, but he had a second chance at life and he has wasted it ultimately.....

Sorry, to bring up the other side....

 

[marcos]

Unfortunately on Wednesday morning I turned up at the hospital to see my very ill uncle and as I walked in the door I watched him die.
After watching my Mum, Auntie and cousins cry over such a sad loss I went for a drive.
Listening to the news they started on about George Best and I had to turn it off in disgust. Of course I feel sorry for his family but he had, as Howard said, a second chance and he wasted it. My uncle never smoked, drank heavily or did anything to excess and 5yrs after early retirement at the age of 55 he gets cancer and dies. Is that fair?

Makes you wonder why any of us bother really when the press goes on about how unlucky people like George Best are.

 

[mobeyone]

A man who had so much yet gave so little.

He is a tragedy - he was an inspiration to so many for aspiration and for the battle against alcholism.

Sad to see him go this way, but agree with howard, he had a second chance and threw it away. I would hate to end my life like this having had so much to begin with.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Yes ok, he threw away a second chance much needed by someone else. But let us remember that in his day, stars such as him, were not guided or advised, as they are today. Let us remember (I can) his outstanding football and the contribution he gave to the game. I doubt if we will ever see another footballer with his tallent and I just bet one of you is going to name some footballer in comparison.

 

[pammy]

Well said Ian. I'm not condoning how George lived his life - but if you look back to Gazza for example - it's simply a case of too much too soon without any help or support and alcoholism is an addiction. Gazza was/is lucky in that he seems to have managed to clean up his life because he has eventually had real help. George was perhaps not so lucky, For people like him of that era, living life to the excess was what was almost demanded.

I too had a friend die this year while waiting for a liver transplant. There is no easy answer, George is not the only one to get a trasnplant of any kind who failed to give up the relevant addiction. It can and does happen to anyone.

It is sad that he was allowed to become a wasted opportunity, and tragic that he like so many with his type of problem lost his life so soon. Perhaps there are lessons here that there needs to be much tougher and a longer screening and support process before anyone gets a transplant - but then even more would die

jmvho

 

[Ashley]

Not wanting to rock the boat here but......

It should be remembered that he had a liver transplant in 2001 ( i think ) , following years of boozing.... he had the chance , maybe not to start again, but to continue with his life...

Instead he continued boozing (ok , it is hard to kick, and then stay on the wagon, but i'm sure he would have had the best help available ) , which utimately, has led to his death, ok the news are saying chest infection etc, but we all know really whats done it....

Now, an ordinary person who has had a liver transplant would be counting their blessings, and toeing the line .... So effectively this healthy liver that could have gone to ( i won't say more deserving person ) has been destroyed and wasted thanks to George loving the high life....

I hope the news and all the people saying 'what a great guy' remember this , the next time we see an appeal on TV for someone who needs a liver (or any organ ) transplant, and there are none available....

I don't want to knock the guy, he obviously was a legend, and deservedly so, but he had a second chance at life and he has wasted it ultimately.....

Sorry, to bring up the other side....

I smoke about 10 (well really 5 but as they burn for an easy 1.1/5 hr I class it as 10)cigars a day (for any one who does smoke you will never go back try Saint Luis Rey Corona). And as much as I know I should not smoke, that it will probably kill me early I simply can not give up. People need to remember that when you are addicted to something it is not as simple as just giving up.

I will never forget that night on the Terry Wogan show classic TV.

 

[glojo]

I simply can not give up. People need to remember that when you are addicted to something it is not as simple as just giving up.

Unfortunately I totally 100% disagree. Anyone can find a reason not to stop any addiction, it is having the will power to do it and fighting the cause of the addiction that is hard.

George Best had an exceptional talent and I believe lessons were learnt, particularly by Manchester United who since then have produced some brilliant youngsters who have perhaps not reached the same level as George, but they have coped with being an icon. Lee Sharpe being the only rebel that refused to listen, and of course Gascoigne, but I do not believe he was ever under the care of the Manchester United youth scheme.

Howard has in my opinion merely expressed an opinion that is both fair and honest.

However George Best had a talent that has only ever been matched in comics... Roy of the Rovers comes to mind, it is just a shame that he chose the path he did.

John

 

[marcos]

I gave up smoking in June of this year after smoking for 18yrs. I had tried countless times before but I gave up because the my children kept badgering me about it, the wife kept telling them how bad I was, and I want to be around to see them both grow up. I was also drinking very heavily for the first 6 months of this year because of stress at work. I could quite easily get through a bottle of scotch a night. I stopped drinking completely and stopped smoking. I now drink socially and thats it.
I have zero will power and if I can give up anyone can.
I have no sympathy with anyone who say's they can't give up because anyone can, you just have to put the effort in.
George best was a footballing legend and that's how I'll remember him but as a person he was a pathetic pain in the ****.

Sorry if that offends anyone BTW

 

[miro]

Unfortunately I totally 100% disagree. Anyone can find a reason not to stop any addiction, it is having the will power to do it and fighting the cause of the addiction that is hard.

George Best had an exceptional talent and I believe lessons were learnt, particularly by Manchester United who since then have produced some brilliant youngsters who have perhaps not reached the same level as George, but they have coped with being an icon. Lee Sharpe being the only rebel that refused to listen, and of course Gascoigne, but I do not believe he was ever under the care of the Manchester United youth scheme.

Howard has in my opinion merely expressed an opinion that is both fair and honest.

However George Best had a talent that has only ever been matched in comics... Roy of the Rovers comes to mind, it is just a shame that he chose the path he did.

John

I dont know your background by I personally know several doctors addicted to nicotine and one tombstone with a laughing gas addict under it. Long term addictions rewire the brain and cause depletions that can not be treated with will power. Poor George could have been saved had he been put on a personal program of minerals and supplements.

I dont want to fan this out into a technical broadsheet but there is a lot of talk about things which are purely physiological and impossible to alter with thought alone. That doesnt mean there is no treatment - as we can see the result of not finding a treatment is more of the same.

I love this one quote he gave early in his life .....

" The first half of my fortune I spent on women and drink and the other half I wasted "

I guess if he had outlived us all we would be even more p*ssed off .... much like the song about Keith Richards. Its better that he died from his abuses and to leave us with a clear understanding of the dangers. Even so ... I dont think that will stop anyone from drinking or cause Man U to score more goals.

Being critical of a man who died from his own actions is like hating someone who drives a Benz. We all make choices to please ourselves and that doesnt warrant one being made out to be more noble than the other.

 

[andy_k]

I was lucky enough to meet George Best on many occassions through a mutual friend.

In public he was always generous and polite to everyone even when they didn't deserve it. In fact the only person I ever saw him argue with in public was Alex

He was a man who lived his life in the spotlight despite his shyness. It was easy for him to drink because it was how people opened conversations with him "Hi George can i get you a drink?" is a much easier opener than "Hi George you don't know me but I'd like to spend an hour of my life bending your ear" and for him saying "yes" was easier than saying "no" and risking the possible backlash - once I saw him refuse a scotch from a complete stranger who then got aggressive calling him names because he didn't accept.

On the subject of a "wasted liver" well, not strictly true, he carried a donor card and any salvageable organs will be re-used - As far as I know the only time donor organs are not used is if the donor has either HIV or CJD.

It's sad but inevitable loss, he always accepted that he was his own worst enemy but not once did he say he regretted anything - he'd lived his life and for the most part it had been pretty good. As a sporting legend I'll remember him for his skills, as somebody we used to have the occasional drink with I'll remember him as a quiet, funny but affable bloke who had time for anybody and who never boasted about what he'd done

Andy

 

[C43AMG]

Most alcoholic's are a pain in the ****. I have to agree with Howard, and being a year younger than George i saw him play on many ocaissons, he was a delight to watch.
It was a shame he could not cope.
I feel sorry for his father who also saw his wife die the same way.