Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)

Subject: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,Bob
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 06:39 AM

One of my hero´s is dead. The great Alan Ball. Many happy memories of this gentleman. Died suddenly of a heart attack.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: Grimmy
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 06:48 AM

It said on the BBC this morning that he was Man of the Match in the 1966 final. Errr....what about Geoff Hurst?

Great player though. Went too soon. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: Mr Happy
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 06:50 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ball%2C_Jr.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,ossie
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 10:13 AM

what instrument did Alan Ball play?

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 10:21 AM

He was a true gentleman of the sport. But Bob, you nearly gave me a heart attack putting this above the line; just for a split second I thought you'd written "Alan Bell"!

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 10:53 AM

Was he any relation to E C Ball?, he is the only other singer that I can think of with that surname.

Hoot

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 10:55 AM

I read it as Alan Bell too.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 11:23 AM

When will this move "below the line"? No offense...

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: bubblyrat
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 11:51 AM

Am I the only "folkie " in Britain ( OK, England then ) who has absolutely NO interest WHATSOEVER in bloody Football ?? I have HATED it since being forced to do it at school in about 1953 !! ( I enjoyed traditional English music and dance ( Also compulsory ) though !!) !!

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 11:54 AM

Hey, I like football and other spectator sports, although as a Yank I'm not up on bloody Brit footie.

I wouldn't post anything about my favorite sports personalities here in the music section , though...

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 12:08 PM

Hey bubblyrat, you are not alone; Football (soccer), snooker, tennis, cricket .... all about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Why do people post this on a music thread? obviously watching football rots part of the brain.

Hoot

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: bubblyrat
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 12:39 PM

This was a man who was fairly good at running around a field ,and kicking a ball (sometimes ) between two posts . Are we to compare him to Socrates? Plato ? Aristotle? Titian ? Van Gogh ? Milton ? Catherine the Great? Napoleon ? Charlemagne ? Caesar ? Washington? Churchill ? Hannibal? Alexander ? Columbus ? Simon Bolivar ? Che ? Wallis and Grommit ?   NO!! Are we F--- !!!

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 02:48 PM

Well, he did have a very distinctive voice!

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 03:02 PM

Whilst i agree that obituaries that relate to non musicians should be in the non music section I find it rather offensive that people are being so rude about a man who has died. BTW I would not expect to find the above mentionned people above the line either. Alan Ball was a fine player and a gentleman and deserves respect.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 03:05 PM

Bubblyrat - remember J.B. Priestly's comment that saying football is just kicking a piece of inflated leather around a field with the intention of getting it between two posts is like saying Hamlet is just ink on paper.....(I paraphrase - haven't read Priestly for thirty of more years!)

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: alanabit
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:19 PM

The fact is, if you don't like football, you don't need to open this thread in the first place. I am not a big fan of Nashville style country music, so I stay out of threads on that subject. I feel no need to show my disdain for other peoples' tastes. Good luck to those who do like it. Yes, this does really belong below the line.
For the record, I admired Alan Ball very much. He was unusually small for a professional footballer and he still made it. He was a major contributor to England's World Cup win. He lost his wife a year or two ago. If there really is something on the other side, I hope he is back with her. He was a brave man.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:20 PM

Apparently, you can do "foot percussion" on the folk degree at Newcastle (that'll be stamping, stepping, or clogging to the rest of us). Perhaps Mr Ball was an early pioneer of this form of podiatrical musical endeavour to merit his inclusion in a musical thread? Otherwise, can't for the life of me see why this is of any interest here.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:32 PM

I opened the thread because I didn't recognize the name, and thought I might learn something about an interesting musical personality. There have been many instances when the first I learned about some singer or musician was their Mudcat obit ~ especially when the subject hailed from outside the US.

I'm sure Mr Ball was a great guy, and as I've already mentioned, I know first-hand what it is to be a sports fan. Still in all, I can't understand why this particular obit is still sitting up here in the music section a good 10 hours or so after its first appearance

I don't object to this information being posted here at Mudcat, but I do believe that it belongs "down below," not in the music section. And I've seen plenty of threads get relocated down to BS more quickly than this one has, and sometimes with less justification.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:32 PM

This does belong below the line, but, in the past, I'm sure other "non-music" celebs' obits have appeared above the line without attracting such a hostile reponse. I, too, am not a football fan but Alan was a well loved person and a much admired player.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:41 PM

Obits always start above the line, because it's not really very nice to put a "BS" tag on a death notice. We check obits and clarify the title (if needed) after they've been up a few hours, and the non-music ones go below the line. I changed the title of this one to Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007). I hope that's acceptable.

It does help if the originator give more than just a name for obits, especially when the name is not known worldwide. But if there IS just a name, we'll fill in the details and date later.

Not to worry. I'm glad it wasn't the musician Alan Bell.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 04:41 PM

When someone choose the "Obit" prefix, it automatically starts out in the Music section until one of the joe clones comes along and moves it. It might pay to have a little patience; we usually get to them fairly quickly. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 05:02 PM

Boy, we were sure in sync, Joe!

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 05:52 PM

Alan Ball and the World Cup meant more to most people in this country than all the folk singers in the country put together. He was a truly national figure in his field and if a few folkies find it objectionable for his passing to be marked then they need to get a life - preferably nowhere near me. Personally, I don't care what section you shift this thread to.

Who's Alan Bell?

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 06:14 PM

I agree with you about Alan Ball, Chris.

Taking your query about Alan Bell at face value (I hope you were not being sarky): He has written some great songs that are dangerously close to being thought of as traditional - I heard his Windmill being referred to as such -, has been an organiser of more clubs and festivals than I have had hot dinners (and I have had a few!); runs one of the most successful folk festivals in the UK (Fylde).

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 06:23 PM

Alan Bell and Fylde Folk Festival. He's magic. And so is Fylde.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 05:54 AM

Thanks George. Penny's dropped now.

Nice article about old 'Squeaky' Ball in Yesterday's Liverpool Echo. Incidentally, out of all the 1966 World Cup squad he was one of the few to still be playing in hte old first division by the mid-70s. Martin Peters was another (with Norwich).

Great, old-fashioned English footballer. If you mentioned Versace to him he'd probably have thought you were trying to buy him a drink.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: Grimmy
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 07:38 AM

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Titian, Van Gogh, Milton, Catherine the Great, Napoleon, Charlemagne, Caesar, Washington

- all great in their own particular field, but what a crap football team (Napoleon would have been useless in the air).

Alan Ball was great in HIS field.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 09:20 AM

But Napoleon would have been quite a handy manager.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: Den
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 09:38 AM

I think Socrates would have been great too or atleast he was when he played for Brazil. I think Cæsar would have been team captain and a good holding mid-fielder. I think I'd play Van Gogh on the wing, no shortage of creativity.

It always surprises me the number of people who come into threads and then complain that they have no interest in the subject being discussed. Why bother. If you have little or no interest in the subject matter don't open the thread. Life is way too short.

On the subject of Alan Ball. Its sad when anyone that young dies. He seemed like a decent man and one who cared very much for the sport, for all the right reasons. Its sad too that he had to sell his world cup winners medal for financial reasons.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: alanabit
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 10:28 AM

Socrates was actually a pretty useful player. I believe he played for Brazil in the early eighties and he didn't look bad to me.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: GUEST,ib48
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 12:05 PM

A true legend,will be sadly missed.My condolences to all of his friends and family.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 01:15 PM

There shouldn't any competition about these things - the relief I felt when realising it was Alan Ball and not Alan Bell was based on the difference between it being someone I'd actually met and talked to and someone I'd just known through the media.

Among footballers I've seen on the box Alan Ball did stand out as a pretty decent bloke, which isn't true of all of them.

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: GUEST,Chris b (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 01:50 PM

There's a story about Alan Ball which is almost certainly untrue. He's on the beach one day when he sees an ice cream van. He goes and orders a large 99. The bloke says, 'Crushed nuts, sir?' Alan Ball replies, 'No mate, I always talk like this.'

Subject: RE: Obit: Alan Ball, footballer (April 2007)
From: Grimmy
Date: 27 Apr 07 - 05:13 AM

I notice there will be a minute's applause in honour of Alan before all tomorrow's matches. That's a great idea - so much better than that morbid silence. He would have approved.