Obit: George Best (November 2005)

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Oct 06 - 02:41 AM

Another million beer vouchers.

eric

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 07:31 PM

At least he'll get to end up in a pub again.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 06:39 PM

George Best is to be immortalised on one million commemorative £5 bank notes.

The Ulster Bank is to issue the limited edition notes as a tribute to the footballer next month to mark the first anniversary of his death.

They will show Best in both his Northern Ireland and Man Utd strips.

This stomach churning act is a slap on the face to those families who donated organs of loved ones. George Best received warning after warning about his drinking. Despite this, he was given another chance with a transplant. There were many worthy cases out there who could of got this liver and didn't. He wasted the chance that few ever get and now he is being honoured on a bank note.

An act of shame.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 22 May 06 - 05:21 AM

Today Belfast City Airport is being renamed The George Best Airport.
When you consider that this man through his own actions destroyed his own liver, then was given the chance of life again by the kindness of a family who donated the organ of a loved one in 2002 and proceeded to destroy it too. For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would wish to highlight this shameful life in such a way. Yes he was a talented footballer, as were so many others. To make such a public gesture is nauseating. As I have said before I have watched many times families making that decision to turn off a life support machine and watch as a new life is given to someone else. Words fail me on this occasion.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 05:07 PM

Well, it's a great big place up there, and they don't have much use for it for anything else really these days.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: ard mhacha
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 04:21 PM

Divis that`s what I mean by way out. on the other side of the city.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 03:16 PM

Have to agree with you ard the funeral at stormont is a bit much. But it's being done at the request of the chamber of trade, otherwise the city centre would be at a standstill on one of the few Saturdays before Christmas. The route takes it well away from the city centre, up the Knock dual carriage way. Funerals now adays seem to be taken over by people who either never knew of the person in life or just want to be part of a public event.We have seen this over recent years with the likes of Diana Spencer.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: ard mhacha
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 02:50 PM

Geore Best was a good footballer that is undisputed, but the adulation is out of all proportion,it has become a bit of an embarrassment, having a funeral from Stormont Castle is way out.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: alanabit
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 02:03 PM

I suppose it always was hard to tell whether there was an honest attempt at getting the ball, rather than a cynical attempt to stop the man by fair means or foul. Like you Den, I believe tough tackling should be part of the game. The cynical foul should have no place in any game. Nor should this diving as soon as you receive anything harder than a good stare.
I quite enjoyed seeing a forward doing a beauty of a dive in one World Cup. His reward was an unhesitating boooking by the ref. I wish that happened more often!

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 02:00 PM

McGrath of Harlow I think it's a miss print, probably should read,"This game which knows no gloom." Just saw on the news a few minutes ago the guy who wrote it is coming to Belfast on Saturday to sing it at his funeral. No idea of the tune it's set to. Funeral appears to be the making of a large one. Being held at Stormont. First one held there since 1940. Good to see both traditions mourn his loss. Showed the level of respect the man had.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Den
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 01:36 PM

You're right there Alanabit, about the tackling that is. Now-a-days you can't touch anyone and I think it has really gone to the other extreme. Where by you can't even breath hard on a player without them dropping like they've been shot by a canon.

I think it was Alex Ferguson who summed it up when he said that George would regularly get clattered and imediately get up and call for the ball again. He was tough as well as talented.

One great line I heard at the weekend was from the hapless Northampton Town defender who was supposed to marking George on that now famous FA cup game when he scored 6 goals. The poor guy said the only time he had a good look at George all game was when he shook his hand at the final whistle.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 08:37 AM

I'd agree Ard, Best is up there with the "elite few".

One thing I remember a few years back was a series (channel 4?) where they had some footballers "interviewed". IIRC, one was Dennis Law or at least someone Man U for whom I thought GB would be the automatic "greatest player ever". His selection was Puscas. He did say of GB that he felt we never really quite saw the absolute best of GB - quite frightening in a sense if you interpret that as meaning in some ways GB perhaps could have stepped up another level!

----
Re the rhyme GUEST gave, although I do remember it well as a kid, I don't remember it being directed at GB. It was always Jesus Christ. I think it stemmed from the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar Do you think you're what they say you are?" - 1973.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: ard mhacha
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 07:20 AM

McGrath [this has nothing to do with George Best] regarding songs about sporting heroes, Patrick Kavanagh who played in goals for Inishkeen had a poem on his local team, a couple of lines I can re-call,

    O, Inishkeen came on the field
   
    and they were filled with pride,

    But they fell before the Fontenoys

   like grass before a Scythe.

Although the boul Patrick would have been proud of his heroes yesterday as they won the Ulster Itermediate Championship for the first time.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: alanabit
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 04:07 AM

I wonder if he might have fared better nowadays. Some of the thuggery, which was excused as "hard tackling" ast the time, would have resulted in early baths nowadys. To some degree, you began to expect him to get clobbered when he received the ball. I read that the same happened to Pele around the time of the 1962 World Cup.
I think we would all have wished him more success and happiness, but to say simply, "He wasted his life", is a bit hard. The culture at the time did not allow him to express his talent fully.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 08:49 PM

Georgie Best
Superstar
Walks like a woman
And he wears a bra.

This was sung in the playgrounds in the seventies by us at least. All about ten years old. The boys who didn't support Man U used it as a taunt and the girls who were feigning over another crush used it in the same way. Harmless childhood fun. But secretly we all either wanted to be him or wanted to date him.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 08:25 PM

Thanks for that song, Divis. The last line of that first verse sounds a bit strange - "This game with knows no gloom." I take it that's an indication it's collected by you rather than written by you. Any suggestions for what that line could be? And is there a tune attached to the song?

We had a thread about sporting hero songs a few years back which threw up a few good ones. It's an intriguing tradition. George Best belongs in there all right.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Alan Day
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 05:26 PM

I feel lucky to have have seen George Best,Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton play, my three heros of football.
Wonderful football,wonderful goals and great memories.No matter what part of the field they received the ball,somehow you expected them to score and most times they did exactly that.
Al

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: ard mhacha
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 06:43 AM

I was lucky to see George Best when Manchester United visited London in the 1960, Best always seemed to excel in his clashes with the London Clubs, some of his displays against Chelsea I re-call with pleasure.

I go back to the Stan Matthews-Tom Finney era and I never seen better than Best, he had everyhing, Best would have fitted into any position on the field with the excepition of goalkeeper, that could not be said about any of the other greats of the game.

I would never venture to say he was the greatest footballer of all time, in death people tend to go over the top about their hero`s, I think of Puskas,Di Stefano, Pele, Garrincha, Maradona, Beckenbauer, and Barcelonas Ronaldino, there may be others I have omitted, all of these great players could be classed in the category of the worlds greatest player, they all lit up the eras they graced and I would class George Best on a par with any of these greats.

One thing Best was in favour of was a united Ireland team, he seen the futility of a small populated island fielding two teams, with the talent available down the years the Irish team would have fared much better in World and European Cups.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 05:46 AM

One day, on the back streets of Belfast,
A young man was born too soon,
For had he been born today, boys,
This game with knows no gloom.

For he stood only 5 ft 8 inches,
He weighed only eight stone,
By day he played with his friends there,
By night he played on his own.

Then early one morning a letter,
Arrived in the post at his home.
"Will your son please board the ferry,
From Ireland to England alone".

So a young lad arrived at Old Trafford,
Prepared to give his all,
But England's a long way from Belfast,
And the Emerald Isle did call.

It took all of Matt Busby's persuasion,
To make him come back for the Test,
For he knew that he'd found a genius,
Who was so far ahead of the rest.

He could run at the speed of a greyhound,
Turn on a sixpence and shoot,
Dribble his way through a minefield,
While still only wearing one boot.

His playing brought crowds in their thousands,
His antics attacks from the press,
But they still had to bow down in tribute,
And acknowledge true genius George Best.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 08:40 PM

There should be a few good songs about him, the way there often are for Irish sporting heroes. If anybody come across them - or comes up with one - let's have them here.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 04:14 PM

http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/sport/article404650.ece (In Norwegian)

Link to translation (hope it works). The translation site is here though you get lots of "busy" messages and have to try several times.

How he managed to waste his life. Very sad.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 11:23 AM

A fine Irish man.Loved Donegal, spent a lot of time there. Always said an All Ireland football team was needed.My home town of Belfast will remember him.

Subject: Obit: George Best
From: Tam the man
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 08:46 AM

George Best footballer has died, he was one of the greatest footballers.

RIP

Tam.

---

Moved from second thread.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Flash Company
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 07:57 AM

I think I probably saw every game he played at Old Trafford from first to last. There will never be another.
Therre is a story that , on one occasion when he was running the opposition ragged, Someone asked the referee for another ball, 'Bestie won't let us play with his!'
Go with God

FC

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Teribus
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 06:21 AM

Without any shadow of a doubt the most gifted footballing talent to come out of the British Isles and one of the games greatest players.

My abidding memory of him will be a run down damn near the length of the pitch in which he never moved more than five yards left or right, evading and stepping through tackle after tackle, with the ball always where he wanted it, perfectly under control. The BBC later showed it in slow motion - it was like watching a ballet, or a salmon going up rapids.

Rest In Peace George, you were simply the Best.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best (November 2005)
From: Gurney
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 02:14 AM

Best. The very best.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: GUEST,herge
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 05:49 PM

Thee Best

They sought you here they sought you there,
Those defenders sought you everywhere.
Was it the Bridge or maybe the Dell?
You we're the Best at raising Hell.

The sixties times they were so wild
And you arrived as a Belfast child
Fame and fortune where yours untold
And many's a secret you did withhold

The football genius no one denies
The moon was the one who heard your cries
Drink and stardom drove you down
Soccer's where you wore your crown.

Good Travels Besty

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 01:43 PM

Rest in peace George. (The fifth beatle.)

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 12:01 PM

An icon of the 60s in Britain. The Irish lad that could make a ball talk.

GEORGE BEST IN HIS OWN WORDS

Here is a selection of the Manchester United legends most memorable quotes.

"I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I
just squandered."

"They say I slept with seven Miss Worlds. I didn't - it was only four. I didn't turn up for the other three."

"I used to go missing a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss
World."

"Perhaps he saw something I didn't" - on the bellboy who entered his
hotel room to see Best in bed with the current Miss World, a magnum of champagne and several thousand pounds of cash and said: "George, where did it all go wrong?"

"I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints - beating my previous record by 20 minutes." - on a blood transfusion for his liver transplant.

"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."

"He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot
tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right." - on David Beckham.

"Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the
ultimate salute to my life."

Thanks George.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: C-flat
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 12:00 PM

OK so he wasn't a great example of how to live with success but, like the Beatles, he was a phenomenon of that era and embraced all the excesses it offered.
There aren't many of us who, in the same situation, could handle it better.
I too will prefer to remember him for the football genius he was.

C-flat

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 11:42 AM

He was a giant among men, simply the best player ever to grace British football. What a great guy, and what a great example to young people - how to excel yet retain grace and modesty and, perversely, the dangers faced by high-flyers.

Bring on the tribute TV programmes, let's marvel at his amazing skills and his heart-warming personality, I never tire of watching him.

Rest in peace George, you were The Best.
S:0)

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: rumanci
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 10:04 AM

My sincerest sympathies to his family and friends. I am desperately sad at the way his life ended far too soon.

Try and remember the good things about George Best ?

No problem.

My first childhood hero

My first adolescent crush

I was fortunate enough to see him play many times and those stunning and "stunned at his skill" memories are as fresh today as then !   When I was very young, they were also precious shared times with my Dad even though it wasn't his team George played for ….but mine ….and it made me realise that appreciating God given talents and learned skills from any source outdoes partisanship every time.

A wayward genius ?      Whoever said anybody had to be the best at everything in their lives ?    Best remained likeable, charming, modest, and full of humour - not bad human traits are they ?

Thankyou George - for your life and the sheer entertainment value you gave millions of people.    You enriched my own beyond measure.

Rest easy - wherever you are………keep 'em laughing

rumanci

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: GUEST,world cup willy
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 09:47 AM

well despite 'allowing' his photo to be published in Sunday Newspapers
as a public warning against the dangers of alchohol abuse,

he at least managed to drag out
his media obsessed 'Breaking News Bulletin' death-bed drama

to the first day of the new extended pub opening hours law..

nice one George..


the drinks are on you in football heroes heaven

mines a nice hot mug of tea.. with a dash of irish whiskey..

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 09:36 AM

An astonishing performer, one of the legendary group of people who made the 60's such a stunning time. He did for football what Clay/Ali did for boxing, bringing a light touch and a miraculous expertise which thrilled those who really had no interest in the sports at all. A complete marvel.

Subject: RE: Obit: George Best
From: alanabit
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 09:34 AM

This is the Guardian Story. Let's try and remember the good things about the man.

Subject: Obit: George Best
From: Den
Date: 25 Nov 05 - 09:27 AM

One of the all time greats. Georgie has gone. A lot has been made of some of the negative aspects of his life but I'd rather remember him leaving bemused defenders in his wake as he drifted seemingly effortlessly past the keeper before side footing the ball in the net. I had the pleasure of watching him play live and in my humble oppinion there was none better. Rest now George you were the best. God be good to you.