George Best

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Yep He's gone  

[slippy]

Top Quote from the man himself

'I blew a lot of money in my life on women and drink, the rest I wasted'

[mud]

i certainly didn't wish the man dead but have very little sadness for his passing .the top and bottom of it is he wasted a perfectly good organ that could have gone to someone more sincere.

[woz]

It's a bit ironic for him to die just as they bring out 24hr drinking

I'll get my coat

[gordonandmaureen]

sorry but i can not but think that some poor unfortunate person has died that could have lived a long life with a new liver if it wasnt for Best wasting his chance & basically killing himself.

[Boomy]

i certainly didn't wish the man dead but have very little sadness for his passing .the top and bottom of it is he wasted a perfectly good organ that could have gone to someone more sincere.

True, if it had an auto chords setting for example and a comfy chair i would of had it.

[steve_m]

i certainly didn't wish the man dead but have very little sadness for his passing .the top and bottom of it is he wasted a perfectly good organ that could have gone to someone more sincere.

True, if it had an auto chords setting for example and a comfy chair i would of had it.

He had a disease, alcoholism is a disease, it's a disease that affect the functioning of the brain, the chemicals don't work as they do in non-alcoholics.  There is no cure, he did pretty well from what I can see.

You can't say he wasted his chance, he made the best of it that he could.  Maybe we ought to only give transplants to people who stay at home and don't do any sports  No, that would be silly . . .    

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

He had a disease, alcoholism is a disease, it's a disease that affect the functioning of the brain, the chemicals don't work as they do in non-alcoholics.  There is no cure, he did pretty well from what I can see.

Ah, so it was wasted on someone with an incurable disease then?

[steve_m]

Ah, so it was wasted on someone with an incurable disease then?

Never wasted surely, just appreciated in a different way.  Maybe we ought not to treat fat people or people with cancer . . .

[Stuart]

Parky has said that what he loves about George the most is that he never blamed anyone else for his predicament.

What's the guy supposed to do?  Say "OK I'm a drinker so just let me die and give this liver to someone else".  Whatever you think about the morality of the situation or whether you believe alcoholism is a disease or not, we are animals and we have a survival instinct.  Surely you can't moralise about that?  What he did thereafter is just sad and weak, but not criminal.

Hunter Davies insisted on radio 4 this morning that this story was true and it's my favourite one.  George has retired from first class football and has embarked on the playboy life.  He orders room service in a hotel one morning and the waiter, a football fan, walks in to find a roll of £50 notes on the bedside table, the bed surrounded by empty champagne bottles and Miss World in bed beside George.  The waiter apparently said "Oh, George, where did it all go wrong?"

[steve_m]

and weak,

[neilwillis]

A friend of mine is an alcoholic too.   He knows it's going to shorten his life, knows he MUST stop, he stops, regularly, but he is unfortunately human, and succumbs to a weakness for a drink.   I can't hate the guy, we grew up together, and when he's off the bottle, hes the most intelligent guy I have ever met.

Do I have the right to condemn him because he can't leave alcohol alone?   No way.   If he's p********, I leave him to it.

Why should one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen have to explain his actions to anyone?   Or do you agree with Suffolk Health Authority too when they refuse operations to fat people?   Would you deny smokers the right to health care too?

Best was someone I looked up to as a nipper, and I was allowed to stay up late the night Man Utd beat Benfica in the European Cup to watch it, probably Best's best game.   He was a supreme talent.

Lets remember him for that, and thank our lucky stars we don't share his problem.

[emma.1]

A friend of mine is an alcoholic too.   He knows it's going to shorten his life, knows he MUST stop, he stops, regularly, but he is unfortunately human, and succumbs to a weakness for a drink.   I can't hate the guy, we grew up together, and when he's off the bottle, hes the most intelligent guy I have ever met.

Do I have the right to condemn him because he can't leave alcohol alone?   No way.   If he's p********, I leave him to it.

Why should one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen have to explain his actions to anyone?   Or do you agree with Suffolk Health Authority too when they refuse operations to fat people?   Would you deny smokers the right to health care too?

Best was someone I looked up to as a nipper, and I was allowed to stay up late the night Man Utd beat Benfica in the European Cup to watch it, probably Best's best game.   He was a supreme talent.

Lets remember him for that, and thank our lucky stars we don't share his problem.

Well said!!

[Peter Cox]

Parky has said that what he loves about George the most is that he never blamed anyone else for his predicament.

What's the guy supposed to do?  Say "OK I'm a drinker so just let me die and give this liver to someone else".  Whatever you think about the morality of the situation or whether you believe alcoholism is a disease or not, we are animals and we have a survival instinct.  Surely you can't moralise about that?  What he did thereafter is just sad and weak, but not criminal.

Hunter Davies insisted on radio 4 this morning that this story was true and it's my favourite one.  George has retired from first class football and has embarked on the playboy life.  He orders room service in a hotel one morning and the waiter, a football fan, walks in to find a roll of £50 notes on the bedside table, the bed surrounded by empty champagne bottles and Miss World in bed beside George.  The waiter apparently said "Oh, George, where did it all go wrong?"

But Hunter Davis also said he believed the waiter meant it (i.e. he wasn't just being ironic).

George Best...good at football, bad at moderation, ugly at ending things.

I'd rather be Arthur "Sailor" Brown than George Best.

[steve_m]

Lets remember him for that, and thank our lucky stars we don't share his problem.