R.I.P George Best

[Hoffmeister]

I am listening to talksport radio and understand George Best will die in the next few hours.

It is a real shame and I would like to offer my condolences in advance. I wish there would be a miracle and he would be ok but the doctors have said the damage is irrepairable.

He was a stupid man, throwing away all of his fantastic talent for booze. However he always came accross as a good man and not a troublemaker like Craig Bellamy or Joey Barton.

R.I.P George

[Inno]

Meh.

Bought it on himself. No sympathy after he resumed his drinking following the transplant.

[wyndorf]

I'm with Inno on this one. Meh.

[headshrinker]

"I spent 90% of my money on women and drink, the rest I wasted " -George Best

Great article from the Guardian on him:


"In 1976, Northern Ireland were drawn against Holland in Rotterdam as one of their group qualifying matches for the World Cup. Back then the reporters stayed at the same hotel as the team and travelled with them on the coach to the game. As it happened I sat beside George on the way to the stadium that evening.

Holland - midway between successive World Cup final appearances - and Johan Cruyff were at their peak at the time. George wasn't. I asked him what he thought of the acknowledged world number one and he said he thought the Dutchman was outstanding. 'Better than you?' I asked. George looked at me and laughed. 'You're kidding aren't you? I tell you what I'll do tonight... I'll nutmeg Cruyff first chance I get.' And we both laughed at the thought.

A couple of hours later the Irish players were announced one by one on to the pitch. Pat Jennings, as goalkeeper, was first out of the tunnel to appreciative applause. Best, as No 11, was last. 'And now,' revved up the PA guy, 'Number 11, Georgie [long pause] Best.' And out trotted George. Above him, a beautiful blonde reached over with a single, long-stemmed red rose.

Given his nature, his training and his peripheral vision there was no way he was going to miss her or the rose, so he stopped, trotted back, reached up to take the flower, kissed her hand and ran out on to the pitch waving his rose at the punters as the applause grew even louder.

Five minutes into the game he received the ball wide on the left. Instead of heading towards goal he turned directly infield, weaved his way past at least three Dutchmen and found his way to Cruyff who was wide right. He took the ball to his opponent, dipped a shoulder twice and slipped it between Cruyff's feet. As he ran round to collect it and run on he raised his right fist into the air.

Only a few of us in the press box knew what this bravado act really meant. Johan Cruyff the best in the world? Are you kidding? Only an idiot would have thought that on this evening.

[The Crippler]

Whilst it's hard to have a great sympathy for him, I'd never wish someone to go through what he's going through now. He might have brought it on himself but it's still sad. Alcoholism is an illness and it's a bit concerning I guess how lots of people are so cold about the whole thing.

The greatest footballer Britain has ever produced.

[Chris2K]

Meh.

Bought it on himself. No sympathy after he resumed his drinking following the transplant.

Bingo.

[Alan]

Meh.

Bought it on himself. No sympathy after he resumed his drinking following the transplant.
As others have said, Inno hit the nail right on the head with that statement. The guy spunked away his new liver and had no regards for his own health. I have no sympathy at all.

[Evil Gringo]

As a United fan and a football fan I love what he did for my club and what he gave the game of football on the pitch...

Off the pitch however he caused himself all sorts of problems that were well documented over the years. These ulitmately lead to his down fall...

And whilst many say good things about Eddie even in the wake of his some what self induced death, I feel I can't do the same thing for George at all.

At least Eddie stopped, realised what he was doing and tried to help himself to have a second chance.... George was given one and pissed it away just as quick as he got it....

So R.I.P. the Best of 1963-1969, the greatest footballer player to live...

And good riddance to George Best 1970-2005, a man who wasted his talent, his liver and the rest of his life.

[Danny Styles]

I feel sorry for his family.. and the George Best that played footbal.. but i can't have sympathy for the man who had the transplant but continued to drink..

i wish that on no man.. but he has himself to blame

[PHIZZLE]

Whilst it's hard to have a great sympathy for him, I'd never wish someone to go through what he's going through now. He might have brought it on himself but it's still sad. Alcoholism is an illness and it's a bit concerning I guess how lots of people are so cold about the whole thing.

The greatest footballer Britain has ever produced.


I agree with you here Crippler anyone who can dismiss his death like its nothing should be ashamed of themselves true he brang it upon himself but the guy was an alcholic and he couldn't beat the addiction.

My cousin is an alcoholic and it wouldn't make me any less upset if he passed away

We all know he brang this upon himself so theres no need to act like its a big unexpected tragedy he may have wated his gifts and life but he bring alot of joy to alot of people as well

[Ray]

Another great legend falls foul of his own stupidity. It would be nice to see him walk out of the hospital, but alas it appears as though he'll be carried. Shame.

R.I.P George.

[Nemesis Enforcer]

Don't like to see people die but in this case I am not very sorry for him.

Best has had a life devoted to Drink and thats all, that liver he had 2 years ago could have saved someone who deserved it much more then he did!

[Nicole]

I don't like seeing others suffer. Yes he may of drunk himself to death, but I can only imagine how his family are feeling and how much pain the man himself must be in. People take different paths in life, who are we to judge

[Evil Gringo]

Seen as he was drunken, womenising and women beating kinda guy off the pitch after his career ended?

I can judge as my gran went through that with my grandad before she died early of cancer and suffering a nervous breakdown....

I see George Best and then I see my grandad....

I have a mum on the transplant list and needing a kidney desperatley and he gets a organ remarkably quicky and squanders it...

And I still see my mum tied to a dialysis machine and dying slowly in front of me...

So when it comes to George Best I can judge plenty.

I feel sorry for his family of course, to not do would be inhuman, but for him? No.

[Al Stevens]

Best will be classed as a legend in football. However he will be remembered by other people for the bad stuff. Best had the chance to start over again and get something which alot of people dont have and thats a second chance in life, however he couldnt control himself and he threw it away.

It's a tragic waste of a life however it could have been advoided if he could have just stayed off the booze

[Nicole]

I'm just shocked that you all can't show a tiny bit of compassion, due to the pain that the man is in. Theres no need to be harsh about human suffering.

[Evil Gringo]

On the contary I will always remember the George Best that scored THAT goal against Benfica in Portugal in 1965, the Best that took it round the keeper against Benfica im the '68 European Cup final, the Best that scored that blinder against Chelsea when he should have crossed...

I will remember the genius of George Best.... but I can't sympathise with how he died because of why he did die.

But like I said special circumstances dictate that mindset for me...

[Evil Gringo]

I'm just shocked that you all can't show a tiny bit of compassion, due to the pain that the man is in. Theres no need to be harsh about human suffering.

If a man is foolish enough to walk the coals and then feel his feet burn then he has no right asking his fellow men for compassion as it was he who made the choice.

Life is all about choice and accepting them and the consequences and learning to accept that people will most of the time not give a damn for your pain is part of life for soooo many people.

Just becase he is George Best doesn't mean I should care for his self-inflicted pain. Would you do the same for a person who took drugs and contracted HIV or OD'd?

No, because they choose that path and it caused them pain just as they where warned.

He was warned till people where sick and tired of doing so. His ex-wife, his son, his family, his friends....

And he didn't listen. He was stupid and now he pays the price. Thats the true circle of life.

[Nicole]

Yeah I would say the same for people who'd OD'd on drugs or something, *** I have a pretty leniant view on drugs anyway.

[Evil Gringo]

Hell I do, I did them and I OD'd....

Not hard drugs like Coke and Herion etc but the sort of stuff Eddie was on, painkillers, sleepers etc....

So you know what I did? I realised what I was doing, realised my mistake and the pain I was causing others LET ALONE myself and I cleaned up and I am now over two years sober.

I hardly drink anymore as well....

Now if a kid of 17 (at the time) can do that why couldn't a man with so much already to live for do the same?

Like I'm saying Nic, going off my own experiances with addication, the previlage of getting a transplant and drunken relatives... Well with that I can't feel sorry for him.

I only hope his pain ends soon at least and his family can cope and they have my thoughts.

He on the other hand has no true sympathy coming from me.

[Al Stevens]

But if you think about it Besty did (in a sence) OD on drugs! Cause people do say the most commonly sold drugs are both Nicatine and Acholcal (which i am too familare with both *looks worried)

[Darkstar]

Its an illness, you beat it Gringo...he didnt. Its crap but its life.

I just hope his family are OK.

[Evil Gringo]

Its an illness, you beat it Gringo...he didnt. Its crap but its life.

I just hope his family are OK.

But the fact that irks me is that he never seemed to want to try and beat it even when given a second chance in a time when organs available for transplant are at an all time low....

But hey, I think I've said my piece already.

[Saz]

One of the final products of booze football, George Best became one of the people you wanted to be and the person you least wanted to be.

As a professional footballer, his case is a teestament to the pressure of the game.

His life is a testament to anti drinking laws and prohibition as smoking is in the current light.

George, we think was an asshole for getting a new liver and still dying, hate to put this to you all but a new liver is not the recipe to a comfortable life, despite what the papers say a new liver isn't the lease of life they say it is and it is probably rejection that is getting him rather than a real return to the booze.

You say he deserves to die for drinking, yet the same defilers are binge drinkers clubbing as a fag or a fag hag, or a wannabe or whatever.

None of us can talk about drinking from an ethical point of view, we are all hypocrites.

George you were a god, but Gods fall and may God have mercy upon you.

Saz

[Chris2K]

My father was an alcoholic, and a violent one at that. But he knew he would never be able to beat it, so when he had waited 9 years for a heart transplant, when a donor was found, he rejected it, because he was scared he would waste it. The person who got the heart made it through the surgery, and my dad died five months later.

I don't have many fond memories of my father, but I can find some glimmer of them due to the fact he sacrificed himself for someone else who would have lived a better life. George Best didn't do that.

P.S.

None of us can talk about drinking from an ethical point of view, we are all hypocrites.

Not all of us. I can identify with the alcoholism in relation to the others I've experienced, but the way he's treated his family and his life defies all reasonable levels of sympathy.

[Inno]

I'm taking nothing away from what he did on a football pitch, or decrying the obvious grief his family and friends are going through - Bobby CHarlton and Denis Law looked horrific going in to the hospital - but I just have no sympathy for George himself.

Maybe I'm cruel, heartless, witless, whatever. At least I'm honest with it.

[CoTT]

Many people will not feel sympathy for George Best but I do. Drug addiction is a fact of life and many people can't beat it. Best's addictive drug of choice was alcohol, the one that's so difficult to escape because it's everywhere we look.

What's the latest on this anyway? Is he still hanging on?

Best was a legend on the football pitch. Poor man.

May he rest in peace.

[Hoffmeister]

George Best was an absolute legend on the field and thats what I will think of him as. Ive seen loads of clips of him and the stuff he did was total genius.

George Best was the best footballer Britain has ever produced and if he stayed fit and didnt retire at 26 he may of been the best the world had ever produced.

[Hardcore Holly]

I think its disrespectful to be saying R.I.P. when he hasnt actually died yet.While he was a playboy I do feel for him he was such a brillant player and what a legend he is.

[Popsi]

I think the crux of the issue here is that Best was given both a second and a third chance at turning his life around and he spurned both. Thats what irks me, i know he paid for the livers he had, but someone else who actually needed a liver due to no fault of their own, went without.

I can't feel sympathy for something that is so self-induced. He had everything (literally) at his disposal to help him kick drinking, but he didn't and he was a mean drunk at that from all reports. Sure i feel sorry for his family and friends, as they've been through the mire on this, and they don't deserve it. But i can't feel sorry for him, in the same way i don't feel sorry for any addicts. When you make a choice to use drugs (and it is a choice to start to use them) then what happens next if you become addicted is no-ones fault but your own. Harsh as hell, but i dont really care, once you start abusing drugs, and with it abusing your family i lose any sympathy for you i may have had.

No doubts he was a great footballer, but he isn't the finest example of a human being.

[Popsi]

George Best has just died aged 59.

[Y2James]

R.I.P. Geoge.

[Mr. Perfect]

R.I.P George

[Murph]

"No doubt he was a great footballer, but he isn't the finest example of a human being."

Couldn't agree more. RIP George.

[Hoffmeister]

Ive been watching loads of his best moments and he was a total genius. Stop going on about his alcoholism etc. This man possibly had the most ability of a footballer ever.

R.I.P George

[Popsi]

So because he's dead we should forget his faults, and the cause of it? Bull.

The saddest thing about this (other than the toll on his family) is the waste of footballing genius.

[Hoffmeister]

So because he's dead we should forget his faults, and the cause of it? Bull.

The saddest thing about this (other than the toll on his family) is the waste of footballing genius.

This man was a great person, he was incredibly gifted and has a fantastic career. We all know it could have been better but because he was an alchoholic he didnt prove he was THE greatest of all time.

However this thread was intended to celebrate the life of a fantastic man and a real talent. If you dont like him then shut the hell up! Show more respect!

I have seen some more footage of him on soccer saturday and he was a really funny character.

I wish he would be on the panel with Jeff Stelling on soccer saturday tomorrow.

R.I.P George Best

[Popsi]

This man was a great person, he was incredibly gifted and has a fantastic career. We all know it could have been better but because he was an alchoholic he didnt prove he was THE greatest of all time.

However this thread was intended to celebrate the life of a fantastic man and a real talent. If you dont like him then shut the hell up! Show more respect!

I have seen some more footage of him on soccer saturday and he was a really funny character.

I wish he would be on the panel with Jeff Stelling on soccer saturday tomorrow.

R.I.P George Best

So you think a drunk who beat his partners, destroyed his gift and wasted the best years of his life is a great person? Im glad i have standards because you certainly don't.

Celebrate the years he gave to football certainly but why on earth should i celebrate the pathetic waste of the rest of his life? Do you think if he could go back in time and do things differnetly he wouldn't change a thing? I don't understand this thing we have with so called 'icons' that as soon as they die we are just meant to forget all their faults? Whats up with that? It always happens, and because i say differently im told to shut the hell up and leave? Screw you, the only people who can stop me posting here are the mods. The whole point of these threads are for discussion, we DISCUSS Best and his life, we celebrate the the things he gave to football, but why on earth should we forget that he was an abusive husband and drunk?

So if you have a problem with me posting, take it up with the mods, as im sure as hell not going to listen to you.

[Daz]

I Had the pleasure of meeting George once, he was at our local hotel (Quality Hotel) and I was pleased to have met him. He was a nice man, but I'm glad I met him when he wasn't drinking that night, it would of disappointed me greatly to have met him while he was drinking.

R.I.P George Best

[Hoffmeister]

I will celebrate George Best more because of people like Popsi. Some people were extremely jealous because he had talent, a sense of humour and was a good looking lad.

If you dislike George Best then stay out of this thread!

R.I.P George Best

[PHIZZLE]

R.I.P. George Best

Please peope have some compassion he's been punished for his mistakes by dying surely that is enough punishment

Yes he had his faults but we all have faults please have some respect for the dead

[Popsi]

So Inno, Alan, Wyndorf, Chris be warned you can no longer post in this thread either.

What your not a mod Hoff? You can't stop people posting in threads you create? Gutted for you.

And im not jealous, im probably too cynical. I aknowledge his fantastic footballing talent and am sad at the fact that he squandered the gift he had. But jealous of him? Im not that pathetic enough that i have to be jealous of a person i don't actually know.

Nearly everyone i know who has an opinion on this is the same as I, he wasted a fabulous talent and the majority of his adult life.

And respect, yes i respect him for the player he was, but i cant respect someone who beat women, i just can't. As i say its a godawful shame his life developed the way he is, but i don't see why we should make him a saint when he wasn't.

[Hoffmeister]

R.I.P. George Best

Please peope have some compassion he's been punished for his mistakes by dying surely that is enough punishment

Yes he had his faults but we all have faults please have some respect for the dead

I have repped you for that. Thats well said.

[Anime_Otaku]

I'm sad for his family and for the fact he wasted his talent. I was going to say that no one deserved to die like he did but having read that he was a wife beater I am not so sure of that.

[PHIZZLE]

And respect, yes i respect him for the player he was, but i cant respect someone who beat women, i just can't. As i say its a godawful shame his life developed the way he is, but i don't see why we should make him a saint when he wasn't.



I don't think anyone believes he was a saint and I don't feel like praising him i can't see why but also there is no need for verbally attacking him now is there

[Chris2K]

People can say whatever they want, so long as it's within the rules of the forum. Just because people disagree with your opinion, doesn't mean they're wrong. It would be like banning people from posting negative comments about John Cena in a John Cena thread.

[Popsi]

Now the ravages of alcoholism have done their worst, as those who knew him closely must always have expected. In Joe Lovejoy’s excellent biography, various team-mates from Manchester United wonder whether they could have guided him down a different path from the one that saw him finished in football just as he should have been in his prime. It is highly doubtful, given the number of times an older and wiser Best failed to overcome his addictive illness.

Major surgery gave him a final opportunity, but as one commentator wrote recently, having destroyed his own liver, Best set about somebody else’s. That was written only a few weeks ago and did not provoke outrage at the time, although it will seem brutal in the immediate aftermath of his death.

To dwell at all on the years of his physical decline might seem inappropriate at a time when most would prefer to remember his gifts with a football, but, having been played out so publicly, it is not a part of his life that can be ignored, particularly when it had such a huge effect on his professional days.

His playing career at Old Trafford came to a premature end, although his champions point to the fact that he lasted the best part of a decade at the club that made him famous. A guarantee of seeing that much from Wayne Rooney, with all the pitfalls that lie in his path, might be snatched at today.

Best’s citizenship of Northern Ireland ensured that he could never be judged on the greatest stage, but the prestige of the trophies he won at United, and his brilliance within that team, ensure that he is rarely underestimated.

Hugh McIlvanney, one of the foremost chroniclers of Best’s career, once wrote of the afternoon at Old Trafford when the wiry magician produced a moment of fearless majesty to score for his club and one young scribe in the press box asked what minute the goal had gone in. “Never mind the time, son,” he was told by an old hand. “Just write down the date.”

To those of us not privileged to see Best play in the flesh, stories such as those offer an insight into his genius. It is not as much to go on as the younger generation would like but it beats recalling Wogan any day.


That quote from an article in teh times online, probably sums up my feelings on George Best.

[MrFill]

You can't stop talking about people's major faults just because they die.

In the Eddie thread there were lots of people discussing his drinking and drugs abuse, as well as the steroids he took.

Nobody posted a "If you don't say nice things about Eddie, stay out of this thread" message, so why is it so different with Best?

Yes, he was a great talent in his day, but he threw it away with the drinking and became a completely different person.

We celebrate his greatness on the pitch, but we can also talk about his flaws.

[Al Stevens]

Personally i think it's a savage waste of a life and even more of waste of a career. There is no doubt that Best will be classed as a legend. However he brought his untimely death on to himself.

When he was given that new liver he sat down on national TV and publically said "I will not drink again" However he for reasons better know to him returned to the bottle and slowly commited suidice.

Call me cold hearted or anything like that. However i stand by what i said last night. I wont morn for him because he had the second chance of life which many people never get and he wasted it.

[Al Stevens]

Nobody posted a "If you don't say nice things about Eddie, stay out of this thread" message, so why is it so different with Best?

First off I'm really sorry for the double post. However i think why people put the "if you dont say nice things" in this post is because they only want people to remember one side of the coin.

Yes everyone has faults weather it is the your next door neighbour or a professional sports person or actor. Personally i would love to show more respect to eddie over Best because of one thing. The second Eddie was at his lowest point. We worked his tail off to take the second chance in life which was given to him. For me someone who can defeat there demons will always be more respect than someone who could have beat the demons but didnt seem like he tried.

[The Bisch]

I too met him on several occasions (always in a pub mind you) and have seen him being very pleasent and sharing a joke, as well being very obnoxious and rude to people (probably depended on his frame of mind and life situation at the time).

It's a shame he never got to display his talents on the greatest stage of them all, the World Cup, as that will probably prevent him from reaching the Maradona/Pele level of respect in the game.

Anyone think that the photo of him taken recenly on his death bed will become something of an defining photo of his life?

[MrFill]

Yes everyone has faults weather it is the your next door neighbour or a professional sports person or actor. Personally i would love to show more respect to eddie over Best because of one thing. The second Eddie was at his lowest point. We worked his tail off to take the second chance in life which was given to him. For me someone who can defeat there demons will always be more respect than someone who could have beat the demons but didnt seem like he tried.
So what you're saying is that Eddie deserved to not have his demons mentioned more than Best, right?

Since people mentioned Eddie's faults, then Best definitely deserves to have them mentioned as he never overcame his.

[Al Stevens]

What i am saying is why should Eddie's past get brought up but Best's shouldn't Even you have to admit it's double standards.

[The Crippler]

This probably sums up how amazing this guy was when it came to playing football:

"You could have put George in just about any position in our 1968 team and he would have been better than the person who was playing there."
Manchester United European Cup-winning team-mate David Sadler

I think I'll stick my old Bestie video on tonight.

[MrFill]

What i am saying is why should Eddie's past get brought up but Best's shouldn't Even you have to admit it's double standards.
Best never overcame his drinking - Eddie overcame the drinking and the drugs.

If anybody deserved the respect to not mention their addictions it was Eddie.

It's definitely double standards, and if anybody says it's because he's English and a soccer player, then I'm just going to laugh.

[Popsi]

Just as a side note, he was from Northern Ireland not England. Just before someone bites your head off for it.

[MrFill]

Just as a side note, he was from Northern Ireland not England. Just before someone bites your head off for it.
He was? Oops. :D

In which case, British and a soccer player. :P

[TMJ]

I will celebrate George Best more because of people like Popsi. Some people were extremely jealous because he had talent, a sense of humour and was a good looking lad.

If you dislike George Best then stay out of this thread!
Don't talk such bulls**t. This is a DISCUSSION forum, where we DISCUSS. As long as no rules are broken, we can discuss what we want, and share our opinions. If my opinion is that Best was a great footballer but brought his death on himself and therefore I have no pity for him (which it is), then I can share that right here. If yours is that he was a great man, so be it. That's fine. But if you honestly think that people are just going to shut up and show him respect when in many instances he doesn't deserve it, you shouldn't be here, plain and simple.

[Al Stevens]

It's definitely double standards, and if anybody says it's because he's English and a soccer player, then I'm just going to laugh.

Personally i think i know why people will want Best's image and legacy not to be remembered for his demons because he isnt a professional Wrestler. Which i think is a shame because they will look at Eddie as someone who was a joke..... But someone who kicks a bag of air and gets paied stupid money oh yeah real sports man.

[Daz]

He deserves every aspect of respect for playing the game of football. But he ruined his life with drink.

[MrFill]

He deserves every aspect of respect for playing the game of football.
I'm sorry - WHAT?

He deserved respect because he managed to be good at kicking a ball?

So you're saying that sportsmen should be reveared, no matter what they do?

That's so much bull dinkies.

[Al Stevens]

He deserves every aspect of respect for playing the game of football. But he ruined his life with drink.

Sorry yes he was a good player however i dont think playing football(Thats soccer Mr Fill :P) is a big deal. I mean people have died in the ring (and i am not talking about Wrestling) I mean hell i have alot more respect for Frank Burno because atlease when he did his sport he actually put his life at risk.

Whats the worse a footballer can suffer (baring Heart attacks) on a pitch. a broken leg.... Maybe if they are really unlucky a broken neck.

IMO Footballer's are the biggest over hyped sports personalties you can get in the world today. They are given scary god like status one minute and then can be the villians of the whole world the next because they have one bad day. I mean remember the Columbinian footballer who got shot. Thats a big example of what i mean up untill that point he was a highly respected shot and then he was murdered for a mistake.

[Citizen Kane]

I can't see why everyone is having a go at him. He had an addiction, he couldn't overcome it. He was one of the best at what he did, shouldn't he deserve a little bit of respect for that?
If you don't like football, and make snidy comments and have a go at him, you can't have a go at those who don't like wrestling and make snidy comments about Eddie.

[Al Stevens]

I can't see why everyone is having a go at him. He had an addiction, he couldn't overcome it. He was one of the best at what he did, shouldn't he deserve a little bit of respect for that?
If you don't like football, and make snidy comments and have a go at him, you can't have a go at those who don't like wrestling and make snidy comments about Eddie.

Have a look back all i said what that if people wants us to show respect to Best and not bring up his faults but was willing to bring ever single fault with Eddie should expect everyone not to so. I am not making a snidy comment about football or Best.... All i am saying is that it's not as great as everyone is making it out to be. Also i am saying is that with a contact sport like Boxing there is loads of deaths but do anyof the get threads made about them on the internet? Footballers are just entertainers who get paided stupid amounts for kicking a bag of air. However where people who do boxing, kick boxing, MMA always put there lifes at risk every time they do what they love.

However i think why people are not showing him the respect is because he had that second chance in life. aka a fresh start something which as people we never normally get. Someone i know died of liver fauilure a couple of years ago and what her husband said was she was going to change everything about her life. Best didnt seemed bothered about it he was perparded to live his life as normal and now he has paided for that with his life.

[Inno]

This is the absolute worst part of what George Best has left as his 'legacy' - a whole lot of differing opinions and a HUGE grey area over his life. Again, I reiterate many of the comments... what a waste of talent. No denying, he was easily the most gifted British player ever... and how is he going to be remembered?

For his drinking. For wasting a liver transplant. For attacking his partners. For being plastered on a live national TV show (Wogan)... oh, and he played football sometimes too.

For the talent he had, THAT is a waste.

I will bow out of this thread now, but not because I've been told to stay out, but because I genuinely don't like speaking ill of the dead.

[MrFill]

I can't see why everyone is having a go at him. He had an addiction, he couldn't overcome it. He was one of the best at what he did, shouldn't he deserve a little bit of respect for that?
It's not so much having a go as bringing up his past - some people seem to think that now he's dead, we should forget what a mess he made of his life.
If you don't like football, and make snidy comments and have a go at him, you can't have a go at those who don't like wrestling and make snidy comments about Eddie.
I don't like soccer (which is why I call it that - there are too many sports called "football"), but I still respect his ability - I saw him play and he was great.

Does that mean that I can't comment on his drinking? No, I'm just pointing out the problems he had in his life, stating facts, and some posters think that we shouldn't do that.

If you're going to ignore the bad, then to balance it, you've got to ignore the good.

[K.J]

George Best was a star in a time where we were naive about the pitfalls of alcohol abuse. He had stardom thrust upon him and recieved no protection from the club, not because they didn't care, but because they didn't understand. Because George Best was the first footballer to recieve this kind os superstar status. These days a talent like George Best would be kept away from the world that he was sucked into. OK so i'm sure that nobody poured drink down Besties neck, but he didn't have anybody around to stop him until the acoholism had set in and it was too late. So from that viewpoint I feel that I can have some sympathy with him.

As for on the pitch, Best was a legend, I grew up watching videos of him, he was my Dad's boyhood hero. Undoubtedly the best player the UK has ever produced, definately the best to have worn the red of Manchester United. It's sad that it had to end this way for him. My thoughts are with his familly tonight. RIP George, you will be missed by many.

[Ray]

I know i've already posted but that was before he died. I generally thought a miracle may have saved him. Sadly, nothing could.

R.I.P

[Proudy]

Just thought some of you may like to read these.

BBC SPORT

Best in quotes

So George, where did it all go wrong?
The hotel bellboy who delivered champagne to Best's room and found him entertaining a scantily-clad Miss World on a bed covered with his winnings from the casino.

I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.
George Best provides some dark humour about his addiction.

The only thing I have in common with George Best is that we come from the same place, play for the same club and were discovered by the same man
Norman Whiteside.

I think I've found you a genius.
The telegram sent to Manchester United by talent scout Bob Bishop, who discovered a 15-year-old Best playing for Cregagh Boys' Club.

I once said Gazza's IQ was less than his shirt number and he asked me: "What's an IQ?"
Best on Paul Gascoigne.

I'd give all the Champagne I've ever drunk to be playing alongside him in a big European match at Old Trafford.
Eric Cantona impressed Best.

In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.
George Best - ever the joker.

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

He's not George Best, but then again, no-one is.
Commentator Clive Tyldesley.

I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.
Best on cash.

The closest I got to him was when we shook hands at the end of the game.
Northampton player Roy Fairfax, who had been marking Best when he scored six goals in an 8-2 FA Cup win for Man Utd in 1970.

That's what children do - throw food. That's not fighting. We were real men. We'd have chinned them.
Best gives his verdict on the infamous Battle of the Buffet between Manchester United and Arsenal.

Shellito was taken off suffering from twisted blood!
United team-mate Pat Crerand after Best had given Chelsea full-back Ken Shellito a torrid time.

He's been very, very lucky, an average player who came into the game when it was short of personalities.
Best on Kevin Keegan.

He was able to use either foot - sometimes he seemed to have six.
Sir Matt Busby on Best.

[TMJ]

Comments from an unlikely candidate:
--Want to make a brief mention of the death of soccer legend George Best, who died today after multiple organ failure at the age of 59. I knew him and socialized a little with him in the early 80 when he was at the tail end of his career playing for the San Jose Earthquakes, and when he was on, he was still as amazing as anyone in the league. I just remember him talking about The Beatles on a first name basis as people he used to hang with in his prime. A superstar in the sport at 19, by the age of 22, the debate was whether he or Pele was the best player in the world. But his career went down from there. But he was one of the five most famous athletes in the world when he was the star with Manchester United in the late 60s, leading them to the European championship in 1968 and being named the best player in Europe that year. He had a major alcohol problem, and despite his talent, it led to team after team dropping him and because of his talent, it led to another team after another team trying with him. When in San Jose, I remember his made up injuries to explain missing games due to going on benders. He also scored the single most amazing goal I ever saw. It was at Spartan Stadium and was replayed 100 times that year. Prime Minister Tony Blair called him probably the most naturally gifted footballer of his generation. Best has been hospitalized for about seven weeks after a kidney infection, which led to a lung infection and internal bleeding. He was prone to infections stemming from a 2002 liver transplant operation.

[Popsi]

Thats probably the most neutral description of Best ive seen! Manages to straddle both sides of that fence!

[Hoffmeister]

Its a real shame that he has gone. At least he will be an example to the younger players so this will never happen to the Rooneys of today.

[TGO]

Whats the worse a footballer can suffer (baring Heart attacks) on a pitch. a broken leg.... Maybe if they are really unlucky a broken neck.



Marc Vivien Foe died on the pitch from a heart attack

[Anime_Otaku]

I remember hearing of a celtic goalkeeper (i think) dying after being kicked in the head during a match.

[Inno]

John Thomson, against Rangers. He took a knock to the head off Rangers striker Sam English's knee. Thomson died, and English was never the same player again.

[carlito is cool]

How come George seems to be taking so much stick on here. I find some of the people on here complete and utter ********s to be quite honest. The guy had a drink problem ok its well documented but hes just died for christ sake why are you foccussing on the guys flaws???

How about everyone goes onto the Eddie thread in the us forum and starts giving him stick for the years of abuse he gave his body and the continual steroid abuse which caused him to die? Just a thought Eddie brought on his own death yet he recieved no critiscism on here but George does?

If Eddie hadn't abused his body he would still be alive today same as George Best so why does one guy get treated different to the other?

Some of you guys are f'in morons

RIP George Best

[Hoffmeister]

I totally agree. The example about Eddie was great too. People have no compassion. If people are going to criticise George Best then I will go on the Eddie passes away thread and say he deserved to die etc.

[carlito is cool]

I totally agree. The example about Eddie was great too. People have no compassion. If people are going to criticise George Best then I will go on the Eddie passes away thread and say he deserved to die etc.

Exactly.

They were both incredibly talented men who will are both acknowledged as legends in their fields. They both had personal demons which contributed to their demise.

Yet 1 is given respect, sympathy and trated like he was a saint and the other deserved it because he had an alcohol problem? Some people on here are just a complete waste of space.

If your going to critisce besty for his shortcomings then go and give Eddie some stick for his aswell.

Me personally as a decent human i don't feel it right to speak ill of the dead (there are exceptions) especially about a sporting icon who brought joy to so many people the world over.

[MrFill]

How about everyone goes onto the Eddie thread in the us forum and starts giving him stick for the years of abuse he gave his body and the continual steroid abuse which caused him to die? Just a thought Eddie brought on his own death yet he recieved no critiscism on here but George does?
Because the steroids DIDN'T cause his death, the drink and drugs did.

Eddie BEAT his addiction, he overcame the drink and drugs problem, Best never did.

Even when Best was given a new liver, he continued to drink.

These are all facts, you can't dispute them because it's what happened - how is that giving him stick?

[carlito is cool]

Because the steroids DIDN'T cause his death, the drink and drugs did.

Eddie BEAT his addiction, he overcame the drink and drugs problem, Best never did.

Even when Best was given a new liver, he continued to drink.

These are all facts, you can't dispute them because it's what happened - how is that giving him stick?

Of course steroids played a MAJOR part in Eddies demise, i know that the wwe and the guerrero family would like to keep that fact as quiet as possible but its the truth. You dont just drop dead after being 4 years clean for no reason. Im not denying the drugs, drink played a MAJOR role also but put them together with Anabolic Steroids and intense training and you are putting your heart under immense stree. Taking steroids increases the size of your left ventricle by 25%! So no the can't directly link anything directly to his death but a mixture of drink,drug,steroid abuse killed him.

Yet we had nothing but good things to say about him, even though in effect he killed himself.

Yet george best isn't shown half the respect even though in his chosen sport he was arguably the greatest player of all time that fact seems to be a side issue and almost forgotten because he had a drink problem. Gimme an f'in break!!!

[The Crippler]

Apparently the minutes silence at the Manchester City v Liverpool game had to be cut short because it was poorly observed. I thought that the fact Manchester United are massive rivals to both those clubs would have been put to one side to recognise the passing of the greatest footballer Britain ever produced. Maybe I had too much faith.

[Jung]

His addiction beat George Best.

Its hardly fair to go "well serves him right then doesn't it?" being an alcoholic is an illness, and just because he got a new liver, doesn't mean it magically goes away does it?

I'd place all the money in the world, that Best fought hard, and saw how his actions crumbled the world around him. Eddie's is a remarkable story, and one which should truly be acknowledged. George Best is just one of thousands to millions of people who couldn't beat his addiction. Just the fact is famous, all of a sudden means everyone seems to think they have a right to have a go at him, for not being able to beat an incredibly serious illness.

Thus if any of you lot, or die or suffer from something like that, I'm not giving you no sympathy. George Best ain't no saint, but he doesn't deserve idiots saying "he got what he deserved" when he just didn't have the power or the resolve to beat that addiction, and change a lifestyle for which he probably couldn't imagine an alternative.

Some people are way too frickin high and mighty round here, and great if you can beat all these addictions, and be a fantastic person, but some people have demons which they can never escape. People seem to forget, he's only human. And I bet he has family, and loved ones now, just hearing stuff from pr!cks, about how he deserved to die. How great in a time of mourning that must feel.

Whether you like him or not, he was a person, a friend to some, a father or a son to others, and thats the be all and end all. He couldn't beat an addiction, and paid the ultimate price.

Some people round here just don't seem to get what kind of illness it is, and how difficult it might be to escape. Saddens to me, to see such ignorance.

[The Crippler]

His addiction beat George Best.

Its hardly fair to go "well serves him right then doesn't it?" being an alcoholic is an illness, and just because he got a new liver, doesn't mean it magically goes away does it?

I'd place all the money in the world, that Best fought hard, and saw how his actions crumbled the world around him. Eddie's is a remarkable story, and one which should truly be acknowledged. George Best is just one of thousands to millions of people who couldn't beat his addiction. Just the fact is famous, all of a sudden means everyone seems to think they have a right to have a go at him, for not being able to beat an incredibly serious illness.

Thus if any of you lot, or die or suffer from something like that, I'm not giving you no sympathy. George Best ain't no saint, but he doesn't deserve idiots saying "he got what he deserved" when he just didn't have the power or the resolve to beat that addiction, and change a lifestyle for which he probably couldn't imagine an alternative.

Some people are way too frickin high and mighty round here, and great if you can beat all these addictions, and be a fantastic person, but some people have demons which they can never escape. People seem to forget, he's only human. And I bet he has family, and loved ones now, just hearing stuff from pr!cks, about how he deserved to die. How great in a time of mourning that must feel.

Whether you like him or not, he was a person, a friend to some, a father or a son to others, and thats the be all and end all. He couldn't beat an addiction, and paid the ultimate price.

Some people round here just don't seem to get what kind of illness it is, and how difficult it might be to escape. Saddens to me, to see such ignorance.

If I could I'd give you a rep point I would but apparently I've to spread the love around.

[carlito is cool]

His addiction beat George Best.

Its hardly fair to go "well serves him right then doesn't it?" being an alcoholic is an illness, and just because he got a new liver, doesn't mean it magically goes away does it?

I'd place all the money in the world, that Best fought hard, and saw how his actions crumbled the world around him. Eddie's is a remarkable story, and one which should truly be acknowledged. George Best is just one of thousands to millions of people who couldn't beat his addiction. Just the fact is famous, all of a sudden means everyone seems to think they have a right to have a go at him, for not being able to beat an incredibly serious illness.

Thus if any of you lot, or die or suffer from something like that, I'm not giving you no sympathy. George Best ain't no saint, but he doesn't deserve idiots saying "he got what he deserved" when he just didn't have the power or the resolve to beat that addiction, and change a lifestyle for which he probably couldn't imagine an alternative.

Some people are way too frickin high and mighty round here, and great if you can beat all these addictions, and be a fantastic person, but some people have demons which they can never escape. People seem to forget, he's only human. And I bet he has family, and loved ones now, just hearing stuff from pr!cks, about how he deserved to die. How great in a time of mourning that must feel.

Whether you like him or not, he was a person, a friend to some, a father or a son to others, and thats the be all and end all. He couldn't beat an addiction, and paid the ultimate price.

Some people round here just don't seem to get what kind of illness it is, and how difficult it might be to escape. Saddens to me, to see such ignorance.

:worship

[Chris2K]

I can respect whomever I choose to respect, and mourn whomever I choose to mourn. I will also not be told to respect or mourn someone because it's the "right thing to do".

I didn't respect Best when he was alive, and I don't respect him in death. And I am absolutely in no way "ignorant" about the illness he suffered. The fact that he didn't try to get any help to cure his illness negates that.

[The Crippler]

He had anti-alcohol pellets implanted into his stomach. Is that not an attempt at getting help for his illness?

[carlito is cool]

I can respect whomever I choose to respect, and mourn whomever I choose to mourn. I will also not be told to respect or mourn someone because it's the "right thing to do".

I didn't respect Best when he was alive, and I don't respect him in death. And I am absolutely in no way "ignorant" about the illness he suffered. The fact that he didn't try to get any help to cure his illness negates that.

So why you posting on this thread then? Surely if you don't respect him you shouldn't be posting on a thread designed to pay tribute to him?

[Chris2K]

As I've mentioned very early in the thread, anyone is welcome to post in any thread they want to, so long as it's on topic.

The anti-alcohol pills are one thing, but when you completely ignore them it's hardly helping is it?

[carlito is cool]

As I've mentioned very early in the thread, anyone is welcome to post in any thread they want to, so long as it's on topic.

The anti-alcohol pills are one thing, but when you completely ignore them it's hardly helping is it?

Suppose you are, just shows some people have more class than others.

[The Crippler]

So why you posting on this thread then? Surely if you don't respect him you shouldn't be posting on a thread designed to pay tribute to him?

I think it's fair enough if Chris or anyone else wants to post. People are entitled to their thoughts and open discussion is what the forums are about.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. I guess it depends how you look at it. Some people are strong enough to deal with it, some aren't. I do think getting anti-alcohol pellets put in was an effort to fight it and I'm sure he did it fully with the intention of fighting it but people are different and some people can beat their problems and some people can't.

[MrFill]

So why you posting on this thread then? Surely if you don't respect him you shouldn't be posting on a thread designed to pay tribute to him?
Sorry, but this thread is about his death, and thus remembering his life, it's not called "Only post in here if you respect George Best, please don't post anything negative".

You can post in any thread you want as long as it's following the topic.

If you don't like that, then maybe a discussion forum isn't the best place for you - I'm sure you can find a sandbox for you to bury your head in.

[Chris2K]

Suppose you are, just shows some people have more class than others.

If you've read anything I've said in this thread, you'll realise why I don't have any respect for George Best, due to personal experiences. If that's classless, then man, I must be classless.

[carlito is cool]

Sorry, but this thread is about his death, and thus remembering his life, it's not called "Only post in here if you respect George Best, please don't post anything negative".

You can post in any thread you want as long as it's following the topic.

If you don't like that, then maybe a discussion forum isn't the best place for you - I'm sure you can find a sandbox for you to bury your head in.

Why would i want to bury me head in a sandbox? How is that related to George best?

please stay on topic

[TMJ]

Why would i want to bury me head in a sandbox? How is that related to George best?

please stay on topic
At the risk of getting a bollocking for saying this in my position at TWO, please shut the f**k up because you are talking out of your arse.

First of all, you don't try to bait a moderator when he is trying to state a fact and set the record straight on the direction or reason of a thread.

Secondly, this thread is not designed to pay respect in a completely positive way. It's, as MrFill pointed out, to remember his life. No one here is denying his footballing talents, at all. We know that he was a great footballer. But he also wasn't a model citizen by any means and I'm gonna say so whether you like it or damn f**king well don't. Class doesn't have anything to do with this. Or are you one of those people who thought that Owen Hart should have been WWE champion when he was only ever once a title calibre guy. I really hate when people expect you to sugarcoat things just because they're dead. Oh look, Myra Hindley killed kids and was an evil woman, but she's dead now so I'll just say she had nice hair and be done with it. Rubbish, complete rubbish.

You're just gonna have to put up with the fact that not everyone here actually feels sorry for Mr.Best, as unfortunate as his death may be. We can accept that you feel for him, that's fine. No problem. Just don't tell us what to think or feel. If you want to feel sympathy for him, that's great. I honestly don't mind or care if you think positively of him. Just don't expect me to do the same.

[carlito is cool]

At the risk of getting a bollocking for saying this in my position at TWO, please shut the f**k up because you are talking out of your arse.

First of all, you don't try to bait a moderator when he is trying to state a fact and set the record straight on the direction or reason of a thread.

Secondly, this thread is not designed to pay respect in a completely positive way. It's, as MrFill pointed out, to remember his life. No one here is denying his footballing talents, at all. We know that he was a great footballer. But he also wasn't a model citizen by any means and I'm gonna say so whether you like it or damn f**king well don't. Class doesn't have anything to do with this. Or are you one of those people who thought that Owen Hart should have been WWE champion when he was only ever once a title calibre guy. I really hate when people expect you to sugarcoat things just because they're dead. Oh look, Myra Hindley killed kids and was an evil woman, but she's dead now so I'll just say she had nice hair and be done with it. Rubbish, complete rubbish.

You're just gonna have to put up with the fact that not everyone here actually feels sorry for Mr.Best, as unfortunate as his death may be. We can accept that you feel for him, that's fine. No problem. Just don't tell us what to think or feel. If you want to feel sympathy for him, that's great. I honestly don't mind or care if you think positively of him. Just don't expect me to do the same.

George has been made out to be nothing more than a vile old drunk on this thread so il defend him if i feel like it.

Yes, but you won't swear when you do it.

Chris2K

[MrFill]

George has been made out to be nothing more than a vile old drunk on this thread so il defend him if i ****ing feel like it.
You can defend him, but not if you attack people while doing so - and you've been doing that.

[Jung]

I can respect whomever I choose to respect, and mourn whomever I choose to mourn. I will also not be told to respect or mourn someone because it's the "right thing to do".

I didn't respect Best when he was alive, and I don't respect him in death. And I am absolutely in no way "ignorant" about the illness he suffered. The fact that he didn't try to get any help to cure his illness negates that.

Not to be pedantic, but if you don't like or respect the guy, how the hell would you know he didn't try to get any help to cure it?

Surely the majority of it, is mental, thus I'm sure giving him pills is a great idea, but it would only go so far to curing whatever problems. And considering the amount of other issues in his life, and stresses, its understandable.

I don't care if you don't like or respect the guy, and did I ever ask you to cause its the right thing to do? No.

All I ask is that people respect, just exactly what he went through, instead of just labelling him a useless drunk, who never tried to beat his illness, which surely says a lot about your ideas that he couldnt be bothered to get any help.

[Hoffmeister]

Best said in many interviews he admits he has problems and he has wasted a lot of his life and money but he just cant beat it.

[Popsi]

I wrte this in that other thread but its still relevent here.

I really don't actually care if people think im a heartless bitch because i don't stand up and claim Best should be fast tracked to saint hood. My opinion of him is, and always hs been the same, he was a great footballing talent, but he wasted his life, and the cnaces he was given and ended up killing himself. I don't have sympathy with addicts, i genuinely don't no matter what their addiction is. Its self-inflicted, no one forces you to smoke, drink or inject yourself with drugs, so unless you kick it, don't come whining to me about how unfair i'm being.

And Eddies death shocked me as i thought he was clean and he was doing something that actually still contributed. Bests death was self-inflicted, he was given the chances to stop, more so than many many other addicts and didn't. i know its not as easy as im making it out to be, but others have kicked it and with far less options than Best had. Plus the whole abusive husband bit doesn't really help him in my eyes. Whilst i have no first hand experiences of it thankfully, i've learnt an awful lot about addiction doing my psychology degree and i totally understand that its hard. But unless the addict really wants to give up he won't and thats the story i always got from Best - he was given chance after chance to kick it, but always went back to drinking.

And gutted for you lot who love him but we all have the right on here to say what we feel. Threads like these are for discussion about his life and the way he was percieved, just because some of us aren't fans doesnt make our opinions any less valid than those who adore him.

[Christof]

George Best was a footballing genius, unfortunately he pissed away his life. Though i respect what he did during his career (part of me wishes he had done far more), I cannot respect a man that continues to piss into the wind despite the well funded help he received. Maybe at least now he is at least somewhere where his demons can no longer get to him.

[The Crippler]

The thing is that people keep talking about how Best had another chance after he got his liver transplant and just threw it away but I don't think some people realise that what Best had done after he got the liver transplant had NOTHING to do with him dying. He died because he was more suceptable (sp?) to infections because of the medicines he had to take after his liver transplant.

[Popsi]

But the point is he wouldnt have needed to havea liver transplant if he didnt screw it up with the boozing.

[The Crippler]

Well that goes without saying. My point was just that people seem to think Best's boozing post-liver transplant was the cause of his death and that is totally ill-informed. It was what he'd done earlier in life which caused it, much like Guerrero.

[Popsi]

He wouldnt have died at 59 if he had managed to stay off the booze i think is the main point. But my main grievence is the waste of a talent, and of a life, neither he nor Eddie needed to die when tehy did. Eddies was more shocking as it was unexpected, but you're right if he hadnt done the drugs and stuff he would still be here. Same for Best.

[Citizen Kane]

To be fair, George did say that he would trade his genius as a footballer to have a normal life. He is the ultimate example of someone who was a victim of his own success. There hadn't been a footballer given such celebrity status before Best, he was in a different world. Because of this, he set himself up for problems later in life.
I'd much rather watch the footage of his footballing days than look at all the negative press he got in his personnel life.

Credit: The Sun
GEORGE Best’s funeral will be the biggest since Princess Diana’s.

Half a million are expected to line the streets of the soccer hero’s home city of Belfast next week.

The booze-ravaged playboy lost his battle for life yesterday aged just 59. He died in London’s Cromwell Hospital at 12.55pm surrounded by his family.

Best, who was given a new liver three years ago, suffered multiple organ failure.

Last night PM Tony Blair said of the Manchester United genius: “He was one of the greatest footballers the UK ever produced.”

Best will be laid to rest beside his mother Ann at Roselawn Cemetery. Thousands of fans plan to make the trip to Belfast to say farewell.

The outpouring of grief will be the biggest since more than a million people lined the streets of London in 1997 for Diana. Belfast Cathedral is the likely venue for the service.

As you can see he was a special player who millions adored, I'd much rather see George Best in this light then as a boozer.

[Proudy]

Rest in peace and all that, but i dont have any sympathy for Best. He not only wrecked his own liver, but then went onto wreck a liver that could of been used on someone else and not a drunken wife beater.

[Al Stevens]

Marc Vivien Foe died on the pitch from a heart attack

If you noticed in my past post i brought up Foe in it with the heart attack thingy

[Citizen Kane]

I'm just dissapointed at those who couldn't observe the minutes silence yesterday. It's just like Leeds, Liverpool and City fans to show themselves up.

[Christof]

I'm just dissapointed at those who couldn't observe the minutes silence yesterday. It's just like Leeds, Liverpool and City fans to show themselves up.

Yeah some idiot at the Wigan v Spurs match also made a racket during the silence as well. The rest of the crowd let him know their feelings as soon as the minute was up.

[The Beltster]

Bit late on this one. Who cares? It was his own fault, since he finished playing football, he has been nothing more than a scrounging socialite loser who destroyed his own body and cheated on every woman he got with. He took an organ which he never deserved and should have gone to somebody more deserving, and ruined it. Screw George Best, the guy was a piece of crap.

As for alcoholism being a disease, I dont buy into that shite. Its not a disease. Cancer is a disease. You CAN help being an alcoholic, its by choice, so to hell with him.

[Hoffmeister]

Bit late on this one. Who cares? It was his own fault, since he finished playing football, he has been nothing more than a scrounging socialite loser who destroyed his own body and cheated on every woman he got with. He took an organ which he never deserved and should have gone to somebody more deserving, and ruined it. Screw George Best, the guy was a piece of crap.

As for alcoholism being a disease, I dont buy into that shite. Its not a disease. Cancer is a disease. You CAN help being an alcoholic, its by choice, so to hell with him.

He was a fantastic football player, arguably the best of all time.

[The Beltster]

He was a fantastic football player, arguably the best of all time.I wouldnt argue that point, at all. But as a person, he was a loser.

[Danny Styles]

He was a fantastic football player, arguably the best of all time.

Pele was better.. Best quit too early.. his carreer effectively stopped at 27

[Hoffmeister]

Pele was better.. Best quit too early.. his carreer effectively stopped at 27

I said arguably the best of all time.

If Best didnt quit when he was young he may have became the undistputed greatest ever.

[Christof]

Don Bradman was arguably the world's best. That said who knows what Barry Richards would have achieved had South Africa's exclusion from the game not occurred. Maybe Brian Lara is the best?

Everything is up to opinion.

[Jung]

Bit late on this one. Who cares? It was his own fault, since he finished playing football, he has been nothing more than a scrounging socialite loser who destroyed his own body and cheated on every woman he got with. He took an organ which he never deserved and should have gone to somebody more deserving, and ruined it. Screw George Best, the guy was a piece of crap.

As for alcoholism being a disease, I dont buy into that shite. Its not a disease. Cancer is a disease. You CAN help being an alcoholic, its by choice, so to hell with him.

Its an illness belty, whether you like it or not.

Just like something like depression. People outside the box, seem to think "oh it would be easy to stop, tis your choice" but I'm pretty sure, its nowhere near as easy as your making out, to stop.

And I'm pretty sure you don't allocate getting livers for how good a person you are. That stuff's just ridiculous. Everyone's a person, and everyone's an equal. Sure George Best destroyed his own body, but as I said just cause he got a new liver, doesn't all of a sudden mean his alcoholism is cured, which people on here, seem to think is the case.

[Hoffmeister]

Its an illness belty, whether you like it or not.

Just like something like depression. People outside the box, seem to think "oh it would be easy to stop, tis your choice" but I'm pretty sure, its nowhere near as easy as your making out, to stop.

And I'm pretty sure you don't allocate getting livers for how good a person you are. That stuff's just ridiculous. Everyone's a person, and everyone's an equal. Sure George Best destroyed his own body, but as I said just cause he got a new liver, doesn't all of a sudden mean his alcoholism is cured, which people on here, seem to think is the case.

Someone made a good point earlier. Getting a new liver doesnt cure your addiction to alcohol.

[The Beltster]

Its an illness belty, whether you like it or not.

Just like something like depression. People outside the box, seem to think "oh it would be easy to stop, tis your choice" but I'm pretty sure, its nowhere near as easy as your making out, to stop.Sorry but people who claim alcoholism is a disease is talking rubbish. Its NOT a disease, its a choice, big difference. He CHOSE to start boozing, he didnt get struck down by a disease which MADE him drink. Going by this logic, smoking and drug addiction are diseases too? No, they are not, they are choices, and ill-made choices at that.

And I'm not saying its easy to stop, I dont doubt for one millisecond that its EXTREMELY hard to stop, hence it being an addiction, but that doesnt make it a disease, because its not.

And I'm pretty sure you don't allocate getting livers for how good a person you are. That stuff's just ridiculous. Everyone's a person, and everyone's an equal. Sure George Best destroyed his own body, but as I said just cause he got a new liver, doesn't all of a sudden mean his alcoholism is cured, which people on here, seem to think is the case.I completely and utterly disagree. Not everybody is an equal, thats politically correct bullshit in every sense. George Best destroyed his own liver, by choice, because he has no will-power. some little 3 year old boy or girl who needs a new liver because they have a legit disease from NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN are wayyy more deserving than some grown adult who cant make good choices in his life and brought it all on himself.

And I dont know who said that having a new liver would stop him being an alcoholic, thats just rediculous. If anything, it gave him more time to drink more, start over again from fresh almost!

The guy was a pathetic piece of garbage who didnt have a disease, he just refused to say no, was too damn weak willed to do anything about it and is now in a box having gone through two livers, one which would have saved the life of somebody more deserving, somebody who George Best certainly wasnt equal to, in any way, shape or form.

[K.J]

I'm just dissapointed at those who couldn't observe the minutes silence yesterday. It's just like Leeds, Liverpool and City fans to show themselves up.

The City fans weren't involved at Eastlands yesterday, it was a small section of Liverpool fans who didn't observe the silence. I expected better of Liverpool fans, can't say the same for Leeds though, they did the same when Matt Busby died.

[Nicole]

Bit late on this one. Who cares? It was his own fault, since he finished playing football, he has been nothing more than a scrounging socialite loser who destroyed his own body and cheated on every woman he got with. He took an organ which he never deserved and should have gone to somebody more deserving, and ruined it. Screw George Best, the guy was a piece of crap.

As for alcoholism being a disease, I dont buy into that shite. Its not a disease. Cancer is a disease. You CAN help being an alcoholic, its by choice, so to hell with him.

When you start judging who deserves organs, you head into very dangerous territory. In the case of adults, you can usually find a point in there life where they've done something wrong. Does this mean we shouldn't give them an organ?

[Jung]

Sorry but people who claim alcoholism is a disease is talking rubbish. Its NOT a disease, its a choice, big difference. He CHOSE to start boozing, he didnt get struck down by a disease which MADE him drink. Going by this logic, smoking and drug addiction are diseases too? No, they are not, they are choices, and ill-made choices at that.

And I'm not saying its easy to stop, I dont doubt for one millisecond that its EXTREMELY hard to stop, hence it being an addiction, but that doesnt make it a disease, because its not.

I completely and utterly disagree. Not everybody is an equal, thats politically correct bullshit in every sense. George Best destroyed his own liver, by choice, because he has no will-power. some little 3 year old boy or girl who needs a new liver because they have a legit disease from NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN are wayyy more deserving than some grown adult who cant make good choices in his life and brought it all on himself.

And I dont know who said that having a new liver would stop him being an alcoholic, thats just rediculous. If anything, it gave him more time to drink more, start over again from fresh almost!

The guy was a pathetic piece of garbage who didnt have a disease, he just refused to say no, was too damn weak willed to do anything about it and is now in a box having gone through two livers, one which would have saved the life of somebody more deserving, somebody who George Best certainly wasnt equal to, in any way, shape or form.


Well all I can say is I feel really sorry for you, if you have that kind of attitude.

And please understand this.

I'VE SAID ILLNESS NOT DISEASE, SO STOP USING DISEASE!

Just because you feel its wrong, doesn't make it so does it? I'm sure if George Best had known before he ever had his first drink, that it would ruin his life, he'd have never drank at all? But well, you seem to not understand the difference between an illness and a disease, as you're arguing with yourself about it being a disease, as no-one's brought it up.

Its an illness. ILLNESS. No arguments about it, end of story.

And yeah everyone is an equal. What if that girl is dying and a new liver ain't gonna make a difference? Do you take a chance? sure What if they are trying to overcome alcoholism? Do you take a chance? sure. Everyone's a person, and everyone's a risk, thus why everyone is equal.

I'm sorry you're obviously Mr. Invincible, but alcoholism is a serious thing, and you treat it as a joke which anyone with the slightest bit of resolve could easily get through. You're promises that a new liver would save anyone and everyone who needs it are about as guaranteed as saying anyone could easily get off alcohol or drugs.

Jeez I've seen narrow minded, but I thought at least you'd use logic.

As I said, everyone is equal, because everyone is a risk. That 3 year old girl could get a new liver, and die 2 weeks later, cause her body can't take it, or worse die cause her body won't accept it. Should the person after her, die, would the family sue her family cause that liver was used essentially for nothing?

Think about it.

Everything is a risk, and they took one out on George Best, and because of his ILLNESS, he unfortunately couldn't beat it. If you find that so difficult to understand, cause obviously he's a pathetic piece of garbage, who couldn't beat an illness which has the claimed the lives of millions of people, then think about it more, until you can understand.

[BRM]

I don't really care whether he ad a Alcohol problem or not. He was a great Footballer and thats what i'd rather remember him for that.

The show of apprciation from fans across Britain over the past weekend has been fantastic, a credit to Football.

[The Beltster]

When you start judging who deserves organs, you head into very dangerous territory. In the case of adults, you can usually find a point in there life where they've done something wrong. Does this mean we shouldn't give them an organ?If you have SPECIFICALLY done something to destroy your organ, KNOWINGLY, and not stopped, then your an idiot and dont deserve another one when there are other people who havent specifically done something to destroy said organ and who need one. Its not dangerous territory, its common sense.

[The Beltster]

Well all I can say is I feel really sorry for you, if you have that kind of attitude.Please, dont feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for people who make excuses for a grown man who made piss poor choices in his life, knowing it was going to eventually catch up with him or kill him. He brought it on himself, tough **** for him, I could care less.

And please understand this.

I'VE SAID ILLNESS NOT DISEASE, SO STOP USING DISEASE!OTHERS have said disease. But hell, disease, illness, still makes no difference, both are wrong. Its bad CHOICES, nothing else. Guy chose to booze it up, he wasnt ill until he decided he wanted to drink alcohol.

Just because you feel its wrong, doesn't make it so does it? I'm sure if George Best had known before he ever had his first drink, that it would ruin his life, he'd have never drank at all? But well, you seem to not understand the difference between an illness and a disease, as you're arguing with yourself about it being a disease, as no-one's brought it up.So because you dont think its wrong, it automatically isnt? Your logic can be turned around and used on you, and its still weak. And what are you on about, if he had known? EVERYBODY KNOWS that if you start drinking heavily, its going to eventually catch up with you with the possibility of ruining your life, or killing you. Are you trying to insinuate that Best didnt realise the obvious?

Its an illness. ILLNESS. No arguments about it, end of story.Its NOT an illness, your making [EDIT] excuses for him, open your damn eyes and get real will you! And dont tell me there are no arguements about it and thats end of story pal, because I WILL argue it, because its not a friggin illness, its a damn choice!

And yeah everyone is an equal. What if that girl is dying and a new liver ain't gonna make a difference? Do you take a chance? sure What if they are trying to overcome alcoholism? Do you take a chance? sure. Everyone's a person, and everyone's a risk, thus why everyone is equal.Rubbish. Everybody is NOT equal, if you think that, your dillusional to the highest possible degree. If a person has a disease they didnt bring upon themselves and there is a 50/50 chance of survival, or a person has a crippled liver because they specifically brought it upon themselves by boozing it up and there is a 60/40 chance of survival, then the 50/50 person deserves it, because THEY didnt bring it upon themselves KNOWINGLY. If you cant see that extremely basic logic, then your either really stupid, or you dont want to see that its the truth.

Yeah, George Best, a guy with self induced liver problems deserves a new liver as much as a person who has a disease they cant help having...[EDIT]!

I'm sorry you're obviously Mr. Invincible, but alcoholism is a serious thing, and you treat it as a joke which anyone with the slightest bit of resolve could easily get through. You're promises that a new liver would save anyone and everyone who needs it are about as guaranteed as saying anyone could easily get off alcohol or drugs.Who said I was Mr. Invincible? Who said I'm treating it as a joke? I'm just not going to stand here and listen to people give this idiot sympathy for something he brought on himself! And when did I say a new liver is 100% guarenteed to save a person? Your making things up mate, putting words in my mouth. And when did I say its easy to overcome alcoholism? I'd love you to quote me on all these things I have supposedly said here Jung? You'll have a hard time doing it though, because I DIDNT!

You go ahead and waste your time feeling sorry for a guy who killed himself, I wont.

Jeez I've seen narrow minded, but I thought at least you'd use logic.Lets not talk about logic shall we, when my logic here is obvious, and yours is [EDIT]. And its not narrow minded to not show sympathy for a person who, AGAIN, brought it all on himself. I dont feel sorry for junkies either, they chose to get themselves involved in that crap, let them fester in it...

As I said, everyone is equal, because everyone is a risk. That 3 year old girl could get a new liver, and die 2 weeks later, cause her body can't take it, or worse die cause her body won't accept it. Should the person after her, die, would the family sue her family cause that liver was used essentially for nothing?

Think about it.I'm not saying everybody isnt at equal risk, but I'm saying not everybody is as equally DESERVING. Best and other people who bring all their problems on themselves are NOT as deserving as people who cant help the prediciment they are in. Again, that is my logic, its very simple, very basic and makes perfect sense, for you to be blind to the simplicity of it is hard to understand...

Everything is a risk, and they took one out on George Best, and because of his ILLNESS, he unfortunately couldn't beat it. If you find that so difficult to understand, cause obviously he's a pathetic piece of garbage, who couldn't beat an illness which has the claimed the lives of millions of people, then think about it more, until you can understand.His illness...lol, no, because he cant say no to a drink, because he CHOSE to pick up that first drink...he wasnt ill, he was a weak willed person who KNEW he was killing himself. Ill...right.

You are the one finding it difficult to understand that he brought everything on himself. You are seemingly trying to make out that we should all feel sorry for this guy because he CHOSE to start drinking.

I think YOU need to stop being so damn forgiving and so soft, and understand that if people didnt make so many weak willed, piss poor choices, then there wouldnt be a problem.

Think about that.

No Swearing or Insulting Words Please

[Danny Styles]

Jungta if you think being an alcaholic is an illness your wrong...

its a self imposed diesease....i have the upmost respect for Best but fact is he has completed a 20 year suicide

[Darkstar]

Its NOT an illness, your making [EDIT] excuses for him, open your damn eyes and get real will you! And dont tell me there are no arguements about it and thats end of story pal, because I WILL argue it, because its not a friggin illness, its a damn choice!

And depression/manic depression/schizophrenia/SAD and MPD are also NOT illnesses!
Sorry belty, but EVERY medical council in the world accepts it as an illness. And people can be geneticly prone to addictions.

[Evil Gringo]

And depression/manic depression/schizophrenia/SAD and MPD are also NOT illnesses!
Sorry belty, but EVERY medical council in the world accepts it as an illness. And people can be geneticly prone to addictions.

Yep, my family is on both sides and I myself have had to defeat one and am still addicted to a few vices. Nicotine being one of course....

[K.J]

Also were the problems associated with drinking heavily well known in the early 60's, when George Best's problems would have started?

[Hardcore Holly]

I would doubt that very much, I was going to write some stuff but decided not to as I would probably get thrown out of here for a while or something.R.I.P George Best what a player he was, he was also a pretty funny guy too I loved watching him when he was on Soccer saturday with the lads having some craic.
And as for those clowns at the man city v liverpool match what a bunch of gimps who need to show some respect, they get respect when a player who dies for their team gets a minutes silence

[Jung]

Belty your just showing ignorance saying its not an illness.

Yeah its a choice, but the fact its an addiction, means its a choice, virtually made for you, thus thats the illness.

As Darky already said, its medically pretty much a given, that it is an illness, so by all means argue its not to your hearts content, and have it ripped to shreads by anyone involved in healthcare.

I guess stuff like lung cancer isn't an illness right, cause smoking can cause it, and thats a choice?

And as K.J said, I doubt the affects of alcohol weren't widely spread in the 1960's. Heck people didn't know the affects of smoking then, jeez the effects of AIDS weren't even well known until the 1980's.

And don't have a go at me for saying I've said stuff you didn't say, when you've done exactly the same. When did I say feel sorry for him? All I said was, I think it takes the mick, when people seem to think its that damn straightforward, to get off alcohol, cause he's that weak willed.

He brought things on himself, but as you continue to ignore, its an illness.

But as I said, go carry on argue that to someone like a doctor, or a psychiatrist, and let them explain to you in more medical terms, as you continue to not get it.