blonde poker forum

Was he the greatest footballer Britain has ever produced?

I honestly don't know the answer to the question but he was very very special.

of his generation by a mile.
if you could bring him forward in time 30 years he would rank alongside the greats of today but he wouldn't leave them standing. Can you imagine him and Giggsy playing together. :o

Has he died?

Afraid so.

Only saw him live twice,he wasthe best ,and i supported Leeds from 68 onwards very sad :(

Very special
Very talented
Very tragic

He hoped people would remember the football.  How could we forget?

I DO hope people just remember the football because what he did to his transplanted Liver was despicable.

A tragic waste and a shame.

He was a truly gifted player and maybe the best.

Such a shame that he retired at 26 and never even played when he should have been at his peak.

He was indeed mesmeric to watch and I'll never forget his jinking wing play and how he tormented defenders.

And his girlfriend always seemed to be the reigning Miss World.

God bless you George Best and I hope you are happy in the next life..x

Best was a fantastic footballer in his hayday but will always be remembered for his demons. A tragic loss but not unexpected.


RIP

I didn't like the media circus parked outside his hospital in the final days.

It is enough to know that George Best was seriously ill in hospital, we have no need to see pictures outside the hospital and snaps of loved ones going in and out to say their last good-byes.

It is a difficult time for anyone waiting for the inevitable passing of one close to them, the last thing they need is to be harassed outside the hospital.

What are the odds on members of his family being in the Sunday papers selling "the real Bestie" stories though?

IMO the best British player ever.

We do seem to have people with wasted talent tho...

Best, Gazza, Fowler - let's hope Rooney keeps on top of it.

i saw george best live a couple of times when he was playing for hibs in the early eighties, he was overweight and a full blown alcholic , but he was still absoloutely amazing! r.i.p georgie

I saw him twice, once down at Meadow Lane and, about 18 months ago, in The Links pub in Liphook. Strange that last location, it was near the place he used to go to dry out.

Met him once at the strand casino in Manchester,4 of us over from Leeds for a punt,My first time in a joint did our money, no great surprise there  it was one of the guys birhdays he was 27  we found a dollar stuck it on 27 it hit  stuck the lot on 26 -29  in it romped money back and in front whooppee, split it in 4 , of he goe to look for someone in form, on the dice he finds a player we all pile in next to him  3 passes later he shoots out. bolloks I get the dice 28 minutes later and 9 fills iI 7 out total profit 700 quid, down the other end of the table george best with 8 of the fills What a player. :(

This is the 2nd  poker forum I have posted on today about george best. I am quite sick of reading how great a man he was when in effect he was a wife beating alcoholic. I lost my father a few years ago to an illness that what not of his own making and he never raised a hand to my mother at any time, not a day passes that I don't think of him. I know you really shouldn't speak ill of the dead but this man ruined his own life and that of others (can you imagine being married to him)- when he was given a 2nd chance at life with a liver transplant he drank that away as well. Sorry to go against all you nostalgia fans but I do not look up to any man who doesn't cherish life or hits women.   

Told it like it is Ariston good post. Magical talent or geniusness(?) does not excuse that kind of behaviour.

Very good point.

Perhaps a little unsympathetically timed though.

Ariston i agree.
As i am from another generation i never saw him play, my only knowledge is of an alcoholic wife beater who took a liver from a more deserved soul.

Whatever you think of the man I think you should at least wait till he's cold before you diss him so.

Yes he's made mistakes in his life but who hasn't. His crimes are not to be judged by us.

At least he never blamed anybody else but himself for his problems.

If most people were to have walked in George Best's shoes (boots?) they would do well to avoid a life of alcholism.

Who's to say who deserves a liver transplant and who doesn't. George Best, as a human soul, was equally as deserving of a transplant as Mother Teresa or Adolf Hitler if they had the same condition IMHO. Life is life.

 :goodpost:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

I am certainly not without sin but I always say it as I see it. So many people heroworshipped this guy who threw his life. I have posted this on here because I always speak my mind on here. I saw similar threads on virtually every other forum I frequent and maybe this one was the last straw. I perhaps should have bit my lip on this one but I didn't and I am not one to go deleting a post because it may be a little contraversial. Any man who strikes his wife/partner gets no respect from me or sympathy from me, there are certain sins I can just not forgive. When Amerillo Slim dies there will be plenty of threads about how good he was for our game of choice, I will not be sympathetic there either because of his sins-no matter how much I respect his game I do not respect the man. 

Best is hero worshipped because he gave millions pleasure.  Like almost every genius he was flawed.

I didn't know the man and so I don't pass judgement on him.  At the end of the day "for his sins" he is lying dead today.  Surely punishment enough?  Or do the dead still need an after-life rub down?

Chaps, long time reader but don't post. While this thread is going just wanted to spare a minute for Richard Burns who lost his battle with a brain tumour this morning.

Spent a few hours interviewing him a couple of years ago after his first blackout. He didn't realise at the time it was a tumour.

A thoroughly nice guy and very sad news.

Welcome to the forum Gus, you were sooooo lucky last sunday.....

Total agree with you ariston, straight from the heart and totally honest.

Although having seen Best play a few times live, I'm afraid my memories of such a talented and gifted player, is that of a women beater.

I'm sorry, I really don't mean to upset Best's family, friends or fans, but I suspect that when the mourning period is over, the same Media circus that have been camped by his bedside, will crucify his memory.

Aha, Nemesis. Tottenham I recall from elsewhere?

Lucky? Hmmm, maybe a little. But it was coming second half. Reckon a draw was about fair. Thought you'd win 2-0 before the game.....phew!

Thanks for the welcome....no longer the voyeur I guess.

Hi Gus, welcome to blonde. Yes, sad news about Richard Burns. Spent many a happy houir spent watching him deep in a Welsh forest on a frosty November morning in what was then called the RAC Rally. I also watched, maily live, the whole of Besty's career - WHAT a footballer he was. But as with so many gifted sportsman - Alex Higgins & Gazza spring immediately to mind - a flawed genius.

I think that this is the best post written on this thread. I also didnt know Best personally, all I want to remember him for is the footballer he was, he was given a second chance, he blew it and he has paid the ultimate price.

Thanks for the welcome, Tikay.

Richard, I'm sure, will be missed greatly. Off to cover Man City v Liverpool (work purposes, not pleasure) and am fearful of what will happen during the minute's silence. Especially considering the teams involved.

I don't pass judgement on Best's life, like many others I didn't know him. But it would nice to be able accept the sadness at how his life ended, whether or not people remain irked at the way he abused his second chance.

Celtic decided at the the start of this season that, because of verbal abuse by a few mindless morons during the observation of a minute silence, they would have a minute of applause instead.

Gus - for whom do you write?

[/quote]


Celtic decided at the the start of this season that, because of verbal abuse by a few mindless morons during the observation of a minute silence, they would have a minute of applause instead.

[/quote]

This is the way forward for displays of respect in stadia. A minutes applause is not quite as moving as a minutes silence, however, nothing is sadder than a spoiled silence.

ill be honest with you, i have absolutely no sympathy for the man at all.

he was given a perfect working liver, and a second chance at life yet he abused this second chance and took a good working liver away from someone else who would have used it in the proper way, to embrace the lucky chance they were given.

Dave

The organ transplant list is very strictly controlled.  George Best was lucky to be given a second chance but he did not take this chance away from anybody else.  Livers have to be a match for the person they're donated too.

Like others, I've seen plenty of George Best posts around.  I'm amazed.  Amazed that so many people are full of disgust for the man.  I can only assume these same people are 100% clean living folk, who have never abused themselves or others. 

A man who was clearly one of the best footballers in Britain, if not the world, brought great pleasure into peoples lives.  He is slated for abusing his body even now he is dead!  When Maradona dies do you think the people of Argentina will say "Yes, he was good at football, but he was a cocaine snorting cheat" ?  He will be celebrated for his genius as Best should be.

Tikay, n.o.t.w.

But whisper it. Everyone has to pay the mortgage.

Regards, Gus/Jim.

Boo, hiss. Hiss and boo.

The brief will be happy, someone on the forum with a seedier occupation than him at last.

 :goodpost: :respect: ;applause;

lol, I got warned off by that organ once, I was digging into something years ago and the Crime correspondent got sort of "twitchy"

so are you saying, if he didnt get the organ, it would have been binned??

dont think so, he took it from someone, how would have used it to its full potential, not used it to get another few years bevvy.

i stand by what i say.

Dave

If there is no suitable match for an organ there is little point trying the transplant.  There are a team a specialist doctors who decide who needs an organ most.  Best got lucky, the right organ came up when he needed it the most.  The docs won't think "Better not give him a new liver, he might abuse it, lets leave him to die."  They'll decide who is in most critical need.

The only person he took it from was the guy or girl who died with an organ donor card.  There are no queue jumpers on the transplant list.  Sure, a different person may have used the new organ more thoughtfully.

As I said previously, he has paid the ultimate price for his abuse.

precisely.

OK it may not be settling the "should he have the organ" debate, though one thing struck me. He never blamed anybody else for the weakness in his character. No whinging saying the pressure of the fans drove him to drink or whining that it was the actions of the manager, many alcoholics use excuses, not him. As it happens, if I had such an organ that I was, sadly, unable to use, I would be content for it be given to George Best to keep many peoples hero alive for a few more years. Having said that wife beating is not forgivable.

Hello,

I've never seen George Best play in the flesh, but just from the footage and from fans recollections I have no doubt he was one of the greatest players the world has seen.  He found himself in a position where he was away from home and hero-worshipped from a very young age, and at a time when football and alcohol went hand in hand, unlike the no-alchohol rules around these days.  I have totaly sympathy with the man and his plight.  I do not condone his behaviour, but I can sympathise with him.

I was listening to the minutes silence on the Radio for the Rangers v Hibs game, and the fans started an impromptuo "There's only One Georgie Best" rendition.  I had a lump in my throat listening to the respect football fans clearly have for him.  I was deeply saddened by the tragedy of his death, not because of his time of death, but because of the way he spent his life and what could have been.  Alcoholism killed George best, it just wasn't in him to beat that demon.

Eoan

Celtic decided at the the start of this season that, because of verbal abuse by a few mindless morons during the observation of a minute silence, they would have a minute of applause instead.

[/quote]

The minutes applause was actually requested by the fans so that they could show their appreciation for Jock Steins remarkable contribution to the club on the 20th anniversary of his death. It was a celebration & not a sombre occasion & worked fantastically well, it really was an emotional event.

The same applied on Saturday for George Best, his talents on the football field being appreciated and not any weaknesses he had in other aspects of his life and rightly so IMHO.

I have attended dozens of games with minutes silences for one reason or another & 2 with applause & I can assure you the latter is more moving & emotional than a minutes silence although I do understand that there may be occasions where it is not appropriate.