Goodbye George Best
My dad wasn't a soccer fan at all. He was very big on the rugby, and I kind of fell into soccer by default. I went to boarding school at age 11 and they didn't offer rugby, so I got into 'football'.
Most of my friends at that time grew up hearing stories from their soccer-fan fathers telling them about this wizard who used to play for Manchester United during the 60's called George best.
Well, I never got a chance to see him obviously, but over the years of me playing the game, I got to see highlights on TV of him, and what he could do with a ball. He is widely regarded as the best player ever to come out of Great Britain, and is often touted as one of the top 5 players to ever play the game, being mentioned with greats like Pele, Maradona, Cryuff, and Eusebio.
Well, George liked to live it up a little, which led to his early retirement (age 28) and his ultimate death at age 59 from liver failure, after battling the bottle for many, many years. He was wildly known as the Fifth Beatle for his long locks and flowing style.
He was famously quoted as saying, "I spent a lot of money on booze, women, and fast cars...and the rest I just squandered". Well that was George. My sister, Emma, got me his book 'Blessed' for Christmas a while ago and it was a great read, but I came away feeling sorry for a man that had wasted soooo much talent. Oh well.
Anyway, there are thousands of tributes all over the web and I don't want to get lost in the shuffle, but I would ask that you take a moment and click here to see the soccer highlights of one of the greatest of all time.
For a detailed description of his life, and demise, click here.
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