A great man?

[gary baldy]

I know this has been done but i am sick of hearing of George Best as a "great man'. Outside football what has he done that makes a great man - apart from drink driving (a despicable crime) assaulting a police officer and beating up a bloke in a pub?

[ianess]

Tend to agree with you gary baldy, and thanks for your reply to my other post.
He was obviously a talented footballer....some would say the greatest ever...but other than that it was a silly waste of a life.
Sky News in particular has in my opinion gone well over the top in carrying the story with a virtual disregard of what else is happening on the planet.
Nevertheless condolences go to the family of anyone who has lost a loved one.

[Drisgirl]

He is a working class hero.Dont take that away from his people.

There is no-one on this earth who is perfect - why should he not be given a great memorable send-off from people who have have lived through suffering we in the UK can only imagine

Before the liver transplant people jump on the bandwagon - it was the anti-rejection drugs which lowered his resistance to infection thus cutting short his life.

Remember he had a family who have IMO behaved in a dignified and very strong manner.

I am in a way glad that when I go they will not profer a sainthood on me.

[Drisgirl]

ianess - He said and I quote'I lived by the sword and I will probably die by the sword'.

Who are you or indeed anyone in a position to determine how anyone leads their life.Stinks of being pious to me.

[gary baldy]

Yes - sad for his family who obviously love him despite his shortcomings and certainly the footballer i love to watch playing the most but since he stopped playing - then what?
In my book to be great man you have to achieve other things beyond what you are best at.
Case in point John Amechi - never heard of him? At one point was the third highest paid british sportsman. Played basketball in the NBA - but whilst doing that studied for a PHD. Came back to England and gave huge amounts of money and time to various charities - all with great humility and grace. A truly great man.

[Drisgirl]

My dad is a truly great man but didnt have to prove himself on the world stage.

He is just my dad - probably not perfect - probably never raised money for charity but in his seventies got on a bus and went to London on his own to march to save The Black Watch.How do you determine a great man?

I wish people wouldnt be SO judgemental.Life would be boring if we were all quiet law abiding people.By that I mean by law abiding - I mean minor details.

I will never be quiet (surprised:) ) but so far law abiding.

Can people not just let people R.I.P

P.S - I love my dad for just being him.

[gary baldy]

Drisgirl- your dad is my point exactly. It seems just from your short reply that your dad has done at least one more good thing than Best ever did (i'm sure your Dad has done lots more good things). Best never made any positive contribution to society and yet he is getting a 'state' funeral. I bet your Dad has led a more worthwhile life overall than Best did and yet no-one is heralding him as a 'great man'. As far as RIP - Best is not Resting in Peace - half the country seems to mourning a man they never even knew (and if they did know probably wished they didnt)

[stevie_c2it]

Like most people on this, and other threads regarding the death of George Best, I feel for the family members, as I would for any family suffering such a tragic loss. This does not mean however; that I don�t feel its right to comment on what I believe has been a disproportionate amount of coverage on this story.
There are a great many public figures from any number of respected fields (Sporting, Sciences, Acting, Humanitarian, the Arts etc, etc) who are perhaps more deserving of the title �Great�, but that�s for others to decide.
Bear in mind though, that we have now set a precedent in giving George Best a state funeral and blanket uninterrupted news coverage for what is now several weeks. Surely this means that in the future anyone considered to be of a similar popular standing should expect to be given a similar send off. When you consider the numbers of potential candidates where do you draw the line? Let me throw up a few names for consideration: Bob Geldof, Sir Stephen Redgrave, Stephen Hawkins, Sean Connery, Henry Moore, Margaret Thatcher, Sir Edmund Hillary, Richard Branson, on and on and on, etc, (the list could go on indefinitely), and though I�m sure some of these names will raise a chuckle, the point is if everyone of the many candidates who might qualify is given a similar amount of coverage (or even more when you take into account Royal funerals and other statesmen & women), there will come a time when (as commendable as this might seem) all we�ll have on the news is coverage of funerals. There won�t be time for anything else! Some balance and perspective will surely dictate that this would not be practical.

[maggie01]

Stevie. Even if these people you mention did get the same coverage at their funerals. They are not going to all die at the same time, therefore they will not take up all the news airtime.

[coyn]

He was a brilliant footballer and he will be remembered for that, what will you be remembered for Gary?

[sp1814]

Slightly off the subject, but what defines a state funeral???

[andy hughes]

The adoration of George Best says much about society today - and less about the man himself.

Best's playing career was over by the time he was twenty-seven, so more than half his life was spent as a 'celebrity', and not a particularly endearing one at that.

Death has elevated him to some sort of godhead status seriusly disproportionate to his actual contribution to the fabric of society - even in sporting terms.

The 'state' funeral has received coverage far in excess of its merit as a news item, and in a perverse way, the 'respect' in which Best was held is illustrated by the gravitas and statesmanship of the individual who conducted the service - Eamonn Holmes!

[gary baldy]

Andy - spot on!
Stevie c - nice to see we agree on some things.
sp1814 - look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral
coyn - if you want to start a thread about what a great man i am and all my achievements and contributions to society , feel free, but at the moment we are talking about George Best.

[stevie_c2it]

Sorry maggie, I just put up those name as examples of a few potential candidates (I thought thats what I said? oh well), the list isn't mine to decide, but is obviously going to be long, and will get longer. But if you care to pick up any newspaper that prints obituaries, you�ll no doubt (on average) pick out several worthy candidates each week, and as our society and culture is becoming even more interested in fame, celebrities and other men and women of achievement, this list will grow, and the numbers each week will too. So, yes! there will no doubt come a time when someone who is considered to be as popular as George Best will have died every day, therefore it wll be impossible to give a similar amount of coverage to them all.

[ianess]

Drisgirl........I'm sorry if that's the way you feel but it would appear that your view is a minority one.
Anyone who abuses his body and dies so unnecessarily young deserves some sympathy at least, but the hero-worshipping is way OTT. Nevertheless I stand by my conviction that it was a terrible waste of a life.

Andy Hughes as always is 100% spot on.

[sp1814]

Thanks for that Gary...excellent site.

[sandbach99]

George was one of the very few good news items to come from Northen Ireland in the late 60's/early 70's, he was one of the first footballers to be made into some sort of hero by the media, although he did not tell the media where to find him unlike a current footballer and his ex-singer wife.

This hero worship was virtually unknown in football then and there was no-one to help deal with it and too many people quick to buy their hero a drink when they saw him.

To those of you who have said he did nothing except be a hopeless alcoholic haven't heard what his Doctor [The Professor] said at Stormont and since on the T V, he said that George Best had set up charities to research liver disease and alcoholism, these charities being set up years ago and doing extremely useful work.

Remember good news does not sell papers and magazines, you only read bad news in headlines any good news is normally on inside pages without a large headline.

He wasn't the hopeless drunk some AB's are saying, his Doctor stated that he was alcohol free for over 12 months before he had his transplant, and as said previously it was the anti-rejection drugs which lowered his immune system and let, what was probably a mild infection to anyone else, kill him.

George had the adoration of people from both sides during the Northern Ireland troubles this was an achievement in itself and watching him, their local lad, gave them a bit of pleasure during a very trying time.

Yes maybe the media has over-hyped his death up but to many older people he was footballer the like of which will probably not be seen again, and he never lost his boy next door charm. Remenber it is only in the last few years that alcohol has become a no no and anyone who drinks it is some sort of alien.

[lindapinda]

I wasn't going to say anything here,cos I have no wish to get involved in any sort of disagreement (I am only on this site to have a bit of fun). However gary baldy's, sweeping generalisations,such as What did he ever do outside of football,that was great? and What positive things did he do for society? need to be addressed. George Best,behind the scenes,that a lot of people were unaware of, did lots of charity work and fundraising. He gave willingly and generously of his time,even when he was very ill. All the people that travelled from so many places to day,to be here in Belfast,didn't just come,because he was a good footballer! Despite of all his faults,these people came because they respected him!...Other people do not,and that is their perogative.However I am proud of George,and happy to defend him,when it is stated he did nothing positive for society.

[lindapinda]

Thanks sandbach,I hadn't seen your post,before I'd written mine.

[Chessman]

There's no doubt Georges ability in his playing days, but a state funeral?, the only reason this is happening, is because our PM will probably attend, and get his picture taken.