Simply The Best

Tributes are pouring in for one of the greatest of all time, George Best, who pasted away at the age of 59 after losing his long battle against alcoholism. So I guess I should add my own

The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland winger died early Friday night in a west London hospital. He had multiple organ failure after developing a lung infection last week that led to internal bleeding. His father, four sisters, brother, son, and agent where at his bedside, as well as former United team-mate Denis Law.

England star Sir Bobby Charlton, who played with Best at United in the 1960s, said: "Anyone that witnessed what George could do on the pitch wished they could do the same. He made an immense contribution to the game and enriched the lives of everyone that saw him play. Football has lost one of its greats, and I have lost a dear friend."

Best has long been considered the greatest British footballer of any generation; the mercurial forward possessed a genius that bears comparison only with the trio of modern masters, Pele, Johann Cruyff and Diego Maradona.

The originality of Best's play was breathtaking, encompassing a repertoire of feints and swerves, sudden stops and demoralising spurts which left opponents slack-jawed and bewildered. He reacted to scoring chances with a deadliness that made goalkeepers dread him. His skill was the epitome of natural, intuitive talent; he made it seem easy. It was Best's tragedy that he ultimately became as famous for his unsuccessful attempts to conquer his alcoholism as for his exploits on the football field.

Despite his slight frame, he had tremendous physical strength and resilience, along with an almost unnatural elasticity of limb and torso which led the midfield player Paddy Crerand, Best's Manchester United team-mate, to declare that he gave opponents "twisted blood".

Along with this - no small factor in the course that his career took - were Best's striking good looks. With vivid blue eyes set wide in a dark, mischievous face framed by luxuriant black hair, he possessed a physical grace and attractiveness which made him the first British sportsman to be accorded pop star status.

Throughout the 60's his photograph was as likely to be seen in the music press as on the sports pages. He became an icon, his irresistible combination of devil-may-care rebelliousness and effortless flair ensuring that there was never a shortage of beautiful girls more than willing to accompany him on the late nights which came to overshadow his career. Though never vain, Best knew the price he paid: "If I had been born ugly," he once said, "you would never have heard of Pele."

The object of unprecedented idolatry, his photograph appeared as regularly in mainstream magazines as in the football press, and he was even nicknamed "the Fifth Beatle". The spotlight upon him became intense, his every movement elevated to front-page news. The pressure was unparalleled for a 22-year-old.

He was only 27 when he played his last game for Manchester United, walking out on the declining club in midseason. After that his life became a series of sad comeback attempts, failed marriages and embarrassing headlines.

After his final retirement, Best settled at Chelsea and, between periods lost to his demon addiction and spells of treatment for it, he carved a successful career as a football pundit and the author of multiple autobiographies.

Never far from the headlines, whether for bankruptcy or his imprisonment on a drunk driving and assault charge, Best occasionally appeared, in spite of becoming Britain's most celebrated alcoholic, to be increasingly at peace with himself. "I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds (women) and fast cars... the rest I just squandered," he famously quipped.

If George Best's career is often cited as the most spectacular rise and fall in the history of British sport, and if he made the headlines as often for his activities off the field as on it, these facts would not obscure his true legacy. The first footballing superstar, Best could perform with a flair and vision that could render the undreamt commonplace.

In 2002 he was fortunate enough to be offered a liver transplant, which was a success. It did not, however, prevent him from continuing to drink, and last month he was admitted to the Cromwell hospital in west London in a serious condition.

However, the truest eulogy is perhaps a famous story that Best liked to tell on himself. It recalls a night when Best, then 25 but already verging toward self-destruction, won $30,000 at the tables of a London casino.

His companion that evening was one of the many beauty queens he dated, and they celebrated by adjourning to his hotel suite and ordering Dom Perignon. When the waiter brought the champagne, the half-undressed woman was on the bed and the money was scattered all around the room. Best gave the waiter a huge tip.

The waiter glanced around the room and replied: "Well, George, where did it all go wrong?"