Pele said it "George Best was the best player in the world"

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Georgie Georgie, They call you the Belfast Boy

I have been inspired to write again by the sad passing of the N.Ireland and Manchester United legend George Best.

His story is well documented. A footballer genuis from Belfast who for 10 years lit up the soccer world. I have spent much of the last two days watching old clips of him play. One of his best ever goals was a simple one that he scored from only 8 yards out. The ball dropped to him and about 5 players flew themselves in front of him to prevent him from shooting. Now, most players would just hammer the ball and hope that they manage to find a gap in the midst of these 5 players. But rather than do this, Bestie lobbed it over the 5 players and watched it drop perfectly into the top corner of the night.

It was a moment of footballing bliss and from the clips that I have seen this week, there were many such moments.

George Best lived his life to the full and as Steve-o pointed out in his blog, his most memorable quote was "I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars--the rest I just squandered." I myself found another memorable quote from him descibing his reputation to miss appearances due a night of partying - "I went missing a lot - Miss America, Miss Canada, Miss UK".

As Steve-o also pointed out, it was this love for life that killed Georgie. He became an alcoholic and ended up getting himself into trouble on a semi-regular basis. On the last weekend of his life and in an effort to warn people of the dangers of alcohol he allowed a picture to be taken of him in hospital showing what he had become. It was published the next day and it doesn't make for pretty viewing. Alcohol was the one opponent that Bestie couldn't beat and it seems that ultimately that was his greatest regret.

This would be a good point to talk about the joys and dangers of alcohol but I am going to leave that for another day.

All I want to say is this. Georgie, you gave a lot of people in Belfast a lot of pleasure through what you did on the football pitch. My parents tell me that Belfast was not a fun place to be throughout the 60's and 70's and from what I have learnt in my own life, I have no reason to doubt that. But somehow George Best managed to unite the people of Belfast and that was perhaps a greater achievement that anything he accomplished on the pitch.

Bye Georgie. You'll always be our Belfast Boy.

Postscript

Question - Through the first 8 games of the season, one team has managed to achieve a positive points for/against spread and yet lose 7 of those 8 games. Name that team

Answer - The 2005 Green Bay Packers.

Another missed goal, a first and goal from the 3 which somehow led to a 90 yard Pittsburgh td and a crucial interception with 9 mins to go.

Somehow Green Bay manages to lose again!!

Time for an update

Just a quick post as I am failing rapidly in my quest to keep this thing updated as often as I can. Also, I am a little mad. For you see the Packers had first and goal at the 3 yard line. However, following two poor plays, two false start penalties and a Brett Favre fumble, the Steelers ran almost 90 yards for a touchdown to go up 13-3. Is this is moment when I accept that the Packers aren't going to make playoffs this season?

So far, my work is going well and taking up a fair part of my life. Obviously, I can't really write much about it on my blog since I actually do harbour dreams of practicing officially at some point but needless to say, I am getting a great involvement in a vast amount of areas of law and meeting all kinds of people - many of them strange.

Also, this weekend I am heading to Londont vist my good friend and Bye Bye Birdie partner Robin. Hanging out with Robin is always a blast and I think I have managed to convince her to see the production of A Few Good Men starring Rob Lowe (aka Sam Seaborne of the greatest show on television - The West Wing).

Tomorrow evening, I am going to see a production of the CS Lewis book - The Screwtape Letters. This has always been one of my favourite of Lewis's writings and I will be interested to see how the book works as a production.

Aside from that not too much is new. I will try to write again soon with something a little more interesting. In the meantime, I end with a joke fitting with my choice of profession.

Q: How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb.
A: Fifty four. Eight to argue, one to get a continuance, one to object, one to demur, two to research precedents, one to dictate a letter, one to stipulate, five to turn in their time cards, one to depose, one to write interrogatories, two to settle, one to order a secretary to change the bulb, and twenty-eight to bill for professional services.

Hope the joke made the boring update a little more interesting to read. The Packers are driving again. What was I saying about giving up?