To live the dream

Today I am taking Jonathan up to St James Park to see the final game of the season - Newcastle against Chelsea the crowned champions. It is a game we have to win to guarantee european football next season. More importantly it is a farewell to Alan Shearer - the best centre forward england has produced in the modern era: a man who twice refused to sign for Manchester United and who dedicated the best part of his career to Newcastle United. Without a doubt he sacrificed glory for loyalty, personal gain for the joy of being surrounded by friends and his local community. Here is the tribute from the current manager Glenn Roeder.
He said: "I can't add anything about him as a footballer that hasn't already been said. But if I was allowed to choose my friends I'd certainly choose Alan Shearer because of how he is as a human being.
"Any club would miss him on the field. Given the kind of person he is, any club would miss him in the dressing room.
"He is a leader of men. People question whether he should have gone to Manchester United and say he would have won more trophies. He says 'I'm right in what I have done because I have lived the dream'. I agree with him. He has lived it. As a little boy he wanted to play for Newcastle United and he has done that for the best part of his career. He has put the people of Newcastle before himself and gratification of winning trophies and he would done at Manchester United.
"As he said to Alex Ferguson the other night, 'Maybe if I had signed, Alex, you would have won a few more'. I thought that was fitting.
"I said to him 'Alan, that (singing his name) makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck so who knows what it does to you?'. That's why he has lived the dream. In his eyes, it's better than winning trophies. To have the love of your own people must be a wonderful thing, it must be."
The king is dead, long live the king.
To have the love of your own people IS a wonderful thing - I thank God for the example of Alan Shearer who put relationship before personal achievement, character before career.