LET IT BE

In June 2009, Manchester United agreed a then world-record £80m deal with them folks in the Spanish capital for a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. I saw this guy's debut for United and purposely watched him develop into the paragon of greatness that he is. I was sad to see him leave and many a United supporting fan's heart was broken. Their sadness took several turns for the worse when Sir Alex chose to replace the departed maverick with underwhelming names like Obertan, Valencia and a past-it Michael Owen. In retrospect, the team was just as effective, but the impact, flair and unique technique of the departed was sorely missed.
Every time Valencia failed to control a pass and/or shanked a shot and/or failed to find a teammate with a cross, United fans would groan in unison;
"Ronaldo would've controlled that pass"
"Ronaldo would've buried that chance"
And so on...

Yesterday, 22nd of April marked the fifth anniversary of the passing of Nigeria's own hip hop maverick; Dagrin. God rest his soul. His death coincided with the boom in social media in the country. The news spread like wildfire and the feeling all over the country was one of deep grief at a young Achiever's untimely death. The outpouring of love that followed was applaudable. I think I speak for several people when I say Dagrin's signature genial cackle in songs, along with his famed cherubic demeanour have been sorely missed.

Its immoral to speak ill of the dead (except the dead's name is Mussolini/Idi Amin...). It smacks of cowardice and preposterousness because the dead cannot defend themselves and their works. But we cannot forget the ones we lost, so we attempt to immortalize them by discussing history and the departed's impact every once in long whiles.

Absence breaks one's heart. Absolute absence (of a permanent kind) brings up all sorts of things. Posthumous honours are conferred, achievements are desecrated (or magnified), flaws are downplayed (or magnified). Legacies are fabricated. By the by, revisionism ensues.
The people that trivialize the achievements of the departed disagree with those who blow those achievements out of proportion. This almost always happens. So I'll give my own account/verdict because I experienced these things firsthand.

CR7 did not score every chance he had at United. CR7 did not successfully dribble every defender he faced at United. This might be unpopular but I'll say it: NOT every Dagrin track was 'great'! Yeah, I said it. But a large percentage of his work was fucking awesome. And will always be. That's the true measure of greatness. Recognizing and reconciling one's self with these facts will curb the tendencies of revisionism that pervade recounts of the works of the ones we lost.Do not impugn their legacies by adding to/taking away from what these folks did. Just let it be.
P.S: Now you can masturbate to the scenes of 'best of Ronaldo' while you listen to the CEO  album and cry into your Man United pillows...

--->>>Captaincue (..I look at what these people had done at my age and I almost despair. Almost!)