United, death before life
Not the first final United lost and certainly not the last - and yet, this one feels different and new, the sheer force of reality, the grim blow of brutality, the sober vortex of certainty, all united in slapping United across the forehead.
An angry flashlight suddely pointed at the drunken and dazed billionaire, only for the billionaire to recognize that, yes, he is a drunk but is no longer a billionaire.
The tired jester quietly disappear as the band slowly turns to leave. Not a note to be heard now, not even from piano #7; the party is long dead and gone.
It’s time to face the music, only there’s no music left to face. And nobody, in all honesty, left to face it.
The champagne was good and so were the girls, but after the night binge comes the morning light.
And with it, uncomfortable truths about business conducted back when one hoped no business would need to be accounted for.
As the old man said, you can escape reality some of the time, but most of the time, reality finds its way.
Reality thus found its way with Manchester United. Admittedly, it took a while: fueled by nostalgia and memory, by hundreds of millions wasted, by faux grandeur and pretension, the spell was hard to break.
But once it broke, it did so with the might of twelve misy mountains; a dozen dead oceans; twenty forgotten times.
And so it ends.
The great United era finally undone, finally taken off life support, finally free of illusion, delusion and fantasy. Free of success, the greatest of all tormentors and captors.
Free and naked, having to face the actual rather than enjoy the imaginary.
All the celebrity signings, big name managers, last-minute mega deals and sponsorships, all a sham, all for nothing, or at least nothing worthy of rememberance.
Remember, remember, May 21st and the Bilbao slumber.
The dazed giant left alone, in the dark, humiliated, hungover and abandoned; no reputable comedian can afford to touch this punchline, for it is now a punchline of banality. This is a low as we go.
And therein lies hope.
For something new to grow, something old has to die, as there is no life without death.
And make no mistake, what was witnessed was none other than death. The cycle begins anew.