Last Thursday, when Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson announced he will retire after this season, a soccer correspondent on SportsCenter drew the analogy that Ferguson is like “Bill Belichick in about 12 years’ time, with three or four more Super Bowls.”
A flattering analogy, but it only paints half the picture of what Sir Alex meant to soccer. With 49 titles under his belt in 39 years as manager, Ferguson indelibly shaped Manchester United, the English Premier League and the global sport of soccer.
Since his arrival to Manchester in 1986, he transformed his club to become the most successful club in England and a global brand recognized by billions across the world. In comparison to Ferguson’s influence, Belichick’s seems miniscule.
Over the past seven days, flocks of journalists, players and coaches paid tribute to Ferguson. I was initially wary of joining the herd by writing my own Ferguson tribute. But upon realizing how influential Sir Alex has been to my childhood, I couldn’t resist.
Ferguson and his Manchester United made me a huge soccer fan, but upon further reflection, he meant a lot more. He was a hero and a teacher for me — being a role model for me to strive toward.
Whenever I think of Ferguson’s influence on me, I drift back to middle school, when I played pickup soccer. My friends and I all cherry-picked the best qualities of our favorite soccer idols — most of them Manchester United players — and mimicked how they played.
For 30 minutes of lunchtime every day, we were Fergie’s boys. We proudly represented Manchester United from Los Angeles.
I now have a more mature appreciation of Ferguson as a manager and as a man. Now, I aspire to be like Fergie — a man driven by his passion to become the best in his profession yet someone who never forgot his roots and his compassion.
Ferguson was a man of many flaws — most notably, his ruthlessness to his players and journalists — but his strengths ultimately triumphed over his blemishes.
One of the most endearing tributes I’ve read of Ferguson this past week was from a journalist who was banned three times from the Manchester United training grounds. The journalist fondly recalled how Ferguson took time to help out his long time beat writers and regularly attend funerals of staff members and their families.
He knew the line between business and personal. He knew when to be Sir Alex and when to just be Alex. That is something I would like to emulate.
Before I conclude, I want to flash back to July 2005, when Ferguson signed Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung to Manchester United. As the first Asian player to play in England, Park was my childhood hero, and the signing was a huge moment in my life.
In hindsight, I came to realize that Park’s signing was solely business, but back in 2005, it represented something more. It symbolized that if you worked hard, anybody — even a pockmarked, flat-footed soccer player like Park — can reach his or her dream. It was the American Dream — taking place in northwestern England.
For an immigrant boy like me, who — at the time struggled to fit into the American lifestyle — that was a groundbreaking realization.
Now at Berkeley, I am living a part of the dream. At the same time, Alex Ferguson is moving on, having lived his dream.
While we’ve never crossed paths, I just want him to know how he shaped who I am. I just want to thank him.
Contact Seung Y. Lee at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @sngyn92.