Mardona on Maradona

If you are an Englishman of a certain age you may want to click on the red "x" at the top of the screen right now for we are about to discuss to an Argentine whose name rhymes with "Marijuana" but whose drug of choice was cocaine.

I asked my buddy Joe the Gap Model (he's not really a Gap model, he just looks enough like one to get all the play at the bar when we where at college) to engage in a game of word association with the name Diego Maradona. Being an Englishman his first reaction was to groan & shudder visibly. Once he got past his initial bout with England's national emotional baggage, he spat out the following results: "Handball. Egomaniac. Hero. Drugs. Communism. Amazing. Womanizer. Handball. Greatest goal of all time. Possibly the greatest player of all time." I won't say that's all there is to his story but it kinda says it all.

Egomaniac? He's the only person on earth with use of both eyes that was upset that Pele was awarded footballer the century. Hero? He has a religion named after him. Drugs? Surely I don’t have to tell you about this one (or the handball). Communism? Donated the Cuban proceeds of his autobiography to Fidel Castro. Amazing? Here's exhibit A. Womanizer? Who doesn't have an illegitimate Italian heir these days? Greatest goal of all time? Only Messi even has a case to argue but he's too reverential for that.

But this is just the head of the dick that is Diego. If you really want to get down to the shaft and balls you have to read his autobiography "Maradona, the autobiography of Diego Maradona", which has finally been given a long-overdue U.S. pressing in English.

Told in his own words, the immortal & controversial player recounts the high points of illustrious career, and the points in his illustrious career when he was high. It's dramatic reading and an essential addition to any footie-book hoarder's collection. Buy it now from Skyhorse Publishing. Or Amazon.com.