Some day, if the real God allows it, you will be "just an old man" and perhaps realize how inappropriate that statement is. It is not just our ability to play, but who we are as a whole person that really matters. And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. By any measure, Clapton has enriched many lives. And what kind of impact have you had?
Me being an old man is already closer then I would like. Less then two decades before I hit retirement age.
I can see why you mistook my remarks as some sort of attack on Clapton, it wasn't. Maybe a poorly worded observation. Heroes that are alive can never measure up to heroes that are dead. Dead guitar gods stay guitar gods. Alive ones, they fade away. Or worse disappoint. Man, was I disappointed when I heard Clapton do his unplugged rendition of Layla, turning it from a searing rock song, where he screamed at the universe for his unrequited love, into a comfy lawn chair campfire song. Completely killed it. That is why the dead can never disappoint. They will always stay young, always stay fresh, they will never do poor renditions of their greatest hits, never make questionable decisions. And maybe worst of all, grow old. See your once invincible rock god, your guitar hero, become old, I dunno, maybe it hits close to home, or maybe you just want them to go on forever, not see them fade, get frail and fail before your eyes. I'm happy for Clapton that he got to enjoy the fruits of his labor into an old age, I feel sad for him that he had to survive the death of his own child, but as far as Clapton is God is concerned, in that sense, if he had died young, then he would have truly transcended into Rock God status.
Clapton and Townsend were huge before Jimi hit the scene. Clapton genuinely loved Jimi and was deeply affected when Jimi went to geetar heaven! Very tormented, Clapton knew deep down that Jimi's playing and compositional ideas were almost unattainable and he spent the rest of his life on his Blues quest. Better to be G^d for a while, than never to have been much to talk about...
It's good for Clapton the man that he lives and continues to live. It's always good to enjoy the fruits of ones labor. It's not so good for Clapton the Myth that he continues to live. But no real man can live up to his own myth forever. Also, personally I think that compositional wise Clapton was better then Hendrix. Hendrix was probably the better guitar player and performer, but I think that overall Clapton had better songs.