Is anybody tired of the Beckham hoopla already?

I am. It has not been 72 hours since the man landed up at Carson and it seems the anointed messiah of US soccer has been here for a decade what with all the wall to wall media. While the person benefiting most from all of this, basked in its breathless attention. Yes, that’s right. Posh lapped up every minute.
The man himself seemed a bit dazed and confused. What on God’s name is the fuss all about? And if someone were to ask him, “David, are your expectations to take soccer to the masses?” I am sure he would have replied. “Erm, no. …… to sell a few more T shirts really.” In that regard number 23 has already been an outstanding financial success. 250,000 jerseys sold for $80 to $100 in the last few days. Nice.
Meanwhile, the serious business of taking US soccer to the masses goes on as the outstanding U20 squad crashed out against Austria. Freddy Adu and the boys notched up a dream win against Brazil, whipped Poland, and shattered Uruguay’s hopes. It is just too bad that the media chose to overlook all this while it fixated over Beckham’s crinkly eyes. We need an English import to save soccer akin to Hollywood’s equation for hit movies casting villains from Daniel Craig to Rufus Sewell, sporting dulcet Brit accents.
To be a US soccer fan is to live the life of a dissociated personality. We are told that Beckham will turn the MLS around. Meanwhile, the U20 squad’s overachieving MLS players earn the equivalent of food stamps compared to Beckham’s $32m salary. We are told that Beckham will turn the spotlight of the soccer world to the US. Meanwhile, we do not even bother to send our first squad even when invited, to the Copa America. This is strange and frankly nettling.
For all of Alexi Lalas bombastic expectations of Beckham, we are far from a conduit for the Man Utd football academy. Meanwhile, I am going back to the Copa where Mexico overcame Uruguay for third place. According to my calculations, if the US had sent its first squad that beat Mexico in the Gold Cup, we should be playing Argentina in the final today. Right?

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8 comments on “Is anybody tired of the Beckham hoopla already?
  1. Me! Me! I’m sick of the Beckham hoopla already. The semi-bumbling Galaxy used to be kind of a fun team to write about. Now the circus has come to town and it’s not about the game (however poor) anymore.
    When Beckham was crashing and burning at Real Madrid, I thought his coming to MLS would be a good thing. He could add something to the game, bring a little (keyword: LITTLE) bit of glitz, and raise MLS’s profile with his PLAY.
    It’s not working out this way. It’s all about Beckham. I’m finding it depressing.
    Be grateful you’re not writing about just one team. That Beckham team.

  2. the future of AMERICAN soccer is the team that won the gold cup and the u20 that made it to the quater finals. so sell your pretty face becks, I’m not worried about our future, cause I’m sure we will be in a world cup final sooner then england

  3. Bring the Beckham’s on, Australia’s Sydney FC will see the Galaxy play down under.
    Maybe the Galaxy are going to be his commercial vehicle; they are being billed in some quarters as “Beckham and the Galaxy” but count me as one who thinks it will be good for the game.
    See you detractors in a few months!

  4. it definately will be great for the exposure of soccer in the usa, people who don’t know anything about soccer know becks, but as for our future on the world stage ,it’s in our own hands.

  5. Dont blame Beckham for the hooplah, he will give the game much needed publicity.We in america have been fighting to get soccer recognition from so called sports reporters who have no clue about the game.Do we pillory Tiger Woods about the golf nuts who go ga-ga every time he putts the ball.No because he is american and they do not diss their own.

  6. Follow the URL to thecouriermail.com.au to see a full gallery with pictures of Beckham at his first training session with the Galaxy.

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