Becks Appeal
It’s sometimes hard to say goodbye to a hero, especially one that has a penchant for sarongs.
And so David Beckham is to join MLS outfit LA Galaxy when his Real Madrid contract comes to an end this June. How quickly times change. Just over six months ago, Goldenballs was England captain and arguably one of Real Madrid’s most impressive players in the 2005-2006 season.
Having gatecrashed the Premiership with that audacious halfway-line lob at Wimbledon, his career is winding down with a whimper. However Brand Beckham spins it, a move from the Bernabeu to the Home Depot Center is a surrender of Gallic proportions. In the words of former England striker Gary Lineker: “It’s tantamount to retirement.”
Beckham would disagree with that. He wants to raise the profile of “soccer” over there.
Good luck to him.
Not even a bucketload of Becks appeal is going to increase the popularity of this Mickey Mouse league. The Beautiful Game is going to be difficult to give the hard sell, especially to the Yanks. Football is part of our culture, just as the NBA, baseball and the NFL is part of America’s. For those that haven’t grown up with it, it will forever be an alien sport.
Ahhh, the NFL. It was only 3 years ago that the cheeky swines tried to set up a league in our own backyard. Thankfully, NFL Europe fell flat on its face. Attendances were poor - the prospect of forty-something NFL has-beens sweating it out in uncomfortably tight Lycra pants was far too uncouth for the great British public.
The point is that a handful of over-paid Johnny Foreigners will not save the MLS. If the world’s greatest sport is ever to succeed Stateside, it needs more Freddy Adu’s and less Danny Dichio’s. Rumour has it that Zinedine Zidane will be kicking and headbutting his way out of retirement for one last payday.
And the top headline on the ESPN website the day that Beckham announced his move? Baseball's big hitter, Barry Bonds had failed a drug test. The Beckham story was relegated to the indignity of the Spanish language version. I rest my case.
Goodbye Becks. You were never really world class, although we had fun kidding ourselves otherwise for all these years. You couldn’t tackle or ever beat players and you weren’t particularly good in the air. But Jesus Christ, did you have one hell of a right foot.
And so David Beckham is to join MLS outfit LA Galaxy when his Real Madrid contract comes to an end this June. How quickly times change. Just over six months ago, Goldenballs was England captain and arguably one of Real Madrid’s most impressive players in the 2005-2006 season.
Having gatecrashed the Premiership with that audacious halfway-line lob at Wimbledon, his career is winding down with a whimper. However Brand Beckham spins it, a move from the Bernabeu to the Home Depot Center is a surrender of Gallic proportions. In the words of former England striker Gary Lineker: “It’s tantamount to retirement.”
Beckham would disagree with that. He wants to raise the profile of “soccer” over there.
Good luck to him.
Not even a bucketload of Becks appeal is going to increase the popularity of this Mickey Mouse league. The Beautiful Game is going to be difficult to give the hard sell, especially to the Yanks. Football is part of our culture, just as the NBA, baseball and the NFL is part of America’s. For those that haven’t grown up with it, it will forever be an alien sport.
Ahhh, the NFL. It was only 3 years ago that the cheeky swines tried to set up a league in our own backyard. Thankfully, NFL Europe fell flat on its face. Attendances were poor - the prospect of forty-something NFL has-beens sweating it out in uncomfortably tight Lycra pants was far too uncouth for the great British public.
The point is that a handful of over-paid Johnny Foreigners will not save the MLS. If the world’s greatest sport is ever to succeed Stateside, it needs more Freddy Adu’s and less Danny Dichio’s. Rumour has it that Zinedine Zidane will be kicking and headbutting his way out of retirement for one last payday.
And the top headline on the ESPN website the day that Beckham announced his move? Baseball's big hitter, Barry Bonds had failed a drug test. The Beckham story was relegated to the indignity of the Spanish language version. I rest my case.
Goodbye Becks. You were never really world class, although we had fun kidding ourselves otherwise for all these years. You couldn’t tackle or ever beat players and you weren’t particularly good in the air. But Jesus Christ, did you have one hell of a right foot.
Labels: Beckham, Brand Beckham, LA Galaxy, Manchester United, MLS, Posh, Real Madrid
posted by JamesFraney @ Sunday, January 14, 2007
2 comments
