Is Beckham a Jerk or do I just not Understand Soccer?
So last night David Beckham returned to the LA Galaxy for their much publicised home game against AC Milan, and it was not quite the return I’m sure he was hoping to get. Evidently some of the fans were not too pleased with him not wanting to play the first half of the season with the LA Galaxy in order to stay over in Europe and play on his other team which coincidental was AC Milan.
One section of the crowd known as the “LA Riot Squad” booed him vehemently and held many signs letting them know just how they felt about him only playing half the season with their team. These signs included such pleasantries as:
- Go Home Fraud
- Hey Becks, Here before you, Here after you, Here despite you
- Is evil something you do or something you are
At one point during the half time break David Beckham walked toward that area of the field and did not like what one fan was saying to the point that he suggested that fan step onto the field with him. When the fan attempted to do so he was apprehended by the police and taken away. When later asked about the incident Beckham said:
“One of the guys was saying things that wasn’t very nice. It was stepping over the line,” Beckham said. “I said, `You need to calm down and come shake my hand,’ and he jumped over.”
I’ll be honest for me the most surprising thing about this story is I never knew anyone in the US cared enough about soccer to get so upset over Beckham spurring their team! It is kind of cool in a way to know folks would go to that extreme.
So you people who watch soccer is what he did normal? As a Yankee fan if during the middle of the season Derek Jeter said he was going to play the first half of the year for a Japanese team and then come back for the second half that would not sit very well with me. I guess they do this in soccer though? How do you keep a team together if the whole team is not playing the entire season together?
I understand Beckham not wanting to play for the Galaxy because the competition level is far inferior to that of the European clubs, but he had to have known that when he did this right? He is getting paid a LOT of money and my first instinct is to assume he should be playing the entire year with the Galaxy.
Maybe there is a good reason and this is just part of the game I don’t understand, but if it is someone in the sports world needs to explain this to the average sports fan in America because our sports teams don’t work this way.
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July 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
SoItGoes, like you, I am not a big soccer fan and I’m not sure if this is typical in the soccer world, but it seems like a jerk move to me. He had to know that when he signed with LA that professional soccer in the US was still a fringe sport.
I know when he signed, many touted that this would be the move that would put the US on the world futbol map. David Beckham would be the catalyst to make little kids strive to be Pele and Beckham instead of LeBron and Peyton, it did not, EPIC FAIL, so what does this guy do? He wants to play with another team in a county that is passionate about soccer and will stroke his ego (and fill his bank account)…I’m sure if his arrival at LA would have been the second coming, he’d be playing for LA full time…
Kudos for the fans calling him out, I do understand that sometimes rabid fans can and do cross the line, but if he would have treaded the fans with respect…maybe they’d treat him the same…
Just my .02 and at the end of the, I could care less
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July 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
The Galaxy leased him to AC Milan and made a boat load of money for it. It was a business decision that I believe Beckham had to approve.
The best part of the story is that after The Galaxy scored on a Beckham corner kick, he turned toward the rowdy crowd and just raised his hands out, as to say What? What? WHAT!
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July 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I think it was Beckham who actually asked the Galaxy to lease him to AC Milan. He wants to play there as much as possible leading up to the world cup in an effort to try to make the English World Cup team one last time. I guess at 34 he sees this as possibly his last chance to make it.
Of course the Galaxy as an organization had to allow it and as you mentioned it was lucrative for them. That said I would have thought Beckham would have had the foresight to know he would not want to play for the Galaxy leading up to the world cup, but I think this kind of leasing thing goes a good bit over there?
Anyway I’m still not sure if i just am overeacting because i don’t understand the culture of the game because my initial impression is he should have known not to sign that contract to begin with if a couple years into it he knew he would want to be ready for the World Cup.
All that said if he wants to win back fans helping them win is always a great way to do it.
Oh by the way mindbomb great point in your last statement “i could care less”….. because in the end unfortunately for the sport that is how most Americans feel (myself included) about soccer.
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July 20th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I know soccer is a demanding sport physically, there’s a reason all the pros have 5% body fat, they’re fit as hell…but, here in America, if you are a talented athlete (regardless of the sport) when you’re young you’re going to be fed into the baseball, football, basketball machine…until that changes (and I’m not sure it ever will) soccer, ice hockey and beer pong will be fringe sports…
I likes my football and baseball, and some once a year events (running/cycling)…I don’t have time to follow another sport…
hence the “i could care less” statement…
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July 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Soccer is a great sport and I am not just saying that because I played growing up. I disagree with the argument that all the best athletes go to football, baseball and basketball (no offense Mindbomb). Simply stated, the athletes that are good at these sports would not be able to play soccer (Kobe, Peyton and Pujols). I think the reason why soccer is not as popular as Football, Basketball and baseball is because it is somewhat of a new sport in our culture. Football and especially baseball have a lot of history with our country. I would make the argument that baseball, with out history would definetely be a fringe sport (80% of fans that go to games, go for the beer and do not even watch the games).
For the record Football, basketball, baseball and then soccer are my favorite sports and in that order. It is difficult to be a soccer fan in this country… I would probably be a bigger soccer fan if I lived in Europe or something.
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July 21st, 2009 at 6:46 am
I would have to agree with mindbomb that a big reason why we are not good at soccer is our best athletes do not play the game.
I don’t think offensive lineman would be good at it, but point guards in the NBA and many skill positions in football, as well as the more athletic positions in baseball (SS, CF) I would think have potential to be very good soccer players if they started playing the game when they were younger and developed more soccer related skills instead of the skills they developed in the more american sports.
I have no way to prove that, I just feel we would certainly have a more athletic team and would stand to do much better. That said again I can’t prove it that is just my opinion.
I actually like watching soccer and i wish it would grow in popularity, but it has an uphill battle.
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July 21st, 2009 at 7:22 am
My opinion…
Are we missing SOME talented athletes in US soccer due to sports pulling these kids away when their younger? I think yes… Is this the reason why soccer is not as popular as other sports in the US? I think no. Also, are we competitive on a world level? US has proven in the last 20 years that we area a top 20 in the world soccer team, so to say that we are not competitive is false. Of course, we are not an elite, but I think we fall in the top 20… I guess kind of like UGA in the past 10 years.
I do agree that the MLS is not as competitive as the premier European leagues but you have to give it time to prosper.
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July 21st, 2009 at 7:40 am
Soccer players in the US are among the best athletes around. The endurance necessary to play soccer at the professional level is unmatched in any sport. I’ll argue that point to the grave.
Why is soccer not as popular in the US? Its cultural. Just like bullfighting is a sport in mexico, soccer the the sport in Europe. American’s prefer faster paced sports like football.
I already see the rebuttal on the last point – what about baseball? I would argue that baseball is America’s sport – like soccer is Europe’s.
America is a huge country with plenty of Talent to go around. I don’t believe that we lose all our talent to one or two popular sports.
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July 21st, 2009 at 7:56 am
I think i misread your comment before hanzo. I think what keeps us being an elete team is our best athletes don’t play the game when they are young. I do think we miss out on a lot of talented people who if they started playing when they were young could be very good athletes in soccer.
I do agree that we are competitive which is awesome, and that it is not the lack of our international competitiveness that is keeping the sport from being popular. There are a lot of reasons why soccer just can’t take off here your point of it being a newer sport for us is well taken as being a big reason.
Perhaps its pace is another and surely is a contributing factor. Baseball’s slow pace is a big reason it has been overtaken by football as america’s sport over the past 30 years.
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July 21st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I propose an argument that is short and simple:
Most people that grew up playing Soccer are also very competitive in all the “American” sports, yet, those who grew up playing only “American” sports tend to suck horribly at Soccer.
Let that soak in completely before you wrongly disagree with me.
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July 21st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I’m not sure why you think that murdock. I don’t know any superstars who tried to play soccer and failed but i also don’t know any soccer players who tried to play other sports and were competitive?
The only soccer players who hear about trying to play football are kickers.
Oh and for the record i’m not pissin on soccer as a sport i think it is great and like every other sport has it’s merrits and challenges. My biggest point is i still think a huge reason we are not an elete team in soccer is because our best athletes have not played it since they were young an choose not to play it as a profesional.
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July 21st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I have had this argument with people my entire life and it is always like talking to brick walls. That is essentially the problem with soccer in America…people refuse to give it the same chance that I gave all the American sports.
People keep talkin’ but nobody seems to be walkin’
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July 21st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Just for shits and giggles I would like a list of NFL, NBA and MLB players that would be good soccer players if they were not drawn to the American sports (other than kickers of course).
I will put one on the list.
Jeter
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July 21st, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Well it is just a guess on my part as but what about someone from basketball like Chris Paul?
Football Maybe a player like Reggie Bush or Devin Hester?
Baseball- Either one of the the Uptons Justin or BJ or maybe Carl Crawford.
I have read that kobe bryant was actually a very good soccer player growing up and decided to eventually move to basketball.
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July 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 am
My guess is you could have taken any of the smaller running backs, not the big bruisers but folks like Bush and Hester (mentioned by SoItGoes)…Barry Sanders (he’d broken all kinds of ankles), Sweetness, Emmit Smith, maybe even a Micheal Vick?
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July 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Wow…all black dudes?
Anyways, I was reading the AJC Sports page and came across an article about Soccer in Atlanta. It was basically talking about the Club America v. AC Milan game at the GA Dome tonight and if soccer could have a fanbase here. But that really wasn’t the interesting part. Here are a few interesting facts:
-Of the top 10 most populous US cities, only Atlanta and Miami have no MLS team. Also, no MLS team in Southeast
-The Atlanta Chiefs (‘67-’73) of the North American Soccer League won the first pro championship of any Atlanta team in 1968
-Estimated Latin American population here in ATL is 700,000…all of which love soccer.
-Youth Soccer in Georgia contains close to 100,000 participants
-And my favorite: Soccer has the most registered participants of any sport in Georgia.
I think that last one answers some questions about the future of Soccer (at least in GA). Looks like people are already beginning to sign up.
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July 22nd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
As far as the article is concerned i think it is great news and i think it will take a few generations.
Hopefull the MLS can take off and build even more of an interest with time. I think once they can offer a more competitive salary for the top atheletes that can only help the sport as well.
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July 22nd, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Bring an MLS team to Atlanta!
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