Is David Beckham the smartest athlete the world has seen since um Michael Jordan?
It was inevitable that Becks n Posh would end up in Hollywood eventually but Becks chose the right time too. He is still capable of being a top performer at the MLS level and well, two hundred and fifty million dollars also help, not to speak of the vast commercial opportunities to expand David Beckham Inc.
It’s also alluring to do what Pele couldn’t: to make soccer popular in US. I guess that would be a more fitting legacy for David Beckham. Read Simon Talbot and Richard Williams in the Guardian. As Williams says, this is one smart dude:
For this most Hollywood of footballers, Los Angeles is the logical place to end up. The weather is lovely, the light is gorgeous, the fans will adore him, the beach is a free-kick away, the shopping is terrific, he and Victoria already speak the language, and the kids can keep up their Spanish with the pool guy. Together they can sit of an evening, watching the sun sink into the Pacific and imagining the end titles rolling on the final reel of a spectacular career.
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MLS is the pasture where old race horses are, well, put to pasture. I don’t see how this will improve the profile or the standard of the game in the US.
Though he can go even worse. He may eventually join a team in Dubai. That way at least he will be close to his palm-frond home.
Becks is horribly overpriced and he will add to the list of failed stars who have graced MLS. It would have been better to get a South American star like Riquelme or the likes of him from Argentina or Brazil with genuine skills–not just a few and far, deadball skills ole Becks has got. I guess it is all about WASP marketing, Middle America, and Stuff like that decide who gets to play in MLS.
IMHO Pele failed in the mid 70s because US was not ready for soccer–besides Americans cannot appreciate games of skill–witness the so-called American football–it is all MBA tactics with a lot of excitement and brute force and shit. Players with towels hanging out from their waistbands sweating horribly in their bunny suits (almost)…Ditto with Ice Hockey but slightly better–once again the emphasis being on strength and very little on skill.
Basketball is and has, been a game for tall freaks and it gets too mechanical–although three-pointers have rescued the game from totally being mechanical. When I watch players like Shaq I sometimes wonder why would any one want to pay to watch basket ball?
Also, Americans love to have ‘numbers’ in their games–they have tried to impose ‘quarters’ in soccer right? Also they love to see inane stats on assists, through balls, and sundry stats. Soccer games with 1-0 or 2-0 scores don’t look good.
So we should not get excited about Becks and Posh–may be a few soccer moms will find their groove…
Becks is horribly overpriced and horribly overrated. I ‘admire’ him for his capacity to milk whatever he has. I mean he makes more money than poor Alex Rodriguez. Jordan for instance is a supremely talented overachiever, who like Becks is an INC. Becks n Posh do it with no talent and no genuine achievements to speak of. Now is that talent or what?
I agree that is ‘talent’; Was it W.C. Fields who said, “A sucker is born every minute.” ?
Also see this CNNSI report: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/01/12/beckham.cruise/index.html
Becks talks to his friend Tom ‘the nut’ Cruise a couple of times before deciding to accept his million dollars a week gig in LA. He was already on Good Morning America. Dude isn’t coming for money and he got his priorities straight: “I am coming not to be the superstar but to be part of the team, work hard and hopefully win things,” said Beckham, whose five-year deal is the biggest in world sport.
“It is about the football. I am coming to make a difference. I would like to take (the sport) to another level.”
When Figos of this world find bottom-feeders in Turkey or Dubai or Japan to ply their trade, look at what Becks does? Just get the biggest contract in sports history.
Yeah, we are the suckers though. there seem to be too many of them, especially in east asia, who want to buy t-shirts. Real Madrid made a tonne of money without winning anything big.
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