"Here Before, Here After, Here Despite 23."
Look, of all the topics swirling around the world of soccer this week, the last thing I wanted to do was post something about that Beckham fellow.
Then I saw the pictures and video of the Galaxy fans ire toward No. 23 during the friendly Sunday night against AC Milan at the Home Depot Center. All that was missing was a severed pig's head being tossed onto the field, a la Luis Figo's return to Barcelona. So in that regard, Beckham got off light -- talk to Sol Campbell.
A major tip of the hat to the Galaxy hardcore fans who took a big step Sunday to reclaiming some ownership of the club they care deeply about. (I'll be DVRing the match's replay on FSC tonight.)
Let me paint two scenes for you.
First, back in 2005 me and my friend Nick decided it would be a good idea to drive 15 hours to see the U.S./Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, over Labor Day weekend 2005. In the parking lot madness before the eventual 2-0 U.S. win, we met up with some members of the L.A. Riot squad.
To say these guys were passionate about their club is an understatement. At a U.S. game they were singing songs about the Galaxy, repping their club big time. More than anything, they were knowledgeable. It's debatable how many MLS fans live-and-die with their clubs, but these two seemed close.
Suffice to say, when I got home I went on their message board and ordered a shirt, post haste.
A year later in Germany at the World Cup on the train to Kaiserslautern, I met another extremely passionate Galaxy fan. This guy admitted to watching reserve matches and going as far as to Costa Rica to support the club. My memory fails me about this great story he told about heckling a relatively well-known coach at a reserve match.
Obviously these are two small slices of a much larger pie.
Yet, it's not like before that Beckham fellow arrived stateside in the summer of 2007 that the Galaxy didn't have support. In fact, the Galaxy probably had as deep roots and traditions in MLS before the team decided it wanted to become FC SuperClub. The Galaxy were probably only behind DC United in terms of a legacy, but over the existence of the league B.B. (Before Beckham) it had been the most consistently successful club.
It's not like the Galaxy hardcore support wouldn't have wanted a big-name European star, far from it, though they've seen some foreign flops (Hong Myung-Bo tops the list.) However if you were to poll them, Beckham might have clocked in near the bottom of the list.
Of course, if you polled the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Katie Holmes, well, Beckham would probably be No. 1 ... as well as the only name on the list.
Finishing up The Beckham Experiment, one thing that is left unsaid is that the Galaxy already had a fairly good group of support in Los Angeles before Beckham arrived, at least by MLS standards. These weren't fans that would get their pictures snapped in luxury boxes and splashed across the pages of US Weekly or People. These were the backbone fans who turn up for mid-week SuperLiga matches and U.S. Open Cup matches -- the type of fans for whatever reason it's taken over a decade for MLS clubs to actually embrace.
By contrast, if Beckham landed on the other side of the country in New York, it would have gone a long way to create new fans or at least make the Red Bulls semi-relevant.
From a business standpoint, yeah, Beckham added to the Galaxy coffers, but did he add anything to the love of the club for the hardcore support, the guys that still rock the club's original yellow-and-green? The guys that could tell you who Mauricio Cienfuegos or Ezra Hendrickson were.
So that's why it was awesome to see these "real" fans show Beckham, 19 Entertainment and the rest of the club management how they feel about the last two years when their club became a circus sideshow. Beckham was about as disingenuous as a professional athlete could be as he flirted and eventually played with Milan.
And the bottom line here is that while Los Angeles is stereotypically labeled the land of phonies, it's fantastic that the Riot Squad called out the ultimate sports phony of the decade -- Beckham.
Credit the fans for turning what the Galaxy management wanted to trumpet as a great moment into a public relations disaster. Management better not try to contain or silence the fans anger toward Beckham the rest of the way. You can't risk alienating fan -- paying customers -- who'll be around a whole lot longer than that Beckham fellow. Or look at it this way, the Riot Squad have been faithful to the club through ups-and-downs, has Beckham?
Meanwhile, the Englishman clearly doesn't want to be in MLS, despite whatever well-coached statements he might say. Instead, we're due for another couple months of this charade. If Sunday night's display by the fans was the final nail in the Beckham leaving coffin, so be it. It's safe to say his mind was probably made up anyway. (One other final nail from this incident -- ESPN's Tommy Smyth, who actually defended Beckham on one of those inane videos that automatically load on Soccernet. ESPN, please, get some real analysts before you inevitably gain the North American Premier League rights. Please.)
All this said, it's hard to begrudge Beckham for wanting to play for AC Milan, especially ahead of a World Cup year.
It should be fun to see how MLS tries to spin this latest black eye for the Beckham scenario, too. What was supposed to be the ultimate P.R. coup for the league has turned into an absolute joke. Instead of attracting positive attention for the league, the knives are out from old school media members looking for any excuse to bury Beckham. For instance, this morning I looked up at one of the television sets at the gym and its Beckham confronting a fan -- which is sad since it's probably the only time an MLS team will get any air time during 'Sportscenter' this week.
Lost in the shuffle, too, is that amazingly the Galaxy have become a pretty good club, without Beckham. Credit Bruce Arena for building a roster that can compete during the grind that is the MLS season. Hell, they managed a 2-2 draw vs. Milan which might be more an indictment on Milan, even if it was their first preseason match. Hard to say.
And perhaps that's the only way for Beckham to salvage any shred of respectability he once held. Beckham will need to help the Galaxy win some silverware before he slinks back to Milan in January.
Until that unlikely scenario unfurls, "Go Home Fruad" will remain the lasting image of Beckham 2009 and beyond.
Three other things:
* The accepted Internets nomenclature for Manchester City is "Citeh". Maybe we all ought to change that to "Franken-team." If you have the money, fine, stockpile players. But how is there enough room on the field for now: Robinho, Stephen Ireland, Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Elano, etc. Mark Hughes doesn't strike me as a mad scientist as this seems like a situation where it's like, hey let's buy whichever players are on the block. City is spending like a spoiled girl on 'My Super Sweet 16.' It should be fun to see how this all plays out, considering the club isn't even in the Europa League for the upcoming season.
* I'm trying something a little different to preview the Premier League season, calling on fan voices to give their takes on their favorite club. If you're interested, get at me. If there's a Burnley fan out in 'Net-land reading this site, I'd be honored and stunned.
* I also read today somewhere that Landon Donovan broke up with his wife, which might be another signal that's he'll end up in Europe after this MLS season is over. They might serve lamb pizza over there. (He owes it to the Galaxy in light of the quotes in the Beckham book to stick it out until the 2009 year is over.)
(Credit to anyone that notes this post's title as a sly reference to the final mission in 'Fallout 3' aka digital crack.)
Look, of all the topics swirling around the world of soccer this week, the last thing I wanted to do was post something about that Beckham fellow.
Then I saw the pictures and video of the Galaxy fans ire toward No. 23 during the friendly Sunday night against AC Milan at the Home Depot Center. All that was missing was a severed pig's head being tossed onto the field, a la Luis Figo's return to Barcelona. So in that regard, Beckham got off light -- talk to Sol Campbell.
A major tip of the hat to the Galaxy hardcore fans who took a big step Sunday to reclaiming some ownership of the club they care deeply about. (I'll be DVRing the match's replay on FSC tonight.)
Let me paint two scenes for you.
First, back in 2005 me and my friend Nick decided it would be a good idea to drive 15 hours to see the U.S./Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, over Labor Day weekend 2005. In the parking lot madness before the eventual 2-0 U.S. win, we met up with some members of the L.A. Riot squad.
To say these guys were passionate about their club is an understatement. At a U.S. game they were singing songs about the Galaxy, repping their club big time. More than anything, they were knowledgeable. It's debatable how many MLS fans live-and-die with their clubs, but these two seemed close.
Suffice to say, when I got home I went on their message board and ordered a shirt, post haste.
A year later in Germany at the World Cup on the train to Kaiserslautern, I met another extremely passionate Galaxy fan. This guy admitted to watching reserve matches and going as far as to Costa Rica to support the club. My memory fails me about this great story he told about heckling a relatively well-known coach at a reserve match.
Obviously these are two small slices of a much larger pie.
Yet, it's not like before that Beckham fellow arrived stateside in the summer of 2007 that the Galaxy didn't have support. In fact, the Galaxy probably had as deep roots and traditions in MLS before the team decided it wanted to become FC SuperClub. The Galaxy were probably only behind DC United in terms of a legacy, but over the existence of the league B.B. (Before Beckham) it had been the most consistently successful club.
It's not like the Galaxy hardcore support wouldn't have wanted a big-name European star, far from it, though they've seen some foreign flops (Hong Myung-Bo tops the list.) However if you were to poll them, Beckham might have clocked in near the bottom of the list.
Of course, if you polled the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Katie Holmes, well, Beckham would probably be No. 1 ... as well as the only name on the list.
Finishing up The Beckham Experiment, one thing that is left unsaid is that the Galaxy already had a fairly good group of support in Los Angeles before Beckham arrived, at least by MLS standards. These weren't fans that would get their pictures snapped in luxury boxes and splashed across the pages of US Weekly or People. These were the backbone fans who turn up for mid-week SuperLiga matches and U.S. Open Cup matches -- the type of fans for whatever reason it's taken over a decade for MLS clubs to actually embrace.
By contrast, if Beckham landed on the other side of the country in New York, it would have gone a long way to create new fans or at least make the Red Bulls semi-relevant.
From a business standpoint, yeah, Beckham added to the Galaxy coffers, but did he add anything to the love of the club for the hardcore support, the guys that still rock the club's original yellow-and-green? The guys that could tell you who Mauricio Cienfuegos or Ezra Hendrickson were.
So that's why it was awesome to see these "real" fans show Beckham, 19 Entertainment and the rest of the club management how they feel about the last two years when their club became a circus sideshow. Beckham was about as disingenuous as a professional athlete could be as he flirted and eventually played with Milan.
And the bottom line here is that while Los Angeles is stereotypically labeled the land of phonies, it's fantastic that the Riot Squad called out the ultimate sports phony of the decade -- Beckham.
Credit the fans for turning what the Galaxy management wanted to trumpet as a great moment into a public relations disaster. Management better not try to contain or silence the fans anger toward Beckham the rest of the way. You can't risk alienating fan -- paying customers -- who'll be around a whole lot longer than that Beckham fellow. Or look at it this way, the Riot Squad have been faithful to the club through ups-and-downs, has Beckham?
Meanwhile, the Englishman clearly doesn't want to be in MLS, despite whatever well-coached statements he might say. Instead, we're due for another couple months of this charade. If Sunday night's display by the fans was the final nail in the Beckham leaving coffin, so be it. It's safe to say his mind was probably made up anyway. (One other final nail from this incident -- ESPN's Tommy Smyth, who actually defended Beckham on one of those inane videos that automatically load on Soccernet. ESPN, please, get some real analysts before you inevitably gain the North American Premier League rights. Please.)
All this said, it's hard to begrudge Beckham for wanting to play for AC Milan, especially ahead of a World Cup year.
It should be fun to see how MLS tries to spin this latest black eye for the Beckham scenario, too. What was supposed to be the ultimate P.R. coup for the league has turned into an absolute joke. Instead of attracting positive attention for the league, the knives are out from old school media members looking for any excuse to bury Beckham. For instance, this morning I looked up at one of the television sets at the gym and its Beckham confronting a fan -- which is sad since it's probably the only time an MLS team will get any air time during 'Sportscenter' this week.
Lost in the shuffle, too, is that amazingly the Galaxy have become a pretty good club, without Beckham. Credit Bruce Arena for building a roster that can compete during the grind that is the MLS season. Hell, they managed a 2-2 draw vs. Milan which might be more an indictment on Milan, even if it was their first preseason match. Hard to say.
And perhaps that's the only way for Beckham to salvage any shred of respectability he once held. Beckham will need to help the Galaxy win some silverware before he slinks back to Milan in January.
Until that unlikely scenario unfurls, "Go Home Fruad" will remain the lasting image of Beckham 2009 and beyond.
Three other things:
* The accepted Internets nomenclature for Manchester City is "Citeh". Maybe we all ought to change that to "Franken-team." If you have the money, fine, stockpile players. But how is there enough room on the field for now: Robinho, Stephen Ireland, Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Elano, etc. Mark Hughes doesn't strike me as a mad scientist as this seems like a situation where it's like, hey let's buy whichever players are on the block. City is spending like a spoiled girl on 'My Super Sweet 16.' It should be fun to see how this all plays out, considering the club isn't even in the Europa League for the upcoming season.
* I'm trying something a little different to preview the Premier League season, calling on fan voices to give their takes on their favorite club. If you're interested, get at me. If there's a Burnley fan out in 'Net-land reading this site, I'd be honored and stunned.
* I also read today somewhere that Landon Donovan broke up with his wife, which might be another signal that's he'll end up in Europe after this MLS season is over. They might serve lamb pizza over there. (He owes it to the Galaxy in light of the quotes in the Beckham book to stick it out until the 2009 year is over.)
(Credit to anyone that notes this post's title as a sly reference to the final mission in 'Fallout 3' aka digital crack.)
Labels: David Beckham, los angeles galaxy, MLS, Soccer
Wahl is doing lots of UK based media as well. I wonder what questions they are asking him about Sir Bulgeham and his 'efforts' in LA.
My reading of things is that folks in the UK don't really 'get' why Galaxy fans (or even Wahl for that matter) are giving their boy such a hard time. Some seem to think a backwater team like the Galaxy don't deserve the man OR that Davey-boy tries so hard - that all sins are forgiven. Wahl makes a very strong case in the book that Beckham stopped 'giving his full effort' part way through last MLS season. I live in LA, watch many Galaxy games and can say that Beckham was very, VERY obviously only going through the motions last year in MLS after the first couple weeks. He simply stopped trying.
People that don't understand why Galaxy fans would be upset are obviously ignoring his constantly bleating to get out of his LA contract AND didn't watch Beckham 'play' enough last season. Anyone paying attention realizes that it wasn't the fans that stopped respecting the player - it was the other way around.
Ok first things first; yes Beckham has hardly showered himself in glory since he came to the Galaxy but the whole Beckham backlash is getting a bit out of proportion.
I’m a Man United fan from Manchester; (they do exist) living in Toronto and I was one of Beckham’s harshest critics when he left for Madrid and the joke of a media/celebrity circus he created for himself. Did he come to MLS for the wrong reasons? Yes. Do I think he regrets it now? Yes.
But people over here need to keep things in perspective, its cringe worthy having the listen to Sportscentre, PTI, and Around The Horn, and other similar North American media outlets talking about the sport I love and they know little, if nothing about. Just a bunch of talking heads (who were always sceptical/ignorant of Soccer to begin with) getting their insults in without giving the guy a decent chance to defend himself. From what I can tell since he came back to the Galaxy Beckham is the one person to come out looking best in this whole debacle, he’s tried to keep things private and tried not to rip on Donovan in public even thought Landon had already thrown him to wolves.
Galaxy fans have every right to be pissed at Beckham, and should be applauded for showing true passion for their team, but come on. I read that one of the banners at the game read "Is evil something u are...or something u do?" Tell what has Beckham done to be classed as Evil? Seek fame and fortune in the entertainment capital of the world, in the country that’s notorious for greed, excess, and capitalism? I don’t know what that guy in the stands said to Beckham but I’m pretty sure he’d said what he said to any of you you’d have punched in the face.
I never thought the day would come when I would defend Beckham, he’s deserving of criticism, for all his Hollywood parties, his endless commercialism, and his lack of effort but come on a little perspective.
Citeh is going to be incredible to watch this year. There is a 0.0% chance they make it through the season without a managerial change and/or a dressing room meltdown. Robinho, Adebayor, Santa Cruz, and Tevez have all played the media game when they were starting every match -- how's that going to play out with all of them? Not to mention that you haven't even gotten to the likes of Martin Petrov, Felipe Caicedo, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong, Kompany, Etuhu, Michael Johnson, and Benjani. Benjani is likely gone, and I'm sure they'll sell 1/2 of those other guys, but where are the rest going to play? It's not like they are competing in Europe. I may make the switch to Direct TV for Setanta yet! Anythign for more City games. While we're at it:
http://www.studs-up.com/2009/07/two-terrys-with-one-stone/
I think Beckham is acting in a very mature manner. For a country that cares nothing about soccer, we are awfully passionate about the celebrity icon that Beckham is. This country is stirred up by the controversy that he brings, not the fact that he is not living up to expectations on the field.