Becks Hams It Up

So by now all the really annoying office know-it-alls have exclaimed about how David Beckham is coming to America, more importantly, coming to the greater Los Angeles Area. Just what this city needed, another prissy bastard with a superiority complex.

I am a big Beckham guy, when he is delivering quality service balls to Ryan Giggs or Teddy Sheringham. Since his departure from Old Trafford, he has gone without winning one major trophy with Real Madrid and has contributed to more bench time then actual pitch time. But hey, he looks pretty.

I fear that this is just another Carlos Hermosillo move, bringing in a big time name soccer star that ends up flaming out and collecting a paycheck. I hope that it isn't the Hermosillo model and more the Hristo Stoichkov model with the Chicago Fire, where a player in the downside of his career was able to come in and play serious minutes making the Fire one of the better and more stable franchises in the MLS. Stoichkov had a brilliant playing career in Europe and actually won titles with Barcelona, however he didn't have the face for the American media. In any case, the MLS has made it a habit of signing guys with big name value, but little left in the tank.

Is Becks washed up, well he is injury prone and the "Galacticos" declined to resign him or even offer a new contract for a reason. Since the World Cup he has garnered more attention for having his captaincy with the FA taken away and his subsequent departure from the national team. Again, there was a reason Steve McClarren took the armband away and didn't make a big fuss when Becks left the squad.

So the future for the MLS looks somewhat brighter. They have proven that given the right circumstances, they can go out and sign a guy with name value. Is Ronaldo to the Red Bulls next? That has yet to be determined due to the influx of money being pumped into world soccer by Dubai and the United Arad Emirates, two countries that have made it "business as usual" employing the Gabriel Batistutas and Rivaldos of the world. In any case, the MLS has their franchise guy to go along with another guy, Landon Donovan, that needs to be the poster boy for American soccer. Surely the move is seen as a positive for Donovan, who needs a swift kick in the arse after his rotten egg at the 2006 World Cup.

However the Galaxy and the MLS risk re-opening pandora's box. They can end up with a guy with little left in the tank that collects paychecks for a living, something that they desperately tried to get away from after the countless number of disasters in league signing history. "El Matador" anyone? This would do a lot to stop the growth of young, promissing American soccer talent that this league was supposed to showcase. As it is, the league already has shipped out some of the better American talent to Europe. That is of course the point of the league and American Soccer has come a long way from John Harkes and Alexi Lalas. However the MLS is in that critial period where it has to land some credibility on the world stage if it is going to ultimately survive. American soccer settled with the appointment of Bob Bradley as US national coach and failed miserably in trying to legitimise the program with a big name like Jurgen Klinnsman. So that gauntlet has been dropped and this move must bring some legitimacy to the MLS and American soccer or come 2010 no one will really care about US soccer and the development of the program.

Will I go watch? Perhaps. I mean, it is going to be a circus for the first few months when he is around and games will probably be sold out. As people realize that the product on the field is still soccer, the true hard core fans will remain, and I will be there supporting my guy Sasha and company with the thousand or so fans that frequent the Home Depot Center. Besides, I really don't feel like being part of that whole Scientology Revival the first couple of months as all of Becks' Hollywood friends like Tom Cruise and Will Smith make the Galaxy games the new "sports" experience.