David Beckham finally accomplished something other than over-exposure on an American soccer field. The only man who can actually “bend it like Beckham” did it in a game that’s purpose is hard to fathom.
I truly don’t understand why they were playing.
I consider myself the average-American soccer fan. Therefore, I obviously don’t know all that much about the sport. The World Cup is fun to watch every four years, foreign soccer fans are 10 percent passionate and 90 percent crazy, Brandi Chastain took her shirt off after scoring a goal, and David Beckham is trying to create buzz about a sport which, in America, most little kids play and most adults don’t follow.
So when I received a text message from my one soccer friend seconds after Beckham bended it to the back corner of the net on Wednesday, I assumed it was in front of a sold-out crowd at the Home Depot Center for an important MLS game.
It wasn’t.
Actually, the stadium wasn’t close to capacity, and it was for a SuperLiga match. What a SuperLiga match actually is I don’t know, but I do know no other sport in this country would have other matches during the season.
I don’t think Bill Belichick would let Tom Brady play in a seven-on-seven tourney during the Patriots’ bye week, and I don’t think A-Rod would take a few days away from the Yankees because his 40-and-younger team was a game away from the Westside Rec. League finals.
America doesn’t need David Beckham to create buzz for soccer. The small town I live in has thousands of kids playing every weekend.
America needs a league they can latch onto and call their own. I don’t care if David Beckham bends it 400 times to the back corner of the net on a free-kick during those “other” games. I want to see him score the game-winner for the L.A. Galaxy during the championship match on network television. I want to see other great soccer stars play for the Major League of Soccer, not tear it up during spring training-esque contests.
Maybe then the next time I scream, “Gooooooaaaaalllll,” it’ll actually mean something.
If you don’t know why Beckham was playing in a “meaningless” Superliga game, take a look at the English National Team Roster when they play this week. In uniform will be one Mr David Beckham who obviously had to prove that he was fit enough to play for the Galaxy before he was to be recalled to the national team of England. Now, lets see if he makes it back in time or in any condition to play for the Galaxy in their next game against Chivas.
Comment by effie pee — August 20, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
Good point of view, most American fans don’t care about soccer hear because the product is so inferior compared to the overseas brand. Maybe he can get other great European players to follow him over here and make the game exciting.
Comment by russell coleman — August 21, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
I don’t quite understand it either, other than the simple basic reason: Money for the owners. I equate it to the Lakers playing in a tournament consisting of the best teams from Mexico in the middle of the season. Make sense? No. Money? Yes. I agree with effie’s comment. The games for Beck’s are to help him prep for a silly “friendly” in England. It is pretty sad now that England can’t field a team without Becks for a friendly. I guess they are running out of players to develop. Anyway, good commentary. When is the Galaxy’s next official MLS game anyway?
P.S. Speaking of very little fans at the game, it took me back twenty years to a time when the only soccer I could watch was on the Spanish stations. It was great to brush up on the spanish but disappointed we have this megastar of a player, that they have been promoting all over the place and you couldn’t watch it in English, in America.
Comment by JC — August 21, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
“If you don’t know why Beckham was playing in a ‘meaningless’ Superliga game” … is exactly the point. Ryan is admitting, like most American fans, his ignorance to the game overall. The fact that a million seasons are seemingly going on at once becomes confusing to the “average” fan and makes an MLS game less important. If the average American is to get into soccer, he or she is going to need to be able sink their teeth into it knowing this is it, this is the most important game going on. That’s the point and that’s one of the many reasons soccer just doesn’t catch on here at the pro level … AYSO, club, high school, college, it’s fine. But Beckham or not, the MLS, Superliga, whathaveyou will continue to be nothing more than an afterthought.
Comment by Grant — August 21, 2007 @ 3:00 pm