Beckham to MLS?!

yeah, my bad. I hadn't read that when I posted mine.

 

If Jordan still can collect $40-something million per in endorsement money, Beckham easily could clear $50 million each year being in L.A.

And Boomer, L.A. went nuts when Gretzky came to town. Same level of star power, IMO.

 

Now that Beck's is making 50 million a year, I can't wait for Rhoden's column about how the world is shutting out African Americans from the world soccer market. Aside from the, who gives a shit?

 

This is probably going to sound a little condescending, Sly, so I'm sorry in advance.

But the reason Beckham is a draw as a soccer player is because of something that the soccer layman may not grasp.

He is -- now, past his prime -- a very average end line-to-end line player. But that's not his gift. He is now more of a specialist ... a set-piece specialist.

This may be a very convoluted parallel, but imagine an NBA point guard who can curve his lob passes around the top of the key and put it on a dime by the cylinder for someone to dunk. The gift Beckham possesses, it's unique.

He scored a World Cup goal by putting enough English on a free kick that he put it over a wall and down into the goalmouth.

People are sick of the line, "Bend It Like Beckham." But it remains the best explanation of his appeal. He bends passes at will.

 

Or as George Best put it: "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's alright".

 

I'd do him! He's dreamy, especially in those milk ads.

 

I have no malice toward Beckham, and will probably giddily buy a ticket for his first trip to New England. But I freakin' love that quote.

 

Besty was a world class quote, as well as one of the best players in the world. My favorite:

"I spent a lot of my money on fast cars, women and booze. The rest I just squandered."

 

Here's something no one has brought up that I wouldn't be surprised to see either -- teams playing in bigger stadiums when the Galaxy comes to town. If the Dallas Burn (they'll always be the Burn in my heart) can sell out Texas Stadium with Becks in town, which I bet they'd come close, and turn a profit still, why not do it? Now, maybe the rent would be too much to do this, but I bet there's some teams that look into it.

And as for the Gretzky/Beckham comparison, when Gretzky came to the U.S., there had never been a popular movie named "Deke it Like Gretky." Becks is a bigger name in the U.S. right now because of his pop image. The average person on the street, women who aren't into sports included, has heard of him; could the same be said of Gretzky?

And I wouldn't be surprised if Adidas is paying a HUGE chunk of that $250 million. They used to dominate the soccer market in the U.S. in a big way, but Nike has made major inroads since 1994. I'm sure Adidas is looking for Beckham to help them win back that market and help in others as well, so the money they spend now is investing in a decade of sells to kids who become loyal to their shoes.

 

Oh, I remember that L.A. went nuts, SI had the "Great Move, Gretzky" cover, the Forum became trendy on non-Lakers nights, etc. As a sports star, Gretzky was much bigger in the U.S. in '88 than Beckham is now; as a crossover star, Beckham dwarfs (dwarves?) Gretzky. Balance those very different elements, and maybe it is a wash between the two. The fact that news stations around here (Boston) were treating the Beckham story as a news story rather than a sports one, and that the Herald had its business writers on the story suggests to me that this story transcends sports more than the Gretzky trade did. That's all.

 

Yes. "The Trade" was the biggest sports story in the country that summer. Comparable to "The Great Home Run Race" exactly 10 years later. Gretzky-to-L.A. was a national A1 story -- not just a sports story.

 

Nike's soccer stuff sucks [/soccerplayer]