The Sports Truth

Chelsea will play an exhibition game at the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 21 - and it could be the first game for David Beckham on his new team.

As part of an exhibition tournament called the World Series of Football (that’s what they call soccer in other, less intelligent parts of the world) Chelsea will play South Korea’s Suwon Bluewings on July 17 during a doubleheader that has the Galaxy meeting Mexico’s Tigres. The Bluewings will play Tigres on July 21.

Of course, Beckham’s knee injury makes this harder to predict. His wife’s large boobs, however, make the story of him coming to the States at least somewhat interesting.

Looks like we will now find out if soccer has what it takes to make it in the U.S. of A. After much speculation about joining Major League Soccer after being demoted from both the English national team and his club team, Real Madrid, David Beckham is coming to America.

In the week leading up to the 2006 MLS Cup Championship the owners passed a rule that would allow teams to spend any amount of money over the salary cap to acquire a player. Many immediately dubbed this rule the “Beckham Rule” - and for good reason, it turned out.

Beckham has been signed by the L.A. Galaxy for a whooping $250 million for five years. This contract easily becomes the largest contract ever given a professional athlete in the U.S., topping the Alex Rodriguez deal of $250 million for 10 years signed in 2000 with the Texas Rangers.

David Beckham brings to U.S. soccer a face that the world will recognize - and relate to the MLS. This isn’t like when Pele came over to the long-defunct North American Soccer League at the end of his career. Teams in both Spain and England still wanted Beckham to play for them and he picked MLS. The other side of the ocean will now take notice of MLS, credibility it desperately needs.

Despite what many people say, Beckham can still play. He scored a goal in the World Cup this year and is merely 31 years old. He is the master of the free kick and set piece. American star Landon Donovan, now his teammate, has to be on his hands and knees thanking the powers that be for getting him the “Lord of the Cross.”

Remember when Michael Jordan returned to play the Bulls the first time with the Wizards, or when Shaq went back to L.A. to face the Lakers? Everyone had to be at those games or see them on TV. Beckham will make every game he plays an event, and people who have never attended a soccer game will be looking to get a peak at who David Beckham really is.

There is a reason David picked L.A. to play for. He wants to be the biggest star there is and that can only be accomplished in two places, L.A or N.Y. Beckham is the quintessential superstar in every sense of the word. He’s the most recognizable athlete in the world, the former captain of the English national team, and married to Victoria Beckham (a.k.a. Posh Spice).

He’s a rock star and a star athlete rolled into one. That said, it’s a lot of money to spend for a league that is still in the red every year. But at some point they had to make a move and see if the league can stand on its own. Expect a few other stars to follow Beckham’s footsteps, as a lot of stars look up to him and will listen if he tells them MLS is where they want to be.

Sports Illustrated columnist Grant Wahl writes today after the five-year, $250M signing of David Beckham by the L.A. Galaxy: “Mark it down: Jan. 11, 2007 will forever be known as the day that Major League Soccer truly arrived on the world stage.”

Never one to be surpassed in being overly dramatic, I tried to come up with something even more over-the-top about the David Beckham signing, but Grant has bested me… for now.

Actually, I’m not sure how accurate a statement that is. Well, we have no idea if it is accurate or not. But is it even realistic?

Personally, I say no, and as a truly casual fan of soccer, I can say that a player like David Beckham is supposed to lure fans to the game. This past summer, I wrote articles for my former employers (contractual obligations prevent me from providing you links to those articles) during the World Cup outlining my increasing interest in the games, even after the United States quietly bowed out.

I even went so far as to try and listen to the penalty kick shootout in the Portugal-England quarterfinal because I couldn’t find an English broadcast (the only word I could make out was “GOALLLLLLLLLLLL!”).

Between my inane attempt to listen to soccer in Spanish and my daily following of ESPN’s British World Cup blogger Michael Davies’ hilarious commentary, it would seem I’d be a prime candidate to be sucked in by Beckham-mania. But I’m not. Maybe this is a knee-jerk reaction, but I don’t see myself attending any of the local New England Revolution matches vs. Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy.

Similarly, I don’t see any of my even-less-soccer enthused friends being fired up about the latest British invasion either. Don’t get me wrong, this has to be a step in the right direction for Major League Soccer, and maybe it will validate the MLS on the world stage. I just struggle to see how this is going to dramatically increase attendance and generate interest.

For the dramatic United States-Italy World Cup match in July, about 10 of us huddled around a tiny TV in Long Island to watch the game, living and dying with each play, just as the fans in Europe supposedly do with their respective club matches. However, for reasons worth explaining another time, the allure of national soccer is obviously far greater in the United States than club soccer.

I do think soccer can be a sport that grabs national attention in the U.S., and in July, it received quite a bit of press from major sports outlets in America. To that end, I believe the way to generate interest in pro soccer is to focus on national teams. Michael Davis had the phenomenal idea of a “War for Independence” tournament to be held every 4th of July pitting the participants in that famous war: England, France, the United States, and Spain.

Think about it. It would give sports fans in the United States something to watch during the long weekend besides baseball, as well as a recognizable date for fledgling soccer fans to associate with a fun international tournament.

The United States Soccer Federation should do whatever it can to get us involved and/or organize more North and South American based tournaments to try and fill the void between World Cups. Sadly, the U.S. declined the invitation to the biannual Copa America - a nation-style tournament held by CONMEBOL the South American soccer federation (the next one is set for 2007).

I’m guessing the USSF has their reasons for not entering, but hopefully the rationale is not that they believe it would draw attention away from the MLS. After all, despite what Grant Wahl thinks, Rome was not built in one day.