The Beckham Watch

Looks like we are both right. He will stay till the end of the season (June) -come back for a few months, and then buy himself out of his contract.

At least that is what the papers are reporting. The clubs have not put anything out officially as far as I can find.

So you get the red half and I get the black.

 

It is actually being reported by the LA papers:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-jon ... 7406.story

 

I will take the Gullible prize tho...

 

Whatever it is - they need to get it settled.

Just when I think I am out, they pull me back in! I tell myself I dont care what happens, but then I cant help myself from wasting 10 minutes each day reading the newest episode in the drama!

 

You know I am bored if....

i am screwing around and run across this: http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnis ... cle/595463

I am going to take some time to digest it, instead of provide a knee-jerk reaction. Some valid points? Maybe. Some questionable conclusions? Maybe, as well.

 

Ahhhhhh! I'm proud of ya!

I could rebut that article with the point that there was a fairly exciting season played in 2008, along with some pretty good footy! But I think I'll go on the point that makes the most sense...

The effect of Beckham leaving is nowhere near as bad as it would have been if he HAD been a major part of a successful team. The writer makes the point all of us know; that Gals gave him no team to play with.

So... everyone will get their chance to see Becks in 09, they'll come to the same conclusion that the lucky who saw him in 08 did. He's a very good player with exceptional skills, and a larger than life celeb, but he's one of 22 players on the pitch.

I'd suggest subbing the sport/league/player in question with Shaq in the Spanish League. Wonder if Shaq deciding to go back to say.. San Antonio instead of staying at Barcelona would kill pro ball in Spain? I think not.

 

Thing is, the idea is probably not as far-fetched or out there as some might think. Also, it is not as plausible as others might consider.

Describing it as essentially a "slow-burn" certainly provides alot of lattitude. The author may be right, he may not. The status of this league in 20 years proves or disproves the theory.

But, I have to mention the "regional" comment. That is something I have been saying MLS should focus on for quite a while. Build the foundation. Then build on that, and so on and so forth. Over 100 years for clubs to get where they are in the Prem. I'm afraid the world (yes, the world) will provide us no shortcuts (even in the form of Beckham) to doing our time. Think smaller to achieve bigger.

 

I think its more telling, of anything else, that he's willing to pay OUT OF POCKET to leave the usa.

doesn't matter if its a penny, or the reported 12-million: thats an absolute disgrace.

I know how much we love (or, uh, hate?) WSD, but the first hour today was quite interesting.

Steven brought up good points about all the things going on in the domestic landscape: Becks, Barcelona waving bye-bye to Miami, MLS in the concacaf cl, leadership, etc etc.

Give it a go.

 

You forgot to mention, a league championship belonging to a team from....gack, Columbus, Ohio???

No offense, fog (and I mean that being born in Cincinnati), but we'll (or they'll) look back someday and say, "There was a professional soccer team in Columbus??"

 

More wasted time reading Becks news! Thanks A LOT!



I like WSD - doesnt mean I believe everything I hear, or that I put a whole lot of stock in the content. The regular "guests" are interesting - unless they are talking about Italy.

I am not sure what the delay is in making a formal announcement about the final agreement.

 

There's one metropolitan area that is growing in my fine home state -- greater Columbus.

No, I fail to see how it is so implausible. Could you enlighten me.




Actually, I am glad for this post -- it's time in this thread I didn't spend reading about Mr. Beckham, who has fallen under a media blackout in the SteveM19 house.

 

It's COLUMBUS.....OHIO.....just sayng it makes me kind of bored. And sleepy....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

WhitesBhoy, that's the same attitude that Londoners have towards Manchester.

...and yet the folks in Manchester have somehow managed to put together a couple of fairly decent professional soccer teams over the years.

 

WhitesBhoy. Methinks your view of Columbus is jaded by memories of your childhood. Columbus is a growing metropolitan area with a Convention Center that outshines all but a few on the East Coast. Businesses sending employees to seminars in Columbus is not only not uncommon, but is viewed as a pretty good gig, from the employee's perspective.

Back on the MLS, do you think that 20,000+ people bought season tickets for the Seattle Sounders FC just to watch Beckham once a year? Please. There are certainly problems with the MLS and I don't believe Don Garber is the guy to take them to the next level, but the league is here to stay.

 

I don't think The League will go away either, but they may have to change their business model, and possibly their name.

 

On an aside, I was watching SportsCenter last night (for the first time in ages - and only for a minute), and I was watching the crawl along the bottom of the screen... NBA scores, NCAA scores, MLB scores... then Prem League Scores. "ManU 2, Newcastle 1, Berbatov 68" etc. I was pretty shocked, but very happy. Small detail, but speaks volumes. I think it says alot about where the sport is going in this country if ESPN is taking greater notice - they do, afterall, for a huge cross section of the sporting public, dictate which sports do well. Just ask the NHL.

Soccer is going to be big here.

 

When Beckham came in, a lot of corporate sponsorship and ad revenue for both MLS and it's tv partners like ESPN, etal followed. If that dries up with his departure, and given the current economic situation, it will hamper the league's ability to sign and keep bigger name players. That may very well retard the growth process quite a bit, but I think it's a huge stretch to say it will kill the league.

And what's with the Columbus hate? It's very comparable in population to, say........Glasgow. :wink: