The David Beckham USA Tour has begun. Count me among those who say, yeah so what’s the big deal? Soccer (or “Futbol” as non-Americans call it) is not, after all, America’s passion, American Football is.
Americans just can’t seem to get on board the “Futbol” bandwagon. Heaven knows they have tried, just ask any haggard soccer mom. The closest I’ve come to getting on that bandwagon was when Brandi Chastain tossed off her jersey and ran around in her sports bra. Now that was a real moment in “Futbol” history. But I guess I’m like so many other Football fans, “Futbol” just doesn’t float my boat. But, there are many who are bent on making Beckham the next American idol.
I asked my husband why he thought “Futbol” wasn’t popular in the USA. He is often the object of my probing questions, much to his annoyance. He said the reason Americans don’t like “Futbol” is because there aren’t enough points scored and it’s slow. I pointed out that baseball could fit that description, yes, he agreed, but baseball is “our game”. Ah, now there’s a smart man!
In other words Futbol/Soccer isn’t America’s game and there’s the rub. But the brilliants minds of this world, those same brilliant minds that have millions of dollars to throw at a Field of “Futbol” Dream, have identified their poster boy for indoctrinating the US of A to “Futbol”, his name is David Beckham and he comes with a sexy former Spice Girl wife by the name of Victoria. I know next to nada about the sport but even I could pick David Beckham out of a crowd. He is a very hot number. And, I’m told, he is one helluva “Futbol” player.
There has been so much hype, so much press coverage, that it’s virtually impossible to not notice the Beckhams arrival in LA. It also happens to be a dead time in American sports. It’s the perfect time to crown the new “Futbol” King and his Queen upon their arrival in La-La Land.
So, who exactly is this guy, David Beckham? Had you heard of him before the movie Bend it Like Beckham became a big hit on this side of the pond? Perhaps you had seen him on Entertainment Tonight with his blonde celebrity wife, Victoria. Spice Girls, them I know, “Futbol” players, well, not so much. But David Beckham is a bona fide International Super Star. People all over the world recognize, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Derek Jeter, Muhammad Ali, and David Beckham.
David will wear the green and gold uniform of the Los Angeles Galaxy. It is the expectation of all “Futbol” fans and the financial backers of the sport, that David Beckham, his pretty face and accurate foot will change the way America feels about “Futbol”. I suspect his jersey will sell very well, and I might even look at one for myself. Nothing says success like jersey sales. But it simply won’t be enough. Beckham’s first game for the Galaxy will be an exhibition against a foe familiar to him, Chelsea of the English Premier League, on July 21 in Los Angeles.
He joins a Galaxy squad badly in need of a boost. Los Angeles, which has a 3-4-5 record in the MLS this season, has three exhibitions scheduled before Beckham and new teammates Landon Donovan (another hottie), Cobi Jones and crew, are scheduled to face another MLS game July 31.
“I’m coming there not to be a superstar. I’m coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things,” he said shortly after signing with the Galaxy.
“With me, it’s about football. I’m coming there to make a difference. I’m coming there to play football.”
Beckham, who already has one youth academy in Los Angeles and another in London, also hopes to raise interest in the sport in the United States to a new level. He acknowledged that his playing in the MLS would not make the sport transcend baseball, basketball and American football, but said, “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could make a difference.”
