January 15, 2007

This answers a question that wasn't asked.Of course Beckham is not Pele. Who is or ever could be?I, like most Americans am not a huge soccer fan but I know a legend when I see one and Pele fits the bill.

posted by sickleguy at 01:48 PM on January 15, 2007

Of course I read the article.I do not agree with the need of it.

posted by sickleguy at 02:17 PM on January 15, 2007

I don't think you can really consider soccer even in the top seven or eight sports in the USA. The list of 'much bigger' must include NCAA football and NCAA basketball (ie March Madness) as well as in # of spectators and $ available, PGA Tour and NASCAR. The biggest problem that can NEVER be overcome is the fact that football in America hasn't a damn thing to do with a soccer ball.

posted by jaygolf at 03:49 PM on January 15, 2007

The article is very interesting, and it paints a picture of soccer in the United States that's both optimistic and (seemingly) pretty realistic. I had no idea how hubristic the NASL, and the Cosmos specifically, was being in throwing money at all those old people ith no business plan. I agree and hope that Beckham's signing could bring a much better result for this league. And why does it matter which US sports are most popular? Unless you're an advertiser or a media outlet who needs that kind of demographic data, who cares if soccer or NASCAR or hockey or rock-paper-scissors is #2 or #5 or #432867? I'm one person. I'm one fan. Or not. Whatever. I don't need to know the size of my mob to validate what I like.

posted by chicobangs at 04:45 PM on January 15, 2007

Looks like you'll all have to wait until August for your chance to watch Becks in the MLS. Agreed it was an interesting article and taught me a lot about both MLS and the NASL. It does seem that it's a completely different situation to the Pele deal. Hopefully it can be the catalyst that propels football to the next level in the USA.

posted by squealy at 06:22 PM on January 15, 2007

Very interesting article and I love the comparison with the nasl it sure looks like the mls is on better footing than I thought I sure hope so

posted by luther70 at 08:46 PM on January 15, 2007

Because, as we all know, NFL players never have, and never will, fake an injury with time running down and their team out of timeouts. God knows, a Major League Baseball player has never stepped off the mound, or out of the batter's box to take a little extra time to get it together. Evil soccer players and their fake injuries! Thank God our American boys never do that stuff! Grow up.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:36 AM on January 16, 2007

It isn't possible to eliminate all faking of injuries. Referees certainly aren't qualified to judge it. I would have thought this was the same across all sports. Injury faking and diving are certainly some of the main bugbears British football supporters have about the game. Not that players in our leagues are innocent of it. It needs the organising bodies like FIFA, UEFA and the national associations to take a hard line on the problem. But, when push comes to shove, you can sometimes judge that a player has dived but how can you tell that a player is faking injury?

posted by squealy at 09:12 AM on January 16, 2007

Beckham is not Pele. Who is or ever could be? Ummm... one person springs to mind. This parody of a letter from "Peter Neumann, Head of Personnel and Rookie Integration, LA Galaxy" by Giles Smith in the Times is quite amusing. It’ll also be a nice chance for you to hook up in a relaxed setting with some of the other guys on the team. You will already know, I’m sure, Wexler Cornball, who rushed 47 yards in his first trimester and is currently 52 and 0 with the bases manned at the bottom of the ninth. Then there’s Spud Berkeley, who was Moosejaw High’s MVP 417 times in the space of one extraordinary spring break back in 1997.

posted by JJ at 10:26 AM on January 16, 2007

Hey black_hand, you are right, that stuff does happen, but is less frequent than the 500 times it happens per soccer game. Which is why the only time I watch soccer is the World Cup.

posted by hellamarine at 12:21 PM on January 16, 2007

As far as I'm concerned European "FOOTBALL" will never be popular in the USA Why is there such incredible interest on the part of those who clearly hate the game that it not be popular. Do they really feel so threatened by/insecure about it? Go get some therapy, guys. Personally, I couldn't give a shit whether it's "popular", whatever the fuck that means. What I want is a slightly better domestic league where beautiful plays are less rare, and a national team with a fighting chance to make it into the final 8 or 4 of the world cup on a reasonably consistent basis. I think this might be a small step in that direction. Signing Beckham -> raises profile of league -> attracts more ad revenue/sponsorships/more ticket sales -> enables league to get better players domestically and internationally -> higher level of play -> better domestic players staying home to play -> better national team. Not the end all/be all. A step in the right direction. That's it.

posted by psmealey at 03:10 PM on January 16, 2007

Another possible reason why you see 3 or 4 dives per soccer match to every 1 or 2 in an american football match might be there is only 30 minutes of real action in our version (yep, I'm American) and 3 times that in soccer. Now who will be the first idiot to say "Soccer is boring and there's NO action!"

posted by Ricardo at 03:59 PM on January 16, 2007

Um, tommy, I didn't mean literally 500 times. I was exagerating, you know. It does happen a lot more than some of the other examples given is all I'm saying.

posted by hellamarine at 05:03 PM on January 16, 2007

Wasn't wanted in Spain, Italy or the Premiership. I hardly think that's fair or accurate. Beckham can still get a starting role on any team in the Premiership outside of the top 4-5 teams, and he could be a useful sub on any of those. It's true that the guy's skills are in decline, but let's not transform him from captain and first squad selection on one of the top National sides in the world into Jeff Agoos in less than a year and a half. MLS needs more fans, knowledgeable or not. The knowledge can always come later, right now, it needs a shot in the arm to get to the next plateau in its progression. This can possibly represent that. And hey, if Davids, Zidane, Ronaldo and some others follow suit, it will have been well worth it.

posted by psmealey at 05:27 PM on January 16, 2007

pmeasley...I would never compare Becks to Agoos- other than the ponytail on top of the head that he wore for a season, ala Pebbles Flintstone. The fans that MLS will add by Beckham will be those that buy a game ticket or two a season when he comes to town. The fans the MLS needs are those that love the sport and just want to see a good product on display. I am a HS and College coach and would rather watch a EPL game on Fox Sports than go to a MLS game. When the standard of play rises, I will buy season tickets again, as I did before it got too frustrating to watch. I just don't see Beckham really rising the quality of play. As for Ronaldo- he is a long shot as he is meeting with AC Milan about a contract. Zidane, while still having some gas left in the tank, is not interested at all. If he plays again it will be in France. Davids may sign with Dallas hopefully. He will bring a gritty, workmanlike quality and add to team chemistry, even he doesn't even start for Tottenham any more. I would love to see some top players follow suit, but don't see the Beckham signing bringing others here. Maybe some past their prime players, which is not much different than what the NASL failed with.

posted by urall cloolis at 05:51 PM on January 16, 2007

Squealy- are you going to purchase an LA Galaxy Beckham jersey and start to follow MLS? Just answer honestly and I will let it rest. Thanks.

posted by urall cloolis at 05:56 PM on January 16, 2007

Squealy- are you going to purchase an LA Galaxy Beckham jersey and start to follow MLS? Just answer honestly and I will let it rest. Thanks. Well certainly no to purchasing an LA Galaxy Beckham shirt. But then I've only ever bought one shirt and that was from the team I support - Birmingham City FC. I wouldn't be seen dead in the shirt of any other team (aside from England) or with the name of any player on the back. With regard to the MLS, I've watched games on Channel 5 over here. But they've been in the early hours and I don't think they're even live. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the tv companies here picked up the MLS rights as a result of the Beckham move (and it wouldn't surprise me either if they didn't). We're 8 hours ahead of LA and I'm not sure what the standard kick off time is in the USA. If it's live football and it's a channel I have access to then I might well have a look.

posted by squealy at 06:13 PM on January 16, 2007

Well thanks for the best wishes for my team urall. We've had 130 years of mediocrity and it's nice to be top of something for a change. We're looking for an immediate return to the Premiership, and presumably another relegation but with £40m of funds in the bank. Hehe. It's certainly a big weekend of Premiership football. I don't know if you get the same games as we do over here but the big fixtures on Sky (cable) this weekend are Chelsea v Liverpool and Arsenal v Man Utd. They're billing it as Grand Slam Weekend. Also Birmingham feature against Leicester in the Championship, but somehow I doubt that'll be shown worldwide. ;-)

posted by squealy at 06:32 PM on January 16, 2007

I beg to differ with Don Garber. Why would MLS spend that type of money on a player who doesn't start for his club team and relegated from his national team? Yes, it created interest, maybe not the right type. If the Yokomuro Giants (or whoever) signed Roger Clemens for $50 mill a year it would create interest as well. It would not necessarily raise the quality of Japanese baseball. If Olympiakos of the Greece Basketball league signed Michael Jordan for $50 mill it would create news, not necessarily bring bigger names from the NBA to the league. When the J-league brought in big name and past prime talent from Brazil it did nothing to bring the league respectability. What makes the MLS plan of action work any different? I hope it works for the future of the league, cause I want to see it grow and become respectable. yet I still see it as an abortion ready to happen.

posted by urall cloolis at 07:11 PM on January 16, 2007

Most EPL stars on the downside of their careers would improve their MLS teams because the quality of play here is lower. An English soccer-loving friend and I often discuss where MLS teams would rank if they were part of England's Football Association. I figure they'd be two leagues below the Premiership.

posted by rcade at 09:18 AM on January 17, 2007

Mr. B: interesting, very interesting. More positive than I would have expected, too, though obviously all three have incentives to talk up the level of play in MLS.

posted by tieguy at 10:31 AM on January 17, 2007

When the J-league brought in big name and past prime talent from Brazil it did nothing to bring the league respectability. That may be true, but what it did do was help to improve the Japanese national team by several orders of magnitude, by introducing more variety and higher quality. This was one of the points I was trying to make earlier in the thread. I figure they'd be two leagues below the Premiership. I don't watch it much, but most "experts" I've heard put it about on a par with the Scottish Premier League, which kind of puts in about the same level as the Championship. Kind of.

posted by psmealey at 10:45 AM on January 17, 2007

point well taken billsays and psm. I still think its way too much money to pay one player for a league that has been pinching pennies for 11 years. Maybe this is what they were saving up for. I really want the whole MLS thing to work as well as build a strong national side. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

posted by urall cloolis at 06:06 PM on January 17, 2007

Anschutz made his money from energy (oil and gas), railroads and besides indulging a passion for soccer is also funding family-oriented movies, old Phil can afford this. Especially after unloading three of his six franchises.

posted by billsaysthis at 05:32 PM on January 18, 2007