@Dashiell Bennett: Whoops--will remember that next time! Thanks for moderating...
@Orr's Crabapples Hope to take a closer look at Calipari in KY soon. (I'm referring to Kentucky here.) Check back with me in a couple months. And thanks for having me on the chat, Deadspin! I really appreciate it!
@Chris Hanson's Axe I think we're at a point where there's no single player who's going to be the "savior" of MLS or soccer in America. There doesn't need to be. But adding star power is one of the things MLS needs to do to raise its standard and its profile. Obviously you need more than one player to do that. I just hope that MLS owners don't decide to close their wallets completely because of what has happened with Beckham, because I think that would be the wrong lesson to take from the Beckham Experiment.
@Cowboycane I think Donovan is changing rep with a lot of people these days, partly on the field (where he's on fire and more consistent than ever, including the recent Confed Cup) and partly in his maturity off the field. Whether you agree or disagree with what Donovan told me for the book, it took some stones to do it. (And believe me, he tried to go face-to-face with Beckham earlier, but Beckham didn't want to hear anything.) Beckham and his people are far more motivated by anything that goes public, and Donovan realized that was the only real way to reach him.
@NordoftheBlings Victoria had a big influence on the decision to move to LA in the first place. AEG (Galaxy owner) is also one of the top music concert promoters in the world, and 19 Entertainment (which manages Victoria and David) also manages all the American Idol performers. AEG and 19 make tens of millions on concerts (including Spice Girls reunion tour!) at AEG-owned venues around the world, therefore that it was important for AEG to maintain good relationship with 19. Often that meant making soccer decisions that hurt the Galaxy. Synergy's a bitch sometimes.
@roland_t_flakfizer Thanks--I'm back on the college hoops beat for SI as soon as we get going on the preview issue. Can't wait to get it started.
@NonBojangler It's weird: when Beckham arrived in LA he went out of his way to say that he could still play for England (and in 2010) while playing in MLS. Now he's made Capello the bad guy by saying Capello is making him play in Europe if he wants to be in South Africa, but the fact is that Beckham himself wanted out of MLS in February '09. Capello is a convenient target for the blame, though.
@MidwestCoastBias I think some of the issues with Beckham and the Galaxy would happen with a lot of top foreign players coming here: especially the on-field frustrations of playing with guys earning less than 20K after playing with Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, etc. But Beckham also signed on for all that when he joined the Galaxy. Also, Beckham is unique with his celebrity icon status--he has an army of handlers who want as much control as possible, even if it was to the detriment of the Galaxy. Other players wouldn't command that much influence.
@Steve U Thanks--I prefer the Woody Harrelson of Natural Born Killers.
@phoenix6666 You really should read the book, and you'll see that Beckham's side is represented throughout. Not only did Beckham do media access before and after every game (where I peppered him with questions), but I was speaking to his handlers throughout the reporting process to get Beckham's side of things. You can be the judge of it, I guess, but I think the result is a fair-minded book.
One of the better early Ali G shows ever (featuring Posh and Becks):
http://tinyurl.com/rfm63
@cowboycane AEG (Tim Leiweke) pulled off a remarkable coup signing Beckham in Jan 2007, but Leiweke screwed up by essentially handing over the keys of the team to Beckham's handlers later that year. Think about it: Beckham's best friend and personal manager conducted the search for the coach! Has anything like that ever happened in sports before? Not only was it a terrible conflict of interest, but it just wasn't smart: Beckham and his people had only been in America for four months and had no idea of what worked in MLS, whose restrictive rules make it a completely different league than the Euro leagues. Not surprisingly, their choice (Ruud Gullit) was a huge failure who lasted only 9 months on the job.
@dkstones The Galaxy had problems even before Beckham arrived, but LA fans are right that their team lost its way in recent years with its priorities geared too much toward "entertainment" and sales and not enough toward winning soccer. That appears to have changed under Bruce Arena. Today's Galaxy isn't MLS's best team, but the soccer appears to be what matters now, and it's up to Beckham to show that he can be part of a winning soccer team for the first time in his LA tenure. This LA team has played pretty well of late and could be a darkhorse for a playoff run. Looks like Beckham will go out on loan again in January and be a part-time Galaxy player again in 2010. I plan on writing an Afterword for the paperback edition of The Beckham Experiment (out in June 2010).
@I Party With Smoot Sorry you're not into soccer, but that's cool. I'm not a proselytizer and don't try to convince people. Either you like it or you don't.
@SarojaAnaxagoras Thanks! I'm stunned that after all the vile abuse Beckham has received in European stadiums he's letting a few U.S. hecklers draw him into actual confrontations for the first time. This gets back to the "How dare you" mode that I think Beckham is in right now with U.S. fans and media. The book (and the Donovan comments) might have something to do with it, but I think the hardcore Galaxy fans would be upset either way.
Highbury Library: I do think the Galaxy's lower-paid players were so open with me in part because they realize that this could put public pressure on MLS owners to at least provide a living wage for the minimum salary. $12,900 a year obviously isn't enough. For god's sake, Alan Gordon had to borrow $1,800 from his girlfriend to get an apartment. And this guy's playing on a team with David Beckham?
Norman Dukes: There are a lot of factors in the failures of the Beckham Experiment. Let's be fair: it's been successful from a financial perspective. Beckham and the Galaxy have made millions, and Beckham has been a successful celeb here. But the soccer part has been a disaster so far. Beckham missed a huge opportunity when he was injured upon arrival in 2007 (there was a ton of attention at that point), and in 2008 he was a part of a terrible LA team that finished tied for last in MLS. I don't think the failures were inevitable. Some really poor decisions were made (outlined in my book), and Beckham switched off in the last half of 2008 (after his best friend and personal manager was let go from his paid-consultant position with the Galaxy).
Just for the hell of it:
Open wide for some soccer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-gUXl7usc
Civil Negligence: I think Thierry Henry could be a nice addition to, say, the New York Red Bulls. He obviously doesn't have the celebrity factor like Beckham does, but he's a great player who would be all about the soccer and help sell the sport. Americans have embraced Beckham as a celebrity, but very of them know (or care) about Beckham as a soccer player. How does that help the sport?
I think Beckham's in "How dare you?" mode right now with U.S. fans and media, as if he thinks everyone should still be thanking him for deigning to play in little ol' MLS. American soccer fans are savvier than he probably thinks--they can see that he wasn't giving full effort in the second half of 2008, and LA fans just want their team to win. Beckham seems to play better when he feels like he has a point to prove, and the LA fans (and Landon Donovan, for that matter) are finally holding him accountable. I know DB has been frustrated in MLS the past two years--he's never lost this much in his career, and he hasn't handled it very well to this point.
