Beckham Remains Committed To Galaxy, MLS Despite Fan Abuse
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Beckham Determined To Make
Mark In Second MLS Stint |
Galaxy MF David Beckham "remains committed" to the team and is "determined to make his mark in his second stint in Major League Soccer despite being subjected to fierce abuse from a vocal section of the club's supporters during Sunday's friendly against" Serie A club AC Milan, according to Dominic Fifield of the Manchester GUARDIAN. One fan at The Home Depot Center "particularly enraged Beckham," prompting him to "approach the LA Riot Squad, the club's hardcore support, as he left the pitch at half-time and try to engage the fan in conversation." Beckham appeared "about to jump over a barrier as the fan left his seat and ran to the front of the stand, but security staff ushered" Beckham away. Beckham: "One of the guys was saying things that really wasn't very nice. It was stepping over the line. I said: 'You need to calm down and shake my hand,' and he jumped over" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 7/21). In N.Y., Billy Witz writes that such a scene played out "not in Rome or London or Barcelona, caldrons of European soccer, but outside Los Angeles -- where the atmosphere more often resembles an echo chamber -- left some participants in disbelief." The L.A. Riot Squad has "developed a reputation for witty if sometimes lewd chants," and Galaxy players have "always shown strong appreciation for their passion." But these days the "stature of Beckham is rapidly shrinking," as the "train seems to have come off the tracks." Beckham was "expecting some boos, but not many," and a "majority of the crowd sounded glad to see him." But the "minority was visible and vocal" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/21).
BEHIND THE INCIDENT: Riot Squad member Ricardo Vigil said, "We boo a lot of players. They don't come out and challenge our guys. We're just here as fans. He was saying, 'Come down here, come down here, come down here.' The guy came down there." Riot Squad member Bob Ramsey added, "The thing that really seems to have triggered it is one of the guys was holding a Beckham jersey that he was kind of abusing, hitting it down against the wall, basically disrespecting Beckham's shirt. Which is kind of an apt metaphor for what happened because he's been predominantly just a shirt-seller for our team." Ramsey added, "My sense right now is that we might give him the business in the Barcelona match (Aug. 1 at the Rose Bowl), but when it's a league match and it matters, it's going to be over, unless there's a fresh provocation." In L.A., Grahame Jones reports the Galaxy yesterday issued a four-paragraph statement on the incident, and Galaxy GM & coach Bruce Arena said, "We regret the incident that happened at the end of the first half." Arena: "While it is important that our fans remain free to voice their opinions, they must do so in an appropriate manner. We appreciate our players and our fans' passion for the team, but we all must aim to hold ourselves to higher standards." Arena "made no mention of Beckham's behavior" (L.A. TIMES, 7/21).
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Writer Says Beckham's Presence In U.S. Soccer
Evoked Curiosity From Mainstream Sports Fans |
CROSSOVER STAR: In San Diego, Tim Sullivan writes Beckham, "in giving his game a tabloid presence, in establishing himself as its antihero and in rousing Angelenos from their accustomed apathy," has gone "beyond novelty and delivered the essence of what U.S. soccer has long sought." He has "evoked crossover curiosity from mainstream sports fans, intense passion from the soccer base and, arguably, has solidified soccer's domestic foothold." Former CISL San Diego Sockers coach Brian Quinn: "I don't know if this is the tipping point. But in the long run, it's a positive. We'll take everything we can get" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/21). Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, Kurt Kragthorpe notes the MLS All-Star Game will take place July 29 at Rio Tinto Stadium without Beckham, as "other players are more deserving of the honor." Kragthorpe: "Maybe that's the proper stance, but not necessarily the right one. ... He's available, he's eligible, and he's not playing. That's a mistake, for a league that needs every bit of exposure it can generate." The All-Star Game "will survive without Beckham ... from a strictly soccer standpoint," but the event "needed him to distinguish it in the larger sporting landscape" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 7/21).
FAILED EXPERIMENT? On Long Island, John Jeansonne writes under the header, "Is Beckham Experiment A Miscalculation?" It "could be" that the Beckham experiment was a "miscalculation from the start." The 14-year-old MLS has "demonstrated an obvious stability: An average of more than 15,000 per game, the addition of six new franchises since 2005." But it was Beckham's signing, and now the "controversy over whether Beckham is good or bad for the league and the Galaxy," that has brought "headlines and punditry, and thus yearned-for visibility to MLS." Jeansonne: "The real question, then, probably is not whether Beckham can be the savior of American soccer but whether American soccer needs saving?" (NEWSDAY, 7/21). ESPN’s Michelle Beadle said, "When he signed the biggest contract in North America, I really thought he was supposed to be the face of MLS. But if you say David Beckham, I still think of soccer overseas. I don’t think of anything having to do with America.” ESPN's Colin Cowherd: “He never embraced America. They clearly didn’t embrace him” (“SportsNation,” ESPN2, 7/20).
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