So tonight British soccer player ("footballer") David Beckham first took the field ("pitch") for his new team ("side") the LA Galaxy. No doubt Americans everywhere changed the channel. Beckham is the LA Galaxy (and in a way, Major League Soccer's) $250 million attempt to bring the sport into the mainstream. But the fact of the matter is that Beckham ain't all that great. He's past his prime and he more often made headlines for his off-the-pitch antics than for any match heroics (i.e. marrying Posh Spice, getting his hair redone, etc.) Don't take it from me, rather take it from the late George Best, a truly great soccer player ("footballer") from Northern Ireland:
"He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right."Read it again. This is the Galaxy's $250 million investment, their bid to make soccer really matter in America. The US Women winning the World Cup a few years ago helped; so does the fact that satellite television makes it possible for stupid Americans to watch the World Cup and to watch good soccer on Fox Soccer Channel and other networks. But is there a place for soccer in the galaxy of American sports? Arguably, in a day and age where everything from competitive eating to curling to bowling can have its day on ESPN (and even get talked about on Sports Center and PTI), yes.
But will we ever be much more than the NFL Europe of soccer? Probably not. That doesn't mean you should shut your eyes to the sport. It just means that instead of watching a boring MLS match (they usually are) or a Mexican League match on Univision, the only part of which you understand is "GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL," find a way to watch a Premiership match. Or a UEFA Champions League match. Watch two truly great sides go at it for ninety minutes with Old Trafford, Emirates, or another of the legendary stadiums reverberating with the roar of the crowd, and understand why it often deserves its title of the beautiful game.
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