Beckham

1
Holy crap, David Beckham's headed to this side of the pond.

Los Angeles signed him for a ridiculous $250 million over five years.

I'll be able to take the streetcar... just down the road... to watch David Beckham and his team play Toronto FC. This is pretty awesome.

I do think it's funny how all the articles out of the UK say he's chosen to "end his playing career" by moving state-side. Um, I'm aware it's a big change, but he's still playing professional soccer, no? It'll just be in a relatively new and unknown league which, now, between this signing and a new franchise in highly multicultural Toronto, has the chance for a real breakout season.

Thoughts? Anybody got a local franchise that just might be worth going to check out now?
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.

2
I think it will make a marginal impact if any. North Americans have too many other sports to choose from--better ones--to take a step back and all of the sudden get excited about soccer. There will always be pockets of enthusiasm for it, and I'm sure they're wetting themselves over the aging superstar role player coming here, but again with the aging and role player. Dude ain't Pele. And back when Pele came here to play in '75 he didn't exactly wipe out the NFL and NBA either.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Beckham

3
Kanuck wrote: I do think it's funny how all the articles out of the UK say he's chosen to "end his playing career" by moving state-side. Um, I'm aware it's a big change, but he's still playing professional soccer, no?
Beckham is well past it. He has been dropped from the English national squad and now Real Madrid don't want him anymore either... Playing out his career sounds about right - getting paid a mint to dozy around in some soft American league whilst partying wth his "good friend" the Cruiser ;)

4
Yeah, I think it's been a given for a while now that once he was washed up in the leagues that count, he'd come over here to double his fortune up and be a good will embassador for the sport for a few years.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

5
I realize he's not exactly at the top of his game, but I really don't buy the argument that he's aging, past his prime, untalented, I don't agree with any of those extreme statements. He's still a very good player, he's still an impact player, and I do think he'll have a fair bit of impact over here. I just think he's fallen out of favour where he was playing, due to perceived failures that come from really, really huge expectations.

Soccer in North America isn't what it was in 1975, it's become the biggest youth sport on the continent. Kids and teens might be watching baseball and football, but they're playing soccer. And MLS is a faster-paced, more Americanized version of the sport, and if it does grow it will inevitably be as a different beast than the sport that dominates the rest of the world.

You can say all the negative things you like about soccer, but clearly it's got plenty to like about it—look at the rest of the world, look at the kids in the US and Canada. And I think as a professional league sport, it can easily become a much bigger deal over here. Golf has exploded in popularity, largely due to a generation that grew up playing it, along with a superstar player. Yet it's a very slow, simple sport. Poker is a thinking man's game, lots of strategy involved, and it's swept across North America over the last five years or so like a fever, and hasn't shown any signs of dying off. And it's not like baseball or football are the fastest-paced games in the world... really, short of a lack of appreciation for the game, there's no good reason North Americans wouldn't like soccer.

I just don't think there are any good reasons the sport's popularity would go anywhere but up. (It's not like it could go much lower, after all.) It goes without saying that Beckham isn't Pele, but it's not just the calibre of player that's the big deal here, it's also the celebrity factor. He'll put people into the stands right across the continent and draw an awful lot of attention to the sport. He's also joining a league that's been going for over a decade now. It's nearing the end of its awkward pre-teen years and beginning to take itself seriously, and I think it's got a shot.

I'm not saying soccer is about to knock off any of the big four sports in North America anytime soon, but I think this does give it a legitimate shot at becoming a solid number five within the next five years.
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.

6
I agree with you there that Soccer is on the way up in the US, and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be. Hell, maybe one day you'll learn to call it by its proper name, football. I really hope it does take off, it's one of the few sports that I really enjoy.

However, that doesn't take away from the base fact that Beckham is nearing the end of his time. He's a good player - an arrogant son of a bitch too, but a good player still. However, he's well into his thirties now, and in a soccer player's career, that signals his time on the field is coming to a close. Sure, he's probably still got a fair bit in him, and that's why he's still playing instead of already looking towards the next step - coaching.

This is a wind-down for him. The US league might be on the way up, but in comparison to Man Utd. and Real Madrid, this is still a big step down for him. But yes, he's still got some in him, he's a well-known face - the good-will ambassador of football, if you will.

I generally think the move is a good thing. It's another well-known face for the USians to chew upon, and it makes things easier for him. Plus, we shouldn't have to put up with him in the UK news anymore.

7
Meh, the "more kids are playing soccer than EVER!" argument has been around for quite a while, it's really a perfect kid's sport is why it's so damn popular with the post-diaper set. Minimal equipment costs, relatively simple concepts, wears 'em out for the parents. Soccer's been a popular kid's sport for decades but, as you point out, the kids are watching basketball and football.

As a young country, we went out and made up our own sports in the last century and a half, and they're not going to be supplanted by soccer--or even joined as a 'Big 5'--just because it's been beloved in the UK for 400 years or whatnot. Jesus, if the COOL version of soccer--i.e., Hockey--doesn't get the ratings that a frickin' WNBA game gets, soccer sure as hell isn't going to sweep the nation any time soon. What COULD have an impact is the increase of Mexicans in the US, most of which are big soccer fans like the rest of the world.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

8
Alexhead wrote:Meh, the "more kids are playing soccer than EVER!" argument has been around for quite a while, it's really a perfect kid's sport is why it's so damn popular with the post-diaper set. Minimal equipment costs, relatively simple concepts, wears 'em out for the parents. Soccer's been a popular kid's sport for decades
What's the problem here? The only requirement being a ball, which can be requisitioned for a very low price, makes it an exceptionally versatile sport. It's fun, simple to a degree with the space for more complex rules, and can be played virtually anywhere with enough space. You make it out as if "soccer" is only for spoon-fed rich kids. Certainly, over here, football is the sport of the masses.
Alexhead wrote:As a young country, we went out and made up our own sports in the last century and a half, and they're not going to be supplanted by soccer--or even joined as a 'Big 5'--just because it's been beloved in the UK for 400 years or whatnot. Jesus, if the COOL version of soccer--i.e., Hockey--doesn't get the ratings that a frickin' WNBA game gets, soccer sure as hell isn't going to sweep the nation any time soon. What COULD have an impact is the increase of Mexicans in the US, most of which are big soccer fans like the rest of the world.
It's not American born so to hell with it?

PS: For the record, I think Beckham is a tosser.

9
A 31-year-old man is "well into his thirties?" Drae, take a math course :)

See, the biggest problem the sport will encounter, Drae, is guys like A-head who have somehow developed this attitude of arrogance towards soccer—you know, the same attitude you arseholes have when it comes to most North American sports. Soccer's a kiddy game with no deeper appeal, baseball's as exciting as watching paint dry, basketball's just throwing a ball through a hoop back and forth a hundred times, hockey's just bare-fisted Neanderthals trying to kill each other on skates, football is rugby for pansies... there's all these ridiculous arguments people will make about all the big sports, none of them true. They're all very different, with their own unique appeals.

I just happen to think soccer shares some attributes with other things that are beginning to gain popularity with the general American public. The country is gradually becoming more multicultural, too. And unlike hockey there aren't any major regional/financial/facility constraints stopping the sport from continuing to grow in popularity.

I'm not saying Beckham is the greatest player in the world and soccer is about to take over North America. Anyone who thinks that is a dunce, obviously. But in a city that's never paid much attention to professional soccer before, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Now we just need an NFL franchise... :)
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.

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Kanuck wrote:A 31-year-old man is "well into his thirties?" Drae, take a math course :)
I thought he was older.
See, the biggest problem the sport will encounter, Drae, is guys like A-head who have somehow developed this attitude of arrogance towards soccer—you know, the same attitude you arseholes have when it comes to most North American sports. Soccer's a kiddy game with no deeper appeal, baseball's as exciting as watching paint dry, basketball's just throwing a ball through a hoop back and forth a hundred times, hockey's just bare-fisted Neanderthals trying to kill each other on skates, football is rugby for pansies... there's all these ridiculous arguments people will make about all the big sports, none of them true. They're all very different, with their own unique appeals.
Yes, unfortunately it is attitudes like that which prevent me from watching Hockey here really. Basketball is surprisingly big, at least round this neck of the woods - though I know it isn't elsewhere, and I'm really not interested in the professional leagues. We just like playing it. We also have out own version of baseball which isn't really anything like baseball and our professional teams completely and utterly suck. I'd much rather have baseball than cricket. Just my £0.02 (fucking inflation).

Really wish we had hockey over here.

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Alexhead wrote:esus, if the COOL version of soccer--i.e., Hockey--doesn't get the ratings that a frickin' WNBA game gets, soccer sure as hell isn't going to sweep the nation any time soon.
Searching for similarities between hockey and football.

Uh, yeah, they both have nets and goaltenders.

Football doesn't have sticks or pucks or sanctioned fighting or skates or ice (hopefully) or 3 hour interruptions in play every 30 seconds. Near enough anyone can play it near enough anywhere.

That doesn't make hockey bad but it doesn't make a strong case for any similarity either. It's got as much in common with figure skating.

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Draegonis wrote:I'd much rather have baseball than cricket. Just my £0.02 (fucking inflation).
How about baseball with cricket bats and bizarre rules ensuring the Australians can't fucking win every time.

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Pit wrote:How about baseball with cricket bats and bizarre rules ensuring the Australians can't fucking win every time.
Actually, I quite like to see England get trumped, oh, pretty much constantly. :)

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Draegonis wrote:
Alexhead wrote:Meh, the "more kids are playing soccer than EVER!" argument has been around for quite a while, it's really a perfect kid's sport is why it's so damn popular with the post-diaper set. Minimal equipment costs, relatively simple concepts, wears 'em out for the parents. Soccer's been a popular kid's sport for decades
What's the problem here? The only requirement being a ball, which can be requisitioned for a very low price, makes it an exceptionally versatile sport. It's fun, simple to a degree with the space for more complex rules, and can be played virtually anywhere with enough space. You make it out as if "soccer" is only for spoon-fed rich kids. Certainly, over here, football is the sport of the masses.
I, uh, think you're saying what I was saying, except for the 'rich kids' bit. It's not for rich kids, it's played by all sorts of kids. And as far as "non-American=bad," that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying Americans--actually North Americans, since both basketball and hockey can be credited to Canada--have developed a wide variety of more entertaining sports to kill their free time with in a relatively short span of time, whereas most of the rest of the world has been satisfied with soccer as their favorite team sport for centuries. We've moved on while others haven't, basically.

Kanuck, I followed Arsenal for about 3 seasons as they won a variety of championships, and one of my best friends is a Tottenham Hotspurs fanatic (bet you didn't know they had those in Omaha, NE, but they do), I've watched hours of soccer on which I base my opinion that it sucks.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

17
'Least I'm not Canadian :mrgreen:
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

18
Meh. I grew up playing soccer for like 10 years, but I never really watch it anymore. That's typical for probably 90% of American kids that play soccer when they're younger. I'm not sure why it doesn't translate, but like Alexhead said, it's an ideal sport to have your kids play because it's cheap and they have to run around a lot. I used to go watch indoor soccer all the time (I grew up in St. Louis when the Steamers were hugely popular and outsold the Blues for a while), but the indoor leagues can never keep it together and the teams in my cities kept disbanding. I still prefer to watch indoor soccer because of the faster pace, and you don't have to wait for throw-ins and corner kicks. But hockey rules all. And as far as the hockey/soccer comparison, indoor soccer is very similar since it's played with the same boards, similar lines, and similar player positions.

19
Alexhead wrote:'Least I'm not Canadian :mrgreen:
The man has a point.

Throw-ins are annoying, but I love corner kicks. They tend to have me on the edge of my seat. Will they convert it? Will he sky it? Find out in part 2!