You may have already noticed that
many of the articles about David Beckham have been decidedly negative. However, it's important to point out that they're written by an older breed of sports journalist who tend to know literally nothing about the sport. ESPN talking heads (I'm looking at your Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless) attempt to pass off heated opinions as actual intelligence and insight (Jim Rome has made a lot of money doing this over the years) when in reality they really know nothing (Skip Bayless' argument that LeBron James has accomplished more over his career than David Beckham speaks to an ignorance comparable only with everyone's favorite Iraqi information minister,
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf). Here are five truths to help educate them:
Truth #1 - America is not "indifferent" to soccer.I'm quoting Gene Wojciechowski above, who wrote in his most recent article that July 13, 2007 may be remembered as "the latest example of this country's indifference to a sport the rest of the world adores." He's right about one thing, the world does adore soccer (or football as they all call it), but he's wrong that this country is indifferent. Perhaps Gene would have had a point after the collapse of the NASL in the early eighties, but certainly not now. Not when the Gold Cup Final is
drawing TV ratings 41 percent higher than the Stanley Cup Final. Not when the
World Cup Final is drawing a bigger audience in American households than the much-revered World Series. Not when millions of American children are playing the game in parks across the country every day. Not when the
U.S.'s predominantly soccer-loving Hispanic population adds sixty-seven million more members by 2050. This country is about as indifferent to soccer as I am to beautiful women, that is to say, not at all.
Truth #2 - Soccer is more popular in the United States now than it ever has been before.A recent
poll on ESPN.com asks its readers "
Will soccer ever achieve the popularity it once had in the United States again?" This of course presumes that it's not currently as popular as it once was (when do they mean?), and this is not true. The great myth being pedalled here is that the NASL was the height of soccer's popularity in America. This speaks to a New York bias prevalent both in the political and the sports arenas that tends to ignore the opinions of the rest of the country. One could argue that New Yorkers were more interested in American league soccer in the 1970s than they are today, but to argue that it was more popular in all of America is simply not true. The NASL folded in part because of spending beyond its modest means, but it also folded because it was just not profitable in enough markets nationwide. However, as the television ratings mentioned above indicate, Americans (of which Hispanics actually comprise a part, contrary to Wojciechowski's xenophobic exclusion thereof) do tend to watch and enjoy soccer. Such ratings would have been unfathomable even ten years ago. Couple these ratings with steadily rising MLS attendance numbers, more television contracts, more profitability, and continued success on the international level, American soccer has never been more popular, ESPN's protestations to the contrary.
Truth #3 - Beckham is an accomplished player.
Earlier I mentioned Skip Bayless on Cold Pizza suggesting that LeBron James had already accomplished more in his career than Beckham ever has in his. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's my understanding that James has never won an NBA title. Compare that with David Beckham, a player who has scored goals in three World Cups, won the Champions League, the English Premier League, and now La Liga, and I fail to see the comparison. In fact, the only American athlete who has made as many comparable achievements is Tiger Woods, an athlete who has won nearly all the most important titles in his respective sport. Beckham hasn't won the World Cup but he has won just about every major European club trophy that matters in his career. What is left for him to accomplish other than winning the World Cup or the Euro Cup?
Truth #4 - Beckham is still a great player.
Gene Wojciechowski's (by now I can write this name without even having to look up its spelling, how sad) first article quoted a "soccer expert" who claimed that "Beckham is past his prime." Nothing could be further from the truth. Beckham is coming off a complete rejuvenation of his career, having inspired Real Madrid to its first La Liga title in four years and having won himself a starting spot with the English National Team only a half-year after coach Steve McClaren declared that Beckham no longer had a place in his plans. Perhaps Wojciechowski's so-called "expert" may have had a case back in January when Beckham was riding the pine in Madrid and desperate to leave, but her case looks absolutely foolish now. Couple this with the renown in which Beckham is still held in international circles for his crossing ability and his strength on a dead ball, and you have a player who is still among the very best at his position in the world.
Truth #5 - Newsflash: Major League Soccer is the highest level of professional soccer in America!
I've never understood the need to call MLS "minor league," but c'est la vie. Certainly, it's had its unprofessional elements (the San Jose Earthquakes used to practice at a community college and change behind a shed), but with over half the teams now playing in soccer specific stadia, the facilities are no longer the culprit. While the salary disparity between Beckham and Jeff Curtin (who I recently interviewed) is vast, this is an area that MLS will improve because of the money that David Beckham will be bringing to the league. Ultimately, while MLS is no English Premier League or even La Primera División del Futbol Mexicano, it's still
the premier league in the United States and its getting better every year. Beckham will only help raise the standard of the league even further.
So you don't like soccer? Tough. But millions of us do (interestingly, the ESPN poll above shows that over 50% of the respondents actually watch soccer on a regular basis, a pretty sizeable margin in the grand scheme of the cluttered American sports market). So get over it already.
