Tuesday night's Around The Horn discussed David Beckham briefly. The consensus of the panelists was that Beckham (a) would make minimal impact among US sports fans and (b) had waited way too long to come to Los Angeles. Beckham's deal with the LA Galaxy was big news when he signed, but so much time has elapsed since then that the moment has passed.
This clearly has been realized by the Galaxy too. Their manager Alexi Lalas made the eye-poppingly stupid comment that Beckham's going to be bigger in the US than Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. Los Angeles Times columnist T. J. Simers summed up the truth. "With all due respect to Lalas, he's off his rocker. If Beckham doesn't score every game, and it's not what he does, eventually he will draw a collective yawn."
I still think it's a good move for Victoria Beckham, who has a new television show coming out in the US soon. She threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers game last week as part of the promotion for the new show.
I originally thought the move would be good for David Beckham as well, but now I'm not so sure. He had a great wind behind him when he signed his deal, but the delay has cooled interest. And, his recall to England could be a bigger issue if he skips Galaxy's games in order to play for England.
This might end up being a negative for Beckham, the Galaxy and the MLS too, but could be a mighty positive for Posh Spice. Ahh, sports.
