Excuse me if I don't join the parade, but I’ve gone through this before.
About 20 years ago, to be exact. Back in the summer of 1988 it was some skinny geek with a big nose and a goofy smile named Wayne Gretzky announcing his move to the LA Kings. Suddenly everyone around was not only a Kings fan, but a hockey aficionado, willing to offer their unsolicited opinion on every facet of the game even if they didn’t know a fore check from a crosscheck, and looked like a pithed frog if you mentioned two-line pass. LA suddenly became "hockey central" and Kings games, which used to be lucky to see 5,000 fans in the stands, were suddenly the hot commodity. Hipness and style were associated with black and silver, and so-called celebrities were suddenly as much a part of the background of games as protective glass, beer, and foul language.
The Great One's coming out party
Fast forward to today, and it’s some nasaly-voiced pommy bastard with a heroin-chic wife and constantly evolving hair style named David Beckham bringing the media circus to
Becks bending it
Which is fine, I guess. I mean, the Gretzky experiment did result in a huge PR boost for hockey, and was directly responsible for new teams in
Of course, those poor bastards had a harder field to till. In the 70’s when the NASL was around, soccer was most definitely a fringe game reserved for foreigners with unpronounceable names and ridiculous accents. I know because my dad was one of those foreigners, and we had regular seats to the LA Aztecs. Real Americans were not only openly contemptuous of the game, but at times almost hostile toward it. But the Beckster is coming in during a new era. Soccer, while still ridiculed, is not nearly as much a sport for the outsiders. Real Americans now beginning to watch and play. So maybe he can bring in the next age of the sport.
The only downside is now having to listen to innumerable ignorant dingbats offer their uninformed opinions and having to battle the curiosity seekers and bandwagon fans for tickets. It used to be I only had to put up with this once every four years. Still, if it works, it works.
Ook ook
8 comments:
George Best said of Becks, "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."
You only covered half the problem, the rest of the Beckham matter involves his surgically enhanced wife who flaunts about doing very little and being miserable while expecting to be photographed doing it.
Together they are a very creepy couple, so fitting they have teamed up with Tom Cruise and his wife.
Lucy: I think George Best missed out "He's a very slow runner" from his summary of Beckham's ability. Having said that, the precision of David's right foot compensates for a lot. That foot is as priceless as Angelina Jolie's upper lip.
Fez: I feel your pain re having to deal with all the bandwagon jumpers... however I still suspect that the 'real' Americans of whom you speak will continue to ignore the game they call "sahhh-kerrr" with great efficiency.
Lucy: Georgie was right ... especially as the last I actually saw of Becks was his dismal performance during the World Cup. Still three things lead me to believe his time here in LA will be worthwhile:
1) He is still (relatively) young.
2) The reports of his resurrection in the 2nd half of the season at Real Madrid are quite encouraging.
3) This is the MLS, so the competition is a few notches below La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A, or even the Bundesliga.
Cheezy: Yes, Americans, as a whole, will still ignore soccer. But this is LA where trends rule, and if Becks is perceived as trendy, tickets to the matches will suddenly be difficult to obtain and the #23 jersey will be omnipresent.
Forza Azzurri
Ook ook
I don't care about any of this. Did you know there's going to be a Get Smart movie??? Yay!!!
"or have no idea what constitutes an offside. "
Obviously, that's when the field isn't exactly rectangular because one of the sides is the wrong size. That side is the "offisde."
And Cheezy, we can't realy call it "football." There's a real game called that! :-)
'That side is the "offisde."'
But it will be called the "offside" outside of New Mexico...........
I don't know nuttin' about soccer, here or over there. But I'm going to be a total girlie girl here and say that he's one helluva of a hunka hunka burnin' sample of man meat. Holy hell, he's hot. And I'm not even a fan of the blond species. Well, except Paul Bettany. Oh, and Daniel Craig.
In any event, I can see how obnoxious the whole hooplah can be. Like: whoop de friggin' doo doo, eh?
I'm not that way inclined, but I can see how Raging Lunatic has come to this ("hunka hunka") conclusion about 'our Becks'. He's doing the nation proud, if not ultimately on the football pitch, then at least on the catwalks and in the photo shoots.
It's hard to see what he's doing with 'the bony pout' that is Posh Spice, but each to his own I guess...
Joe: I tried using that 'S' word once and it didn't come out right. So I'm just going to continue calling it football, I'm afraid... And the unusual game with the helmets and people who weigh 300lbs, I'll think I'll call that one 'grid-iron', cos I know how much you guys love that! :)
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