*The sweep is complete. The Yankees have successfully swept the Red Sox, cutting their division lead to five games. Chien-Ming Wang pitched a gem this afternoon in a matchup that showcased him against the Sox’, Curt Schilling. The Yankees have now taken sole possession of the wild card spot as the Mariners have dropped their last five games, entering a 10 game road trip. The Yankees will play the Mariners in the Bronx ,September 4-6th, in what is shaping up to be a pivotal matchup.
*It looks like Beckham is going to shut it down for the rest of the season after yet, another injury. This time, he has a sprained knee. I don’t mean to toot my own horn and bring credit to myself but… actually, that’s exactly what I mean to do. Check out what I wrote earlier this summer (July 17th) before Beckham even set foot on an MLS field:
“What if he doesn’t play well? What if he gets injured?
‘Oh well what-ifs apply in anything. You can’t think that way’. Yes, I can think that way. I know what-ifs apply in anything, but they are there for a reason. Because they HAPPEN. You can’t just assume the best. Hope for the best, plan for the worst is what wise people do to avoid complete disarray when things don’t go their way. So now let’s assume Beckham has a bad season or a bad injury. What spin does the MLS put on it then? Are you still going to attract the stars from Europe? Not a chance. So basically, the hype, the publicity, the mass advertising of Beckham is all based on assumption that he does great.
So did the Beckham experiment work? Absolutely not. Before you even BEGIN to form an argument about how this thing has worked, let me stop you. It hasn’t. One more thing. I don’t care where his “allegiance” is. If David Beckham plays for England after shutting it down in the MLS for the season, he will be one of the biggest frauds in recent memory. Move on. End of discussion.
*It’s now 7:03 PM eastern time and I am in a great mood. My Redskins will be playing their final preseason game against Jacksonville in less than an hour. Actually, this makes me feel very uneasy now that I think about it because Campbell is going to play and Portis might. Now I’ll be sweating bullets, fearing a catastrophic, worst case scenario injury that would only happen to a team that I pull for. Anyway, the college football regular season kicks off with LSU and Mississippi State. Normally, I wouldn’t be so psyched about this matchup but it’s the first game of the much awaited season, and I am stoked. Before the kickoff of both, I’m going to renew my subscription to Xbox Live and get back into the Madden world. Three day weekend coming up folks!
August 31st, 2007 at 7:47 am
I think your making too much of this Beckham thing man. He wasn’t suppose to come into the league mid-season, join a terrible team, AND make the MLS better than any of the historicaly established leagues. I, as a huge fan of the mls (and any soccer for that matter), have seen more people at least bat an eye at the MLS (even if its not because they care about the soccer but tune in for Becks good looks, e.g. any woman..and Baz). This is good for the league. More games are being televised and there is a slight bit more soccer coverage, albeit for the failing galaxy. I also heard a report about Zenadine Zidan (sp?) tossing up the idea of coming to the US. I have no expectations of soccer being the most popular sport in the U.S., ever. I just want more fans so there are more games on TV. I don’t need fantasy soccer or 162 games per year to make me happy. Signing out, Bard.
P.S. GO Hokies, GO Skinz
Shaun A. Says:
August 31st, 2007 at 9:21 am
First off.. I never said he was supposed to make the MLS better than any of the top three, or four counting Nascar, leagues. He was supposed to draw in more of the general sports fans to the MLS which would, in future years, make the MLS much more marketable and interesting to the common fan.
Second… You as a “huge MLS fan” are not the target audience of bringing in a Beckham. Beckham wasn’t brought in for hardcore fans. He was brought in for those of us who can’t name other soccer players in the MLS. More awareness and knowledge was to be gained… and it wasn’t. He wasn’t brought in and marketed the way he was for people to “bat an eye” at the league. That wasn’t the goal.
Third…If you think he was paid $250 million to be a soccer model for women at home with nothing better to do and to run around the field just looking pretty, you’re wrong. No sane or wise businessman would EVER do that unless he owned a music group like the Backstreet Boys. The American Sports Public is not dumb and should receive more credit than that. That’s why he’s getting bashed nationally on syndicated radio shows. He was paid to bring excitement to games (which he did when he actually played), and again, make the league noteworthy, which he didn’t due to his injuries.
Fourth…Had Becham played the majority of the time he was here, he would have without a doubt brought more attention and interest to the sport from the general sportsfan who normally doesn’t care about soccer. But he was hurt and failed to do so. I had said from day one that there shouldn’t be THIS much hype about anyone, unless they actually perform and have the ball rolling.
Lastly…I’m not making too much out of this Bekcham failure in season one compared to what EVERYONE made of it when he signed with the Galaxy to begin with.