Pros

OPINION: Absent Beckham Could Cause Difficulties By Andrew Hush
July 18, 2007
I had Tuesday off this week so I took advantage of my freedom by frying my brain watching daytime television. After catching up on the pop culture world series, I flicked over to the nation's premiere entertainment channel to see which 20-something starlet had checked into rehab this week.

What I found was the latest news on the arrival of America's most famous British family, the Beckham's. I learned they spent the weekend shopping at Toys ‘R' Us, before having a cup of coffee at some pretentiously-named café. They also ate takeout from Taco Bell. Wow.

The remarkable thing about the first week of ‘Beckhamania' in this country is that it appears nothing has changed. This morning, the E Network spent five minutes on his latest movements, paying only momentary attention for his actual reason for being in LA. Meanwhile, the top sports news program gave the Galaxy new boy approximately seven seconds.

Therein lays the problem, which still exists. After the dying down of the blaze of publicity that was driven more by curiosity than any new-found interest in soccer from those with a laissez-faire attitude towards the sport, now comes the real test. The introductions are over, now he has to actually play, something which could be a problem in the short-term.

That he was on the worldwide leader at all was due largely to what could be come a major issue for his new club and the league as a whole, namely that he is injured. Whisper it, but the ankle problem, which he suffered on England duty and then exacerbated while playing for Real Madrid, is far more than a knock and could have a detrimental impact on his initial impact in this country.

Beckham is unlikely to feature for any significant length of time against Chelsea on Saturday, in a nationally televised game which will see 19 cameras bring you every single angle you could wish for (and many you couldn't care less about). Furthermore, his availability for future games may be compromised by his injury, particularly as a number of them will be played on artificial surfaces, which are widely regarded as being less friendly to ailing bodies than natural grass.

The question is thus, how do the Galaxy and MLS handle this potential problem? If Becks doesn't play, what then? Will refunds be issued to upset fans, because there will be phone calls demanding them. Will Beckham travel to games he won't play in and be paraded on the field? Is an autograph session enough to pacify the fans that were there to see him ‘bend it'?

With uncertainty abounding over when Beckham will see meaningful playing time, the risk that the league took by structuring its season around the arrival of the Englishman looks set to be costly. It's all very well boasting that he will visit every market in the league between now and mid-October, but what happens if he is in street clothes?

The publicity he gets will continue, his wife will see to that if nothing else. She'll be shopping with Paris Hilton or lunching with Katie Holmes, spending money earned singing songs someone else wrote for her. Meanwhile, the talented one in the family has a tough stretch ahead of him.

MLS is structured such that it will not fold if Beckham does not play. He does not have to be the savior of the league or of the sport, despite what the uninformed and ignorant may say. However, if injury causes his career here to false start, the ratings and interest spike that the league was hoping for may be more staggered than sudden.

To soccer fans, Beckham simply being here shows how far the game in this country has come in the past dozen years. To the doubters, the need remains for their constant highlights of dunks and home runs – most of which look similar to the previous one – to be interrupted by Beckham demonstrating his own skill on the field, rather than signing autographs off it.