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Hearing Voxtrot
Becks to LA: 'Worst Contract in the History of Sports'
The Galaxy are paying David Beckham $1 million per week over the next five years. As a sports fan who has never truly cared about soccer (except when Brandi got half-naked and Zidane headbutted), this doesn't mean a whole lot to me. But as someone who recognizes the star power of Becks and Posh, this is the biggest transaction by an LA team since the Great One came down from Canada.
Here to break it down, after the picture, is none other than my good friend and all-around hooligan, Brian "The Bull" MacCarthy. He's the only guy I know who played soccer (and played it well) growing up and continues to follow "the beautiful game" closely into adulthood. I asked him for 500 words on the Beckham deal, and here they are, after the photo...
For the life of me I can’t figure out how the hell this is going to work. Here’s what we know about Beckham:
• He’s the most popular player in the world. Say what you want about Zidane, Henry or Ronaldhino, but there is no one footballer that has his mystique.• He sells more jerseys/shoes worldwide than anyone, including Yao, Lebron, Manning, Jeter, Zidane, etc. When he joined REAL Madrid, they sold 200,000 jerseys in less than 24 hours.
• Lets face it, he’s a good lookin’ brit and his arm candy (Posh) is outta control. He will likely be a weekly shot on US Weekly, People, SI, etc. I’m sure Posh will be more than happy to do Maxim, FHM and, if we're all lucky, Playboy.
• He is quite possibly one of the better passers in the world. He is also the best ‘free’ kicker in the world. Yet he is not a goal scorer, and isn’t that the biggest complaint of most Americans that don’t understand the game? They want more goals, more action, more speed. He doesn’t represent any of those qualities.
• He is 31 yrs old. Roughly five years past his prime and is the 5th best player on his own football team in Spain.
So what does that mean?He’ll be an A-lister immediately, but he’s also playing in a B sport. Yes, Beckham will sell a sh** load of jerseys, shoes and advertisements, but I can’t see how they possibly recoup $50 million a year. This may go down as the worst contract for an athlete in the history of sports.
Pele once came here and sparked the now defunct USSF for a few seasons. He too was past his prime and was overpaid. However, he repeatedly sold over 15,000 tickets to Giants Stadium. If Beckham can accomplish that not only in LA, but at every stop he makes, I may stand corrected.
And at the very heart of the issue is one thing: Can Beckham’s arrival to the U.S. not only bring our own best players back but attract the likes of other top-ranked FIFA players from around the globe? Let’s be honest, the quality of life in America is far better than that of say … Germany, perhaps Brazil & Argentina, certainly Poland, North Africa, Czechoslovakia and maybe even the U.K. Let’s face it, there are more opportunities for these players to succeed outside of just football here than in other countries.
At the end of the day, as a soccer/football fan I’m excited for this signing. Does it make financial sense? Probably not. Will I watch more games because of Beckham? Hell yes … And for god sakes, the players that make up the MLS … here’s my plea to you, please, please don’t take after your World Cup counterparts and continue this ‘diving’ trend. Man up, take the hit and get the F back up on your feet! You make all us ex-soccer players look like pu**ies when you do that!
Bonus Video: Watch Becks and Posh with Ali G.
And You Thought MLB Contracts Were Insane [Saved by the Blog]
Beckham Makes Sexy Time With America [Worth Repeating]
Beckham to the States: Will He Be on USC Sidelines? [FanHouse]
Start Spreading the News -- Ronaldo to NY? [TMZ]
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I'd drink Posh's bath water.
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I know nothing about soccer. But if they're paying this fool $50 million, and soccer is like the Nth most popular sport in the U.S., that leaves, what 25 cents to play all the other players on the team? That's gonna be a chummy locker room atmosphere.
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Just another reason to keep my two cents in my pocket or dare to buy some snake oil.
1/18/07 10:51 PM
http://journals.aol.com/kneme