Bend over Beckham

DC United was in firm control of the game in David Beckham's MLS debut, LA Galaxy's August 9th match at RFK stadium. DC won 1-0, although a 3 or 4 nil tally would more accurately reflect the ease with which the team seemed to direct the game, missed chances and poor finishes aside. However, I doubt the sold out (46,686) crowd would report a DC win. Although the best foreigner of the field was Brazilian, not English, no one seemed to notice DC even existed. Not the fans, not the media, not the cameras, and not even the home team's security guards!

I watched most of the game in the stands instead of the press box, not only because of the electric energy that filled the stadium, but because of how pissed off I was getting that the TV in front of me failed to show me anything but clips of Beckham on the Bench.

I don't care if he brings the league visibility; I am not of the opinion that any press is good press, and I do not think coverage of this spectacle accurately or favorably reflects the league. I just want to see some great games. The best parts of the game for me were Jaime's shots, the red card, Emilio's nasty goal, and the fans cheering when DC scored- not the fans exploding when he stood up to warm up or even picked his nose. Don't get me wrong, the man is magnetic; it took every ounce of will power and love of my job not to reach out and touch him as he passed me to enter the press conference, but no single star can, or should, carry the league on his back. With all those eggs in one basket, we face a grim future, because whether it be a sprained ankle, an affair, or national team duty, at some point everyone tumbles to the ground. In an interview with Dan Steinberg, Bobby Boswell shared this sentiment.

If soccer fans are going to take to MLS, they will do so because it is a league that has grown competitive and remains exciting as it continues to grow each season before our eyes. That is worth watching, with or without Beckham, so he needs to stand out of the way so audiences can see that.

My beef with the media aside, I had one of the most fun games of my life yesterday (which is why I wish people could have seen the game, not just Beckham's sexxxxy chest)... more to come on that later.