David Beckham: MLS Savior or Bust

David Beckham made his long awaited MLS regular season debut against D.C United in an unimpressive performance last week. It was a sloppy game, which is pretty common in the MLS. The game was played in the rain, unlike pussy-ass baseball, and Beckham made a rather low-key debut for his first MLS regular season appearance. Beckham is still nursing a tender ankle, and as a former soccer player, hurt ankles are a nuisance when you're trying to cut or stop on a dime. I doubt we'll be able to see Beckham play up to his full potential for about another couple of weeks. When he does get healthy, I hope Beckham can show a fraction of the form he showed in his last games with Real Madrid.

David Beckham is a beast on the soccer field. He has uncanny vision and he can change a game with a single strike from his boot. His free kicks are rivaled only by Roberto Carlos of Brazil. He's also married to the stunning Victoria Beckham, which makes him one of the most envied human beings in the whole world. Very few people can say they're going to make 250 million dollars in the next 5 years, but this guy can.

With great power, comes great responsibility though... Uncle Ben was right when he uttered those words to a young Peter Parker in the first Spiderman. Beckham has been assigned the difficult task of making soccer relevant in America. This is a monumental task. Soccer is an afterthought here in America because everyone gets off to the Big Three: football, basketball and baseball. Soccer can hold its own in popularity though. Every time a European club comes to play a friendly game here in States, the game sells out immediately. Even Mexican club teams can sell out stadiums here in the U.S. The whole country gets a sudden wave of interest every 4th year for the World Cup as well. The arenas where soccer falls short are on television and coverage in the mainstream American media. ESPN doesn't give a shit about soccer unless something monumental happens. I mean, when Eric Wynalda is a lead commentator for soccer games, you know something isn't right.

Maybe Beckham can arouse more media interest about the actual game of soccer, instead of what he or his wife are wearing out in public or the usual tabloid bullshit. If Beckham can produce a handful of the plays he displays in this video in the coming years here in the U.S., then he has a good shot at making soccer explode.



Regardless of what happens, he has already made the casual fan more aware of the beautiful game with his mere marketing ability and his 80 dollar jersey, which is fucking sweet by the way.