When Americans hear the word football, we automatically think of cracking open a beer on Sundays and enjoying the hard hitting sport we all know and love. However, if you say the word football anywhere else in the country, they will pronounce it futbol, and think of the finesse game we call soccer. David Beckham's goal was to change this, something he is far from doing.
When Beckham arrived to America and put the L.A. Galaxy jersey on, it brought new blood to a sport that couldn't buy itself fans. 2 and 1/2 years later, the Galaxy have yet to make the playoffs since his arrival, and Beckham is already looking to get out of America.
Not only has Beckham done nothing to help the sport that so desperately needed him, hes tarnished his image, with the few soccer fans he brought into the game. Looking for a way out, Beckham looks to be heading to AC Milan, within the next two years.
This is something that on top of many other things did not get the best reaction from his MVP teammate Landon Donavon. He slammed him in the book "The Beckham Experiment", calling him a bad teammate and captain. Stating he did nothing to motivate the team and did not really seem to care about anyone on it.
He may have helped with ticket sales, or maybe even sold more jerseys then any other American soccer player, but when you look at the pecking order of sports, soccer is still close to the bottom, and it will remain there until America can win a World Cup (which is not happening anytime soon). Beckham has brought entertainment to the sport, but most people watching aren't looking for a good soccer game, they are watching for Beckham's next move.
Recently, after his first game of the season, coincidentally in a practice match against AC Milan, Beckham got into it with an angry fan, after getting booed by his home crowd. Beckham called out the fan telling him to "come on down here" along with a few other words, so the drunk fan did and security broke it up, but not before the damage was done, with the home-crowd watching Beckham foolishly call out a fan. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-c720nNtgI
This shouldn't surprise anyone, knowing what we knew about Beckham he has always been a pre-madonna. Marrying an ex-spice girl and hanging with Tom Cruise, are not the criteria you look for in a professional athlete.
Even though the Beckham experiment is not over, the idea of him changing the image of American soccer has so far been a complete and udder failure. Beckham might as well leave for AC Milan now (he would if it was not for his contractual agreement), his attempt at helping American soccer's image has done nothing but turn American soccer into a circus.
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