2

im suprised he came at still a decent age, i fully expected him to be here when he was like 35 or something...also read something about Edgar Davids possibly coming over too, i think hes still like 33, not too bad for a midfielder

1/11/2007 9:43:29 PM

yeah, only way this is a decent investment is if it somehow convinces decent players to come to MLS before they're completely washed up

1/11/2007 9:49:57 PM

it's a good investment if it gets people in america to actually watch soccer, regardless of whether it's simply interest created by beckham or by him being a convincing factor for other players to come too.

1/11/2007 10:12:43 PM

MLS super draft is on espn 2 right now.

first six picks are from the acc.

two of those guys played club and college soccer here in nc, wells thomson and michael harrington.

1/12/2007 12:33:14 PM

But they can't use their hands.


wait they can't?

1/12/2007 1:05:12 PM

Quote :

"im suprised he came at still a decent age"

he's past his prime...he's not even a starter anymore for Real Madrid

1/12/2007 1:39:15 PM

^ That means nothing. They've got half a dozen guys (who sometimes aren't even on the reserves' bench) who would start for any other club in the world, short of Chelsea and maybe Barcelona.

For example, Real Madrid will often play only one forward (though Robinho will play from the withdrawn left as Ronaldinho does, so it's more like always having two and sometimes three). They have:

Raul
Ronaldo
Robinho
Van Nistelrooy
Cassano
Reyes
Gonzalo Higuain from River

plus two young Spaniards.

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 1:49 PM. Reason : 4]

1/12/2007 1:40:49 PM

well he's still past his prime

and if the LA Galaxy is not playing, is anyone new going to care about the MLS or just the same people

1/12/2007 1:44:30 PM

^ You just described the NBA during the Michael Jordan domination years.

1/12/2007 2:54:08 PM

who are the Larry Birds and Magic Johnsons and Akeem Olajuwons and David Robinsons and Charles Barkleys and Isiah Thomas's and Karl Malones and Patrick Ewings of the MLS?

1/12/2007 2:56:31 PM

Bird and Johnson were retired.

Olajuwan was a Houston player that was decent, but no one cared about him outside of Houston, so that be Dwayne de Rosario of the Houston Dynamo.
Robinson...he's tough, I'll go with Landon Donovan cause some people thought the Admiral wasn't aggressive enough to bring home key wins.
No one ever got in Barkley's way cause he'd run them over, but he could never get to the promised land of winning despite being a good player, so he'd be Amado Guevara, formerly of New York, now of Chivas.
Isaih Thomas was a dirty cocky snot, so that would be Carlos Ruiz of Dallas.
Karl Malone...Jamie Moreno of D.C. United.
Patrick Ewing, you ever heard of the Ewing Theory? It describes how the Knicks always seemed to do better when Ewing was not in the game even though Ewing was a great player. That would be Freddy Adu.

The NBA in the 1990s was Jordan all day, all the time. Just like the NHL was Gretzky once and just like the PGA is with Tiger now. Take those guys out, there are some decent guys remaining, but interest went off a cliff.

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 3:13 PM. Reason : /]

1/12/2007 3:12:21 PM

well it seems you know your soccer...but heres the problem:

- the ewing theory is utter bullshit...the only time the Knicks made the NBA Finals in the last 25 years was with Ewing
- Olajuwon was "decent"???? So when Jordan took 2 years off, and in those two years Olajuwon won 2 NBA titles, he was just decent?
- David Robinson has 2 NBA Titles...Landon Donovan is more remembered for sucking ass in the World Cup last time
- oh yeah...and aside from Adu and Donovan, no casual soccer fan has heard of any of the other players...casual bball fans knew all the players I listed

the Celtics won 5 titles in the 80s...were the 80s "Bird all day, all the time"?

1/12/2007 3:19:28 PM

here is the deal with Beckam. yes, he is older and a little slower--but, he can score on free kicks just as well, if not better, than he always has. he can play like shit for 88 minutes and with 2 to go he hits a free kick in the upper 90. in a sport that averages 3 goals a game that is a nice thing to have.

1/12/2007 3:24:17 PM

Beckham would still probably be the best player in the league right?

im not arguing that...i just think the NBA clearly had more than Jordan...I mean the MLS' ratings are horrible...most soccer fans in the US prefer European or Latin teams/leagues...the NBA actually had games played on network television in the 80s and before...the MLS has damn near no support

1/12/2007 3:28:35 PM

-Robinson's titles are as much due to Tim Duncan then him, and Jordan/the Bulls were gone as a megaforce by that time.
-Olajuwan: yes. Notice how the ratings for the Rockets' 2 titles sank off a cliff cause Jordan wasn't there. That's cause no one outside of Houston cared. Did you care about Olajuwan? Did anyone outside of Houston?
-Are you a casual soccer fan?
-As far as Bird/the Celtics, no, Bird and the Celtics had Magic and the Lakers to counteract them. Jordan and the Bulls had no one.
-Ewing was injured during the 1999 playoff run, and the Knicks made the final.

Quote :

"The theory was created in the mid-'90s by Dave Cirilli, a friend of mine who was convinced that Patrick Ewing's teams (both at Georgetown and with New York) inexplicably played better when Ewing was either injured or missing extended stretches because of foul trouble. Curious to see if this phenomenon applied to other stars/teams, Dave noticed people were pencilling in the '94-'95 UConn Huskies for a .500 season because "superstar" Donyell Marshall had departed for the NBA. Dave knew better; a lifelong UConn fan, he thought the Huskies relied too much on Marshall the previous season and could survive without him. Like Ali predicting the first Liston knockout, Dave told friends the Huskies would thrive in Marshall's absence -- and that's exactly what happened. By midseason, UConn was ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history; the Ewing Theory had been hatched. Dave introduced me to the Ewing Theory three years ago, and we've been tinkering with it like Voltaire and Thoreau ever since. Eventually, we decided that two crucial elements needed to be in place for any situation to qualify for "Ewing" status: A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series). That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season. When those elements collide, you have the Ewing Theory. What's the best example of the Ewing Theory? The Tennessee Volunteers won the national title the first season after Peyton Manning left Knoxville. That's easy. During the '99 NBA Playoffs, Ewing tore an Achilles tendon during the second game of the Eastern finals against Indiana. With Ewing finished for the playoffs and nobody else on the Knicks who could handle Rik Smits, the series seemed like a foregone conclusion. As an added bonus, since Ewing himself was involved, that made this the ultimate test of the Ewing Theory; in fact, I e-mailed Dave that week to say, "This is the greatest test yet." Dave's return e-mail oozed with confidence, as he told me in no uncertain terms, "Ewing's injury is the best thing that ever could have happened to the Knicks -- they're definitely making the Finals now." So what happened? The Knicks won three of the next four and advanced to the NBA Finals for only the second time in 26 years. Had Jeff Van Gundy's crew shocked the Spurs in the Finals without Ewing, Dave might have his own line of "How-To" videos out right now (a Knicks upset was simply too tall of a task against Duncan and Robinson, Ewing Theory or no Ewing Theory). "

1/12/2007 3:29:19 PM

Quote :

"im not arguing that...i just think the NBA clearly had more than Jordan...I mean the MLS' ratings are horrible...most soccer fans in the US prefer European or Latin teams/leagues...the NBA actually had games played on network television in the 80s and before...the MLS has damn near no support"

I agree with your statements with MLS. But look at the NBA, they didn't have many fans before Bird and Magic came along. They had great players, just very few people cared about the NBA pre-1980, probably along the lines of MLS today. AEG (Galaxy owners) are taking a calculated risk that this will grow the Galaxy and the league (they also own the Houston Dynamo and Chicago Fire). I listen to a soccer podcast put out by two English ex-pats in L.A. everyday during work, they in general think the Premiership is almighty and all-powerful, and decry the shortcomings of MLS and US Soccer in general when they stumble. Both hosts, and all their callers today save one or two, thought this was a good business move by Beckham, a good business move for AEG, and a good business move by MLS that they signed him and took this risk.

1/12/2007 3:45:13 PM

The Knicks lost the 94 Finals in 7 games WITH Ewing

The Knicks lost the 99 Finals in 5 games WITHOUT Ewing

its a fucking stupid theory...call it the Peyton Manning theory if you want to be more accurate, although its still about as dumb as "The Curse of the Bambino"

and regardless of ratings drops when Jordan was out, my main argument is that the NBA has always and will always have better ratings than the MLS...when I said you knew your soccer, I'm sure you would follow soccer regardless...I have always liked the NBA, regardless of Jordan or not...every sport will maintain its diehard fans...but to compare MLS to ANY other American pro sports league is pretty dumb if you are comparing ratings...MLS is a bottom feeder

EDIT

I do hope the MLS attracts some of the bigger international stars like Renaldo, etc...would be good for the league...cause right now they are kind of struggling

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 3:47 PM. Reason : .]

1/12/2007 3:46:21 PM

Quote :

"I do hope the MLS attracts some of the bigger international stars like Renaldo, etc...would be good for the league...cause right now they are kind of struggling"

You're the one who said Beckham was past his prime and not even starting for Real Madrid...the same is true of Ronaldo.

I'm a very casual fan of MLS...I'm more likely to care about the PSL or PDL standings than the MLS standings. With that said, I knew all of the players mentioned in Flyin Ryan's post.

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 3:59 PM. Reason : 5]

1/12/2007 3:53:32 PM

Well I'm not a casual MLS fan and the only players I had heard of were Adu and Donovan

and yes Renaldo is old himself, but he would still be good for the league as far as recognition, ratings, popularity, etc

1/12/2007 3:54:50 PM

^ the only problem is Ronaldo's getting fat

1/12/2007 3:57:59 PM

^^ So then what's the problem with Beckham?

1/12/2007 4:00:10 PM

i didnt say there was a problem...i just disagreed that he "came at still a decent age"

although I guess in hindsight based on the talent level of MLS, he's out of his Real Madrid Prime, but still in MLS prime

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 4:01 PM. Reason : .]

1/12/2007 4:01:00 PM

It's also a matter of need. Giggs and Beckham are essentially the same age, but Beckham doesn't have the skill set for the English game any more. Giggs doesn't have his youthful touch any more but he's still a blazer and flanks well with C. Ronaldo when needed.

1/12/2007 4:05:07 PM

^^ TreeTwista, if you're interested in hearing a soccer reaction to Beckham coming from people that follow European (and mainly English) soccer predominantly, listen to the first 15 minutes or so of this podcast from yesterday. The guys are not MLS fans too much, but do pay attention to what happens in it and do genuinely want soccer in the U.S. to succeed.

http://www.worldsoccerweekly.com/WSD011107.mp3

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 4:06 PM. Reason : /]

1/12/2007 4:05:48 PM

i'll check it out after work

i figure since pretty much the whole world (outside the US lol) plays and loves soccer, if the US actually became good it would better for the sport in general, worldwide

1/12/2007 4:10:06 PM

The Galaxy page is nice, though:

http://www.lagalaxy.com

$900,000 a week. Loves it.

BTW, it's complete bunk that he's as good at free kicks as he once was.

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 4:17 PM. Reason : 5]

1/12/2007 4:14:31 PM

^^ That's what FIFA is hoping long-term. We're one of the last untapped markets as far as money potential. There are other countries where soccer isn't a big deal: China, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, some minor countries that don't matter, but we're the ones with the most money.

[Edited on January 12, 2007 at 4:30 PM. Reason : /]

1/12/2007 4:20:55 PM

MLS has put themselves in a position to not struggle as much financially for the future before this whole Beckham thing. By building soccer-specific stadiums instead of renting out huge football stadiums, many MLS teams are projected to start actually recording profits in the next 5-10 years.

So in their first 10 years with the things they've done - salary cap, limiting foreign players, building fan bases, building soccer-specific stadiums - they've weathered the initial storm most new leagues come across. They have the tv deals and the sponsorships so now they needed something major to really jumpstart the 2nd tier of success I guess you could call it for what could be a very profitable league (in terms of soccer in the US)

1/12/2007 6:23:45 PM

i know this has been discussed to death, but a million a week is obscene and unfair.

but then again, who is paying him that much?

REGULAR PEOPLE.

that's right, if people weren't so crazy about starts, celebrities, and athletes, they wouldn't get what they get.

1/12/2007 6:27:53 PM