Welcome to America, David Beckham

David Beckham was introduced as a member of MLS’ LA Galaxy and the sports world (as well as the paparazzi) was in a flurry. Despite the fact that this is most publicity that Major League Soccer has received in its existence, there are those who have been complaining about the attention and the money that Mr. Beckham has been receiving. In the world where sportswriters actually get paid, this shouldn’t be that big of a shocker.

Apparently, it’s something of a problem that MLS is going to pay a 31 year old David Beckham to come over here and try to boost interest in soccer. According to the sportswriters, it’s akin to paying a 97 year old Michael Jordan eleventy trillion dollars to get out of his coffin and save basketball.

They say he’s past his prime in soccer years and that he’s not even the best soccer player out there. They complain that all this will become is a photo-op for all the tabloids featuring Beckham and his wife, Posh Spice, who are the international equivalent of Bennifer or Tony Parker and Eva Longoria and already, the circus surrounding Beckham’s arrival has nothing to do with soccer. These are the reason why these guys are sportswriters and not running sports franchises. This is why no one listens to you, ever.

MLS is in the sports and entertainment business, so the first rule is to get people to look at it, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. The attention surrounding David Beckham in the months since they’ve announced that he was coming has already boosted interest in their product. The time that the sportswriters spent complaining about the Beckham deal has actually worked in MLS’ favor, because good or bad, they’re talking about MLS. And in entertainment, we all know that any press is good press. Unless there’s child pornography involved.

I’ve watched MLS before (once). I’m not a soccer fan, but I know bad soccer when I see it. And whatever the Chicago Fire was doing on Wednesday night was horrible. No one is going to watch that on a regular basis and MLS knows that. So what would the sportswriters of America have them do? What would their grand solution be? You’re going to have to go after international stars at some point and you’re going to have to pay them large amounts of money. You’re going to have big press conferences. So what if David Beckham is 31 and he’s not the best? The attention that he’s brought them in the last week has raised their profile more than anything else that’s happened to them, ever. And they didn’t even have to resort to planting kiddie porn on one of their players.

The reaction from sportswriters proves how short sighted they are. David Beckham is only the first. They’ll bring over more players from other, better, countries and as a result, our players will get better. Will soccer ever become the top sport in this country? Most likely not, but that’s not the point, either. They’d be happy with reaching profitability and having their players not embarrass themselves on the international stage would be enough. And with players of David Beckham’s caliber making the trek over here, those things are closer to actually happening then they would have been by listening to the advice of the guys on “Around the Horn.”