Beckham threatens to be a pussy
>> Wednesday
There are several reasons that soccer (or as those crazy Europeans call it, football) will not succeed in the U.S. But one thing that certainly does not help is Beckham potentially sitting out his much-anticipated debut because of an ankle injury.
The ankle swelled up during the flight from London to Los Angeles last Thursday and despite a weekend of massage and treatment, Beckham could not take a full part in Galaxy's open training session at the Home Depot Center last night in front of around 2,000 fans.
Sorry Posh Spice's husband, but in this country we play through the pain. If there's one thing American sports fans love, it's toughness. Whether it's Byron Leftwich being carried down the field with a broken leg, or Michael Jordan's famous flu, we want to see athletes that are fucking committed to their teams and their sport, and play injured and/or sick. We sure as hell don't want to see athletes that puss out in big moments.
Now I don't know the details of soccer and how such an injury would affect a player, but that doesn't really matter because most American sports fans are in the same boat as me. And this boat sees a swollen ankle as a pretty weak excuse to stay at home and sip champagne when an entire country has promoted your arrival with millions of dollars. Whether the standards are fair or not, the future of American soccer depends on them.
Sorry, but if Beckham doesn't play any impact he might have had is going to be severly reduced. The only chance for the U.S. to give a damn about soccer within the next decade is for Beckham to pla on Saturday, injured or not.
And of course, I personally could give a fuck less either way, because I can't imagine myself ever being entertained by a soccer game.
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I agree. It will be a huge letdown if he doesn't play on Saturday. However, I could see Coach Yallop's rationale in holding him out because I doubt Yallop really gives two craps and a lick about "Brand Beckham" and his mission to proselytize the unconverted American sports fans.
Yallop wants to win games and get the Galaxy to the MLS Cup playoffs, and frankly, he has his work cut out for him there (3-4-5, 13 points...9 points out of a playoff spot). I can understand him pulling #23 for a meaningless exhibition game rather than risk him injuring his ankle again and losing his star for a good chunk of the season. LA Galaxy management may be pressuring him on this front too. Yallop's really in kind of a tough spot cause he's damned if he does and with all the hype surrounding Beckham he's damned if he doesn't.
On the point of playing through the pain though (And not to defend Beckham, because now that he plays for Galaxy, as a Fire fan, he's dead to me.) one could argue that he HAS been playing through the pain, and that has only made things worse.
Beckham initially picked up the injury in England's EURO 2008 Qualifier against Estonia on June 6th, where he played an integral role in England's win.
With no rest for the weary, he then proceded to play in Madrid's final two games against Real Zaragosa on Jun. 9th and Mallorca on Jun. 17 (where Becks felt his ankle "snap" at one point). The second half of the Spanish La Liga season, Beckham pretty much took Real Madrid on his back to lead Madrid to the title in the tightest Spanish League race in many years.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most sports generally have an offseason for players to rehabilitate injuries and wear-and-tear that affect even the best athletes. However, Beckham really hasn't had an "offseason" to speak of since the summer of 2005. The Spanish League runs August to June, and MLS runs April to November. He would have had last summer off, but was heavily involved in England's World Cup campaign in Germany from June to July. By the time England was eliminated, it was time for preseason with Real Madrid all over again. Having played his last game for Madrid on June 17, and today being July 18, we're square in the middle of the standard "out-for-4-to-6-weeks window that has become attached to injuries in many sports.
So that's what I think. Want to make it clear that I'm not defending Beckham cause lord knows he doesn't need anymore cheerleaders in the media. Just providing the background info and some analysis.
Prediction vaguely related to this post: Now that the Galaxy will have a bigger following, uppity Hollywood types will try to make it the "in" thing to refer to soccer as "football" because it'll make them sound more worldly and because L.A. has no actual football team. Just a hunch.
How does Ben Sheets fit into the whole "American athletes play through pain"?
Easy Paul, Sheets needs to be able to grip the ball to pitch. And anyway, I'd watch myself if I were you and talking about the durability of a pitcher...or two pitchers...who aren't really "pitching" anymore...
oh man! what a post!...what a idiot post! you really dont know nothing about the most popular sport in the world.
here are some of your great inspiration:
* There are several reasons that soccer (or as those crazy Europeans call it, football) * come on man, englands made the rules for this game and they named football, before your boring american football appeared. Its not soccer you big idiot.
*Sorry Posh Spice's husband, but in this country we play through the pain* a flu man? I love basket, and for me jordan is the best...but a flu???
and finally your: *And of course, I personally could give a fuck less either way, because I can't imagine myself ever being entertained by a soccer game.* I've tried to watch some baseball, that is not a sport, people go to stadium but they dont care about the game! they eat, buy, talks, ughh.
american football...ummm a little bit more entertaining, but also a boring one.
the real football, you'll see in La Liga, with ronaldinho, messi, Titi, ruud van, raul. Or come to south america and you'll know the words passion, committed to team,and others you'll never know with your little baseball and others.
Beckham is one of the greatest player of football, in consecuence, one of the greatest athlets.
Asuncion.
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