As everyone knows David Beckham will be here in less than a months time now. Over at the 3rd Degree some rules were set down for his much anticipated arrival. I would really like to add one to the list:
Talking about anything other than Mr. Beckham in any pre or post game interview: 1 gameThat goes for all teams, not just the teams playing against the Galaxy that day. Good list!
After initially writing about the supposed escape clause in David Beckham’s contract with the LA Galaxy I found a more reliable source. In this article Lalas claims that there is no escape clause and he fully expects Beckham to show up on time just as expected before the comments from Real Madrid’s president earlier today.
Supposedly Beckham’s agent has said there is no intention to do anything other than come to the Galaxy after the season in Spain is over.
I guess that answers that.
There are rumors floating around that Beckham may have an escape clause of some sort in his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy that would allow him to stay in Europe and basically cancel his contract with the Galaxy.
The president of Real Madrid was talking at the French Open final today about trying to persuade Beckham to stay at Real Madrid and not go to the Galaxy at the end of their season next weekend.
I have no idea how much of this is rumor and how much is real. I would think it is un-likely that Beckham would end up anywhere other than LA in July. What do you think? What are the chances he backs out of his Galaxy contract, if there even is any such escape clause?
I hope you all had a good long weekend. Mine was exhausting and then work was even more so when I got back. A lot of exciting stuff went down while I was out of town and then locked in my office.
Beckham may be missing from the Galaxy if he gets called back to England for some Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Then there is talk of him going on loan to Newcastle (or other European club) after the MLS season, but Frank Yallop says it won’t happen and I doubt it myself.
The Kansas City Wizards proved that they are no joke. Going down two-nil to the top team in the league usually spells trouble, but the Wizards did it and came out on top. Eddie Johnson notched a hat trick in the game. It is official, his sports psychologist is paying off big time!
Aparently an announcement is going to be made about “Copa Minnesota” which is supposed to take place in October at the Metrodome. This Copa Minnesota will feature the LA Galaxy along with another unspecified team. If Beckham is on the roster that could draw a large crowd. They are hoping to set the Minnesota attendance record which was 46 thousand and some back when Pele and the NY Cosmos played there.
Usually I wouldn’t even think again about stupid stuff like this, but the first 3 paragraphs really make me wonder what the hell they are thinking. Someone took a picture of David Beckham wearing a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap. The Sun says that must be “really difficult for hardcore LA Galaxy fans to swallow”, and that “it’s like a Liverpool fan wearing a rugby shirt from a Manchester team”.
I wonder how the hardcore Galaxy fan really feels about this? I have to think that if I were a hardcore Galaxy fan I’d feel the same as I do without being a hardcore Galaxy fan. I don’t care. Besides me not caring what Beckhams wears, other than what jersey he is wearing on game day, I hardly see Cincinnati and the big rivals of LA. Maybe there is some big rivalry there that I’m not aware about, but I doubt it.
What do Galaxy fans think?
The Vancouver Whitecaps have agreed to host the LA Galaxy in Vancouver for an exhibition after the date that David Beckham is set to join the Galaxy. The game is scheduled for October 3rd.
Beckham’s first appearance with the Galaxy could be another exhibition game in Canada when the Galaxy play Toronto FC on August 5th.
With the announcement of the MLS 2007 regular season schedule comes a lot of buzz about when the Galaxy (and Beckham) are gonna be in town. Aparently this should be a huge TV draw, according to an ESPNsoccernet article, they Galaxy will be televised nationally in 16 of their last 17 regular season games. I know they are counting more than just what ESPN and ESPN2 will show, but that is still a lot of Galaxy. From the ESPNsoccernet article:
The former England captain likely will make his MLS debut Aug. 5 at Toronto, according to the MLS schedule released Tuesday. But he could don his Galaxy shirt for the first time in late July when Los Angeles plays in the SuperLiga, an eight-team exhibition event between MLS and Mexican clubs. The Galaxy play Mexico’s Chivas on July 24 at home, against Pachuca on July 28 and travel three days later to play at FC Dallas, the only MLS team that will not see Beckham during the regular season. Sixteen of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s final 17 games are scheduled to be broadcast nationally. “Adjustments were made to maximize David Beckham joining Galaxy in mid-July,” said Dan Courtemanche, MLS’ senior vice president of communications and marketing. “There was no major upheaval to ensure every team will have the Galaxy at home after mid-July.”
Recent reports claim that Beckham might get out of his contract at Real Madrid in time to be in LA for the beginning of the season due to the fact that their manager said he would never play for Real Madrid again. The CBC is reporting that this is not a possiblity:
The verdict is in: David Beckham will not be leaving Real Madrid for Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy before the end of the Spanish league season. “One thing is clear, he [Beckham] still has six months left in his contract,” Real Madrid sporting director Pedrag Mijatovic said Monday. “He has to complete his contract.”Too bad for LA, not too bad for their early season opponents.
David Beckham will be in a Galaxy jersey this fall. Over 5 years he will be making $250 million with the Galaxy, that will be the largest annual salary in American pro team sports history. All that money from a guy who had pretty much lost his starting spot on his current team Real Madrid in Spain.
It will be very interesting to see how Beckham becomes part of American soccer. I wonder if you’ll see more of Beckham on ESPN or E!. My money is on E!.
I like Major League Soccer, you should too!
