posh and becks

I can’t help it.

With that out in the open, I’ll let you know that this is as much sport entry as a pop culture entry, sort of. Having spent the 1995-2003 period of my life in England I’m well-versed in the rise of the Spice Girls and Beckham. Let’s get Victoria out of the way first. She’s the least talented of the 'group', she never seemed to be singing (her singing skills clearly the equal of mine), and was generally the least likely to ‘do much’ for me. She’s always been a mannequin that simply posed and appeared to be nothing more than a somewhat pretty face. Hasn’t she become angular? These days she’s got a surreal habit of wearing dresses that somehow manage to defy gravity as they display her assets; it’s circus like – sideshow circus like.

The real question posed through the sport pages and radio talk is whether or not Beckham will change the MLS and American soccer. He will. The most basic assumption is that if Pele, Beckenbauer, Best, and Cruijff couldn’t save the NASL in the late 70s and early 80s than there’s no way Mr. Hairboy will make any headway. Considering that Pele, Best, and Beckenbauer generally top the list of the best players the world has ever seen we should be able to end the discussion right now. Even on his best day Beckham is more one-trick soccer pony than complete player. Have once attended a NASL game in 1980 at the Seattle Kingdome (Cosmos v. Sounders) and having lived through the birth of ESPN and the 24-hour sports coverage in America, I can tell you that this immigration is an entirely different happening. I don’t think the NASL could even usurp the Bulgarian Soccer League on late-night ESPN in 1978. There’s no time to research the television contract secured by the NASL a quarter century ago but I’ll guess it was limited and low profile…I don't even remember seeing it on TV, ever. In fact, all I can remember of the NASL days on TV was Kyle Rote Jr. (he of the legendary Tampa Bay Bandits) excelling at SuperStars on ABC every Saturday afternoon. The NASL was more an idea than a happening.

What we’ve got today is a million channels, a soccer league that’s doing fairly well, and a population that’s gagging for celeb/sport personalities. More people will see Beckham play in the U.S. than the combined total of the 70s/80s imported European stars. For at least a year he’ll be the pre-eminent star of MLS and one of the leading sport figures in America – he’s as close as you can get to importing an American(-made) superstar. The reason we’re seeing so many youngsters caught up in the mania is because it’s been since at least 1994 (the U.S.-hosted World Cup) that soccer playing kids have had a recognizable icon (Coby Jones, Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola, etc. It's always the hair, isn't it?) Now they have that recognizable and very wealthy icon. Even though more U.S. players are in the upper echelons of European football, even though the U.S. team is certainly a top 25 squad, the majority of the most talented kids (and soccer players are the most talented) didn't have that ‘hundred million dollar’ player to look to…until now. I think the fact that he’s the most recognizable player in the world, not the best, is what will bring the greatest success.

As the MLS begins to grasp the concept of big money salaries, and applies it to the best American players and quality European players, we’ll see an influx of greater talent across the board. Nothing in athletics is more important than money and any player that says otherwise is either under indictment or just stupid. As an aside; has anyone seen the NHL lately? Didn't think so. Since the NHL is apparently occupying the sport channels in third-tier cable packages maybe there's room for the MLS to fill a void.

We’ll see.

T.

(photo: Steven Klein/W Magazine)