David Beckham to play for L.A. Galaxy

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by charlielyons

as a huge fan of soccer, i would say this move is truely to put butts in the seats. beckahm is a good player but not great. he is one of the most noticed athletes in the world and kids love him , it will draw alot of attention and fan base.

I don't think it will...at least long term.

Professional soccer is just boring to Americans. We have the NFL and many other sports we'd prefer to watch. If bringing Pele to New York in the 70s didn't put soccer on the map, nothing will.

This may excite people who are already soccer fans, but it won't gain many if any new fans.

Beckham may become a celebrity in America because of his looks and his wife, much like an American Idol winner or actor...but he won't do anything for the sport.


They try and try, but soccer will never catch on big in this country.

I even gave it a chance when we had the World Cup in what, '94? We had an exciting (fun) team with Alexi Lalas, Coby Jones, Tony Meola and some others, but the games just bored me. The field is SO huge and most of the game was like watching a punt-fest in REAL football...just one team kicking the ball way down the field only to have the other team do it. Then, after a 90-minute scoreless tie, we go to a "overtime" where the clock runs backwards and may never end. Then, the announcer wakes you up with "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" and you see guys running around like their shorts are on fire. Later on the news, you hear about the drunken riots and the fires set in the streets in England and Germany because the USA won a game.

It's a great sport for kids to play and for other nations without the athletic talent and diversity that America has...but I'll stick with REAL football.