A couple of points from someone old enough to have seen Pele play when he came to the US. I think for native Americans, Beckham will be a bigger deal. Soccer is a much more mature sport in the US now and Beckham's face has been on the walls of US kids for years now. Even if he never played in America, David Beckham was/is a star in this country. The perfect example of a global celebrity circa 2007. It may not say altogether good things about the current nature/value of celebrity. But it is what it is. Pele was for the football cognescenti. He became a pied piper for soccer once he got here and people like me-teenagers at the time-marched in step. But that's very different from the boys and girls I see today-hell, two weeks ago I stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant during a road trip and saw a boy in a Totti, Roma shirt. Deep in Kentucky! No way do you see an American boy in 1974-75 in the South, wearing a George Best shirt or Cruyff shirt. That's the difference: you can go in the deep South; in the Plains and see kids playing soccer, wearing Ronaldinho and Ronaldo shirts. There's a little boy down my street-as American as you can get-and he runs around in a Brasil shirt with dad in the front lawn. Different world. One good thing they have in common is that they each played for the strongest clubs vis-a-vis organization and cash. That AEG has not only got the Home Depot Center built but also has a strong foothold in the LA sport scene is as important as the Cosmos-Warner alliance was for Pele. Different ownership; still playing in the Rose Bowl or some other oversized stadium...not such a good thing for Becks. And funny enough, while the football cognescenti will most certainly take their shots at Becks for not being "elite" or not worthy of being cast in the same light as Pele in 1975, his most potent skill may in fact be what sells him to the US audience. Much like people anticipate the home run hitter, people new to the sport will anticipate his free kicks and corners-it translates easy to Americans new to the sport. It fits easy into highlights. It will drive the "serious" fans and writers crazy (as it seems to do to Ray Stubbs on 606), all the hoopla for a guy who seemingly can only do one thing on the pitch. But I think it will hit a sweet spot here and may resonate deeper than what Pele did during his days with Cosmos.
Beckham is old, injured and washed up. He'd be sitting on the roster of the Italian National team. That's how I see him as a player. To be honest Totti and Zidane would draw that kind of interest and you see how both played in the 2006 World Cup. Zidane ejected, Totti, played in the shadows of younger and newer to the game names on that Italian team. Italy wasn't a single star player team, they were Gattuso, Pirlo, Inzaghi and on and on, you get the picture, simply a conglomeration of team players/names that with each successive accomplishment will gain fame and recognition as opposed to simply Beckham. As a drawing card, Beckham has the name. If the US soccer league wanted to raise awareness and interest in the game, they'd get more international name players and not just cram it down our throats that Beckham is the new soccer savior. Soccer will never surpass the 1st three sports you indicated. Hockey/NHL, there might be a shot at that. Hockey made the transition from Canada to US years ago, so they have the head start on it. Where they lost me was the cancelled season. There are but a few sports where "love of the game" means or meant something. But once the strike ends a currently on-going season to where it doesn't even get played. Even scrubs an entire season from exhibition to championship, that sport to me has crossed the line where telling everyone that the athletes are there for the game is just lip service. Anyway back to Beckham. He'll ruin American soccer, or there simply won't be enough interest like the 70's and Chinaglia/Pele/NY Cosmos. American soccer needs it's own heroes and champions. For that level of interest to happen, US teams need to win World Cups, then that has to happen instantaneously. And the 4 year schedule precludes that from happening. As Americans, we have to even remind ourselves every 4 years that the sailing event is going on, that our nba stars are no longer the best in hoops for Olympic events. But you can see that after the NBA went to parity in the Olympics, the stars play for US teams each year, just like the NHL. That's what soccer needs to do. And on one last note, take PGA golf. Beckham is British, Tiger is American, bottom line, Beckham is no Tiger Woods for the sport of soccer for the USA, no matter how many fashion shows Paris Hilton attends to get a glimpse of Beckham. We need our own heroes and champions, this would be like importing a British/foreign war hero to have been Gen George S. Patton, just not ever going to happen.
Pele and Ali were probably the two most famous people in the world in those days. IIRC, the Cosmos also had a payroll higher than that of most if not all MLB teams.
You can love the game and still be angry that you are being treated unfairly by the owners. If you had a job that you loved, but you felt you weren't being treated appropriately at work would you just shut up and do it because you loved your job so much? The players have every right to demand reasonable salaries. Yeah, you make think that athletes don't deserve multi-million dollar salaries. But the fact is that the money will be made regardless, and the players deserve it far more than the owners. Not all athletes are "there for the game" in any professional league. To some it's just a job. But as I said, just because someone goes on strike doesn't mean they don't love the game.
So what's the difference between pro athlete's doing it and anyone that is working class ? Makes me wonder what would happen if every fast food worker quit for weeks because they were treated unfairly. I doubt those workers even love their jobs ? The arguments could be made across the board, even in office jobs.
beckham will make an impact not because hes a better player than pele (far from it. brazil won every world cup pele played in and england...yea. no real comparison) but because hes a celebrity. its disgusting, but unfortunately thats the way the english press can make their golden boy into the face of football worldwide.
Exactly! There are kids across the US playing and loving soccer now because of Pele. That is why Beckham does not have a chance to match him. It is not that Beckham is a lesser player, he's a very good player. It's that Pele got the ball rolling awhile ago and it has gone very far since then. Beckham will have a positive impact on the game here. He's a great player who will draw big crowds. But IMHO, the only player who can have a bigger impact on the sport in the US than Pele did would be a US born and raised world player of the year, who can dominate the international and club game.
That's exactly my point. There is no difference. You are claiming that professional athletes that go on strike or hold out don't "love the game." Can you explain how that is a logical argument? Are they supposed to be our slaves and just entertain us for free? I mean, if they love the game we shouldn't have to pay them at all, should we? And by the way, the NHL didn't strike, it was a lockout, which is employer driven. The owners were the ones that cancelled the season, not the players. I have a feeling that I won't persuade you regardless, so I'm done here, you can have the last word. This is why we're all hoping for Freddy, granted he wasn't born here, but he is a citizen, and represents the American immigrant dream. What we need is a soccer Jordan, Woods, Payton, or Ruth from the US.
We have a long ways to go first though and I don't think that Adu is the answer. At this point, I think we're on the right track. Slow, steady growth of the domestic league, increased support for the national team and good youth programs. Soccer is a huge youth sport. The coaching and opportunities are continually improving. With that, so will the players. Our U20 team is full of skillful, talented and athletic players. That is a result of how much the youth programs are improving. Heck, I never played soccer until I was 8 and my son just turned 3 and he walks/runs with a soccer ball with ease already. Have patience and enjoy watching the progress!
MLS has already laid a good foundation prior to Beckham and can survive even without Beckham. NASL didn't lay that foundation and probably would have never truly started up beyond the size of our current USL or PDL. Pele's impact was huge, along with Chinaglia, Beckenbauer etc. going from zero to big almost overnight. Beckhams impact will be far different and will hopefully further the exposure of the league. Hollywood exposure, if positive, will mean national exposure and hopefully respect. There's no way of comparing who's impact will be bigger or better. Pele took NASL from 0 to 50, Beckham may take MLS from 50 to 75. Pele's impact would be percentage wise considered bigger but Beckhams produced impact may have been harder. Most important is whose impact will last. NASL popularity was relatively short lived. Hopefully the impact of all these world renown players that play here will make a lasting, respected history of Soccer in the U.S.. Americans love nostalgia. All of the NASL and all MLS stars that we get will mean a greater foundation for Soccer in the U.S.. Most important is that the U.S. creates our own world Soccer star.
If one believes that athletes are our slaves, that's absurd. They train as hard as they do for their own competitive advantage. Along the way the ride is pretty darned good, education at the expense of the average joe, perks galore. Yes they make money for a lot of people as amateur, there's also vain celebrity status as a reward even for those that don't make it to the professional level. And let's talk about money, league minimums for virtually every sport those incomes aren't paltry earnings. The lockout for the NHL, the threat of strike was taken up by ownership. And let's face it, how many of the products we buy are inflated going onto the shelf, because a pro athlete gets an endorsement ? How much is due to marketing and advertisement cost because of a game event. The NFL Super Bowl has been more about advertisements than it has been about championships. I'd dare say outside of consecutive Super Bowl wins does anyone remember anyone other than the Patriots as a team. Janet Jackson's nipple is just as famous in that regard.
Bingo, the US women's soccer team has done wonders for US soccer. Unfortunately as a male dominated sport, that only laid a foundation for hope for the men's national team to follow suit. The men's team has not produced that quality program in the eyes of Americans and soccer remains dormant in that regard for the USA. It's almost as though the USA will have to be as dominant as they were in basketball when the NBA stars first played in the Olympics, otherwise it's just a bust. Those expectations are simply too much to expect, but a reality none the less. To be honest, granted, Beckham has the celebrity appeal, but let's face it, and not to sound racist, but LA is a hispanic market. You could sign Ronaldo, Ronaldinho or Mexican star players that would have a bigger impact for the US soccer league in that community/area. South American players for Argentina as well. Soccer is very popular here in Miami, FL, but it's not the American team, it's the Caribbean teams that draw support, simply because the locals are predominantly from off-shore. Yes, they will watch Beckham and England, but put him up against their tiny island team and they cheer for their local hero everytime. I think Adu fails the USA in that regard no matter how good he becomes, he's the star we bought in the end and really isn't from the continental US. And the African community will simply beam with pride, not because of his US affiliation but because he is truly from Ghana. I know this firsthand from discussion with an avid soccer fan from Ghana, and yet another from Haiti. Yeah, I know 2 people don't make a quorum. But you really have to have been immersed in the culture to see that when it really comes down to it, being American or in America comes 2nd to these people in that regard. I am of Italian-American descent, trust me the Italians were hardly the crowd favorite amongst my office co-workers. Ghana, Haiti, Trinidad-Tobago all had bigger followings. As the Italians racked up the wins, I had to keep my pride and mouth on the down-low, a 2-0 win over Ghana, I couldn't revel in the victory. I was steered more towards acknowledging what a valiant effort Ghana had put forth. Funny thing, the girl tried to tell me 2-0 was respectable. I thought it more the equivalent of losing by two touchdowns in American football, a shutout no less. One thing no one remembers though, the US team may have disappointed, but there were only 2 teams that tied Italy, France in the final and the USA on 6/17. Just an indication of how close US soccer is, yet how far it must still come.
i guess pele cannot be compared to beckham, since they lived in different time period and soccer was different back then in the US. then another question is, who else can also make a hit in the mls today?
See, this disturbs me even more so. Comparisons of Pele and Beckham really can't be taken seriously: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20042521,00.html Enough is enough, how can anyone take American soccer seriously as well, especially this league that is relying more on tabloid garbage than substance. The circus/freak show has come to town. Americans, I doubt will gravitate towards Spice Girl, it's not like she's a "Desperate Housewife" (Eva Longoria & Tony Parker) or Jack Nicholson @ a Laker game, even Spike Lee @ a Knick game ?