Maybe I've read one too many psychology texts in my short life, but does anyone else think that Becks coming out in short sleeves for his first 2 LA matches this year represents him saying he truly no longer cares? I mean, he was always so concerned about his image that he would always wear long sleeves for just about every team and in every weather. But now, with the book coming out and a bit of his image here in USA forever damaged, could this be the representative feature of a change in his mindset for the rest of the season? As in "I don't give a f-- anymore, I don't care if I piss anyone off anymore, I'm leaving anyway and you know it."
Re: The short sleeves I think you're assuming that he wore long sleeves to cover his tatts. I do not believe that is the case. I believe he has always said it's just a matter of personal preference/style/superstition, whatever. But something has changed, and someone should ask him about it. He did say he just got a new tatt of ten roses for his 10th wedding anniversary, and I don't know if they're visible below the elbow or not, but perhaps it's more to show them off than anything else. Again, I don't know. But he should be asked. And I don't believe it's been a matter of covering up tatts before. I believe you may be reading too much into it.
Re: The short sleeves He did used to wear long sleeves to cover his tats, it's a well known thing although why he did that I really don't know, it's not like people in society are offended by tattoos. He has been quoted in the English media as saying thats the reason why he wears long sleeved shirts. Why he's suddenly stopped wearing the long sleeves I wouldn't want to hazard a guess, watching that footage of Beckham and the fans was weird, I've followed Beckham ever since he first broke into the Manchester United team and it was so out of character, it shocked me. He says he wasn't calling the fan out, that he wanted a word with him to try and reason with that end of the stadium but still...weird behaviour.
Re: The short sleeves Maybe it's just the opposite and it represents him "rolling up his sleeves", i.e. really displaying his "commitment" to LAG.
Re: The short sleeves But he wore long sleeves when he was 17, before he got the tattoos. In fact, you can rarely find a photo of him from any point in his career where he's not (the occasional one does pop up from time to time). But if it's a "well-known thing," it should be easy to point to an article where he actually says that's why he's done it, right? I've heard both, that's why you'd think someone would have the definitive answer, wouldn't you?
Re: The short sleeves Maybe they've already sold all the longsleeves they think they can sell and now they're trying to push the short-sleeve version to the Pacific Rim. (BTW, this thread so belongs in General.)
Re: The short sleeves http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/england/newsid_2014000/2014573.stm Theres your source, but I think I came across wrongly, I didn't mean that was the sole reason for him wearing the long sleeves, merely that it was well known that it was one of the reasons.
Re: The short sleeves Still no quote from him. And he wore long sleeves loooooong before the 2002 World Cup. He's long been a very valuable and lucrative commodity in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Letting that bit of info out (whether it was true or not) couldn't have hurt in that regard (didn't seem to be hurting before...then again, as I said, he's been wearing long sleeves forever).
Re: The short sleeves But it wasn't his first summertime match with LA. He didn't do it his first two seasons. He might have been the only field player in Germany 2006 wearing sleeves also. I am almost certain that marketing plays some factor in his decision to nearly always wear sleeves. Example, if he was thinking about a Middle Eastern payday a couple of years ago (before thinking of MLS of course), I'm sure he would have known that Muslim society looks down on tats. I originally wanted to make this topic Friday morning after the Red Bulls match after seeing how weird it was to see this guy running around with his tforearms displayed during a game. I know I wasn't the only one to think, "wow, when was the last time we've seen this?"
Re: The short sleeves It may be a part of it now (in which case...he's risking that right now, isn't he?), and that would be fine if he didn't nearly always wear long sleeves before he became a global brand.
Re: The short sleeves You may be right. Perhaps, though, it's something entirely different. (Shout out to all the Trekkies/ers) Perhaps this is evil/mirror universe bizarro-Beckham. (Watch out if grows a goatee!!!!) Can't you see the real Beckham wandering the streets of Napoli, lost and confused... Better still, What if it's a conspiracy created by bizarro-Beckham, the Rossi family, and Mexican gangsters to destory MLS and US Soccer from outside and in. ...just sayin', all the signs are there. But seriously, I noticed the sleeve thing in the RBNY/LA match. I my first thought was it must be crazy hot in the swamp, Beckham's got short sleeves!
Re: The short sleeves I've heard a few reasons for Beckham wearing sleeves. First, to cover his tattoos. Another was that when he was that when he was young he would grab onto the ends of the sleeves during games and it gave him a confidence boost/made him feel more comfortable. I thought I heard him say this in an interview on FSC a few years ago, but I can't find it on the internet anywhere and I might be completely making it up... :/ The last reason I heard was that he started doing it because he admired Ryan Giggs while coming up at Man Utd. I found that in an old thread here on BS. (https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=583166&page=4) Like everyone else, I don't know for sure why he really does it . It could be a combination of all of these theories. Perhaps he got the idea from Giggs, felt confident/comfortable with it, and kept doing it throughout his career to cover his tattoos out of respect for other cultures and keep his clean image. Why did he stop? Who knows... It'll be interesting to see how long he keeps it up.
Personally, I prefer to wear long-sleeves. I just push them up slightly if it gets too warm during the game.
Yeah it's weird because I noticed this too and somewhat shocking for some reason. It was 100+ degrees at the WC 2006 and he wore short sleeves against Ecuador than busted out the long sleeves in the second half. Why I remember this, I don't know. I read somewhere that he wears it for luck, but I do think that he doesn't care anymore.