FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Of all the accusations that were listed in the excerpts that were posted a couple of days ago, this is the best you could come up with? Really? If I hadn't read the rest of the article, I'd likely thing that LD was the one acting like a little **** after reading this.

grant wahl's article on the main soccer page is actually worth the 15 minutes or so it takes to read, the two impressions i got was that there are a lot of forces in camp beckham that operate outside of his involvement and that donovan might be a little hypersensitive

Seriously...this is Grant Wahl's article - it doesn't need to be a T&R...obviously FanNation is taking an early holidy.

just read through the comments on the t&r from yesterday afternoon, i agree with the scathing comments about beckham, but i dont think the article does donovan any justice either, it sorta makes him seem like a baby, for all the talk about db being a bad leader and captain, donovan being a sensitive primadonna didnt help the situation either

the lessons arent that sighing beckham was bad, letting his camp take control of hte team (even getting gullitt hired against the wished of lalas) was teh real mistake

One thing I found very interesting in Wahl's piece was that while, like at the end of this T&R, Donovan keeps talking about what he would do, the only time I can recall him doing something, he resorts to a text message. Now, I'm not saying I necessarily would do better than that; I can only imagine that being on a team with someone like Beckham must be incredibly intimidating, even for someone with Landon's relatively vast experience compared to almost anyone else on the team at that time.

The article captures why this experiment was almost doomed to fail, unless you get a great player with just the right attitude and personality.

First - This is a horrible re-hash of the Grant Wahl article. I assume it is only to drum up comments.

I liked Grant Wahl's article but I do have one problem with this section. Saying Beckham had never been in a situation where it was anticipated he would pick up the check seems really far fetched. I am sure it happens all the time.

My feeling is Beckham really underestimated how playing for the Galaxy would affect his chances at playing for England. He says he is committed to the Galaxy but everybody sees he is not.

wahl's new book could be a big deal in the states, i would expect at least 2 more T&R pieces ripping off the article

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 10:19 AM ET  07.02 by kopper

The article captures why this experiment was almost doomed to fail, unless you get a great player with just the right attitude and personality.

like freddie ljunberg!

This sounds like a plot from an episode of Seinfeld.

Really? Really?

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 10:26 AM ET  07.02 by bpcharlotte

My feeling is Beckham really underestimated how playing for the Galaxy would affect his chances at playing for England

Agreed.

I think Becks is just spoiled like a princess. He didn't realize the HDC didn't have plush Audi/Recaro seats to sit in or that he would have to work just as hard as the guy making 50k on the team.

You know, the same guy who says he just wants to be one of the guys, but gets pissed when someone doesn't recognize him.

The problem is that the story isn't on the field. It's outside of it, and somehow he's made himself relevant at a time no one should care.

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 11:58 AM ET  07.02 by Buck Feckham

I think Becks is just spoiled like a princess. He didn't realize the HDC didn't have plush Audi/Recaro seats to sit in or that he would have to work just as hard as the guy making 50k on the team.You know, the same guy who says he just wants to be one of the guys, but gets pissed when someone doesn't recognize him.The problem is that the story isn't on the field. It's outside of it, and somehow he's made himself relevant at a time no one should care.

I agree with everything you say, but I also don't think he alone has made himself relevant. Too much of our society grants a spotlight to people who don't really deserve it--that whole cult of celebrity thing. Idols get worshipped when they have done little or nothing to deserve it, and then people act surprised when they don't live up to our conception of them.

There's a lot of different angles to this excert (the full one from SI). A lot changed from when he first signed in Jan '07 to when he actually came over. He went from being a guy who's best days were far behind him just playing out the string in America to rebuilding his game, getting back with England and RM and essentially being a big fish in a small pond. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he wouldn't have came had he been in good standing with RM and England at that time. When you do something and you know it was a mistake and you have to continue going with that sense of regret, it shows. So his manager/best friend did whatever he could to pacify him. LD may be right on a lot of things in regards to Beckham, but airing your dirty laundry now is wrong, atleast let the door him DB on the way out before bashing the guy. If he was feeling uncomfortable about another 3 years with DB, well, this certainly won't make the summer any better.

LD is just a jealous has-been who will never play at DB's level. Now, don't hate on me, the facts say it louder than my intervention here.

It's gonna be a good book for sure. I'll be getting it when it comes out in 2 weeks.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 12:49 PM ET  07.02 by muktech

LD is just a jealous has-been who will never play at DB's level. Now, don't hate on me, the facts say it louder than my intervention here.

LD is who he is....not good enough for the upper echelon of Europe, too good to waste away in MLS. If anything, this whole Beckham affair has lit a fire under him and he's actually shown heart and passion for the first time in a long time. It might not be 3 and out Europe wise for him afterall.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 12:49 PM ET  07.02 by muktech

LD is just a jealous has-been who will never play at DB's level. Now, don't hate on me, the facts say it louder than my intervention here.

You can make that argument, but how about the criticism from the other teammates, most notably Chris Klein? Do their opinions of a guy who comes in, grabs the captain's armband and not play the role count to you? In essence your comment states that because a player has a certain level of talent and makes a certain amount of money, he should be exempt from criticism from anyone who possesses less.