Monday, July 30, 2007

Beckham will not travel for FC Dallas/L.A. Galaxy game on Tuesday: Why he should have come to Texas anyway

By Erin Rice

It's been speculation of recent that the new golden boy of American Major League Soccer might not play in the L.A. Galaxy's game against FC Dallas tomorrow. We the U.S. soccer fans can understand, because David Beckham has been trying to heal an injury sustained against Estonia while representing his home country of England. We want to see Beckham play, but we're not monsters. It's appropriate that he is allowed to heal, especially since we're hoping to see him play on our continent for several years to come.

David Beckham in his English national team kit.

But now the speculation and mild disappointment have hit the dang fan. According to ESPNsoccernet, there was doubt as to whether Beckham would even travel to Dallas. The article noted that Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop would make the final decision as to whether Beckham was capable of boarding the plane for the seven-hour round-trip flight. This decision was pending Beckham's fitness test earlier today. Now other publications are reporting that the decision was made and that Beckham will watch the game from sunny Southern California.

Let me preface the following and say that I'm a soccer fan to the core: I live it, breathe it, coach it, and, when that health insurance kicks in, will possibly play it once again. I am against most celebrity in soccer. I believe it takes away from the inherent beauty in the game, a game that doesn't focus on one player but should equally appreciate the team effort and all the positions on the field. Were it not for the benefit of the league in attracting fans, I would have complete disdain for all the attention paid to this one player; who is no less playing for/residing in Los Angeles where his celebrity status will ultimately overshadow his athletic contributions. With that said, hurt or not, playing or not, Beckham's behind should have been on that plane to Texas tonight.

It will, of course, be a huge disappointment not to at least pan across to the bench and see Beckham on television supporting his new teammates. For months now there have been billboards along Central Expressway and the Tollway with his face on them proclaiming "Beckham comes to Dallas in July," or something like that. For the last two weeks or so on FC Dallas' MLSnet page there has been a ticker counting down the seconds to his alleged arrival on the pitch (since removed).

That's all bad enough and it's saddening to not see the proclamation and teases come to fruition. But given the rigmarole that Dallas fans faced in order to get their tickets to the game, it's nearly unforgivable that he's not at least traveling.

Blame it on Sammy Jackson, if you will, who was heard to say, "I'm tired of these motherf***ing soccer players on this motherf***ing plane!"*

Several weeks back, around mid-June, tickets went on sale for Tuesday's game (when the actual tickets went on sale exactly, I do not recall. The time line I'm using is based on when my soccer-going friends bought their tickets). The catch was that you could not buy a single ticket at that time for the game. You had to be a season ticket holder or a "partial" season ticket holder. For people who don't understand, the game on Tuesday is part of the SuperLiga tournament, so from what I'm told, this game was not included in the season ticket holder package.

While the ticket prices varied depending on where your seats were, my friends shelled out about $100 for a five-pack of tickets, including tomorrow's match, the 4th of July game, and future games against the Kansas City Wizards, Toronto FC, and the Houston Dynamo. Additionally, the ticket buyers did not get to pick which games were in the package, and seats were a constant throughout. Not all that different than what you might expect, but a little out of procedure for trying to buy a single game ticket without waiting for the game to sell out and missing the opportunity.

Whether it's a good reason to buy a match ticket or not, the premise behind buying these tickets, however, was that fans would get to see Beckham. They didn't buy the package to see the L.A. Galaxy, who Dallas manhandled back in June, and who might not put up much of a game again despite Landon Donovan and Ante Jazic returning to the lineup. They bought the package to see Beckham in an American kit. For him not to at least make the trip is a huge smack in their faces. A smack that could have been avoided for a game that is still trying to sell "standing-room-only" tickets.

Beckham should have been put in the lineup, even if only as a bench player who certainly would not see the pitch. We say this not out of malice for the L.A. Galaxy head coach or for the FC Dallas marketing machine or anything/one else. We say this because we have been incredibly excited for several months now to see such a successful and world-renowned soccer player come to our young league and to our new stadium. We want you to heal and to have success in the MLS, Becks, but you can ice your ankle in Dallas.

*worst joke ever

Related stories

• Several reasons for Beckham to play in Saturday’s game against FC Dallas (March 14, 2008)
• FC Dallas to face LA Galaxy in preseason charity game (Jan. 30, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Soccer > MLS > FC Dallas

Comments

Lisa Lawrence Merritt Verified

"I just want to promote soccer in America".

Riiight.

Beckham should have to dress out in his new kit and sit his happy ass on the bench just like everyone else!

Actually, I'm shocked that Becks and Posh didn't wanna come shop Dallas and pose at GhostBar.

Barf.

1 year, 11 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )