# Beckham to play for an American footie team for $ 250 million. That must suck! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687 "2007-01-12T12:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/41 "2007-01-16T22:55:33Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > Well, Mexico’s certainly crazy about soccer You are aware that there are more than three countries in North America, right? > [@jjimm](#): > > Apologies, fetus: your opinion shows me that I shouldn’t believe what the majority of our American SDMB posters tell me, my own experience in the US, all the printed and online media I’ve read on the subject, and the vox populi I’ve seen on the TV. I can’t speak for your experiences, but I knew who David Beckham was before I knew anything about soccer or, for that matter, England. > [@jjimm](#): > > Suggestion: get a piccie of David Beckham, and show it, without introduction, around everyone you meet in AZ and/or CA, ask them who it is, and report back. I don’t have a working printer right now, but I’ll ask people if they know who David Beckham is and I will report back. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/42 "2007-01-16T23:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I don’t have a working printer right now, but I’ll ask people if they know who David Beckham is and I will report back. [/QUOTE] That’s a different question, though. I’m a sports fan, and have watched the movie “Bend it like Beckham” so I know the guy’s name and a wee bit of his history. If the guy knocked on my door right now, dressed as the UPS guy, I wouldn’t have a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/43 "2007-01-16T23:45:55Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] That’s a different question, though. I’m a sports fan, and have watched the movie “Bend it like Beckham” so I know the guy’s name and a wee bit of his history. If the guy knocked on my door right now, dressed as the UPS guy, I wouldn’t have a clue. [/QUOTE] I don’t really have an option. I don’t have a working printer right now and I can’t spend any money on printing it or clipping something out. The question I debated was whether or not Americans knew who David Beckham was, anyway. I’ll be pretty damn surprised if I hear very many “no”'s. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/44 "2007-01-17T01:50:31Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] You are aware that there are more than three countries in North America, right? [/QUOTE] That depends on whether one considers Central America part of North America. When talking **continents** it certainly is, but when talking about “regions” there are commonly-found groupings of “North America” (Canada, US, Mexico) and “Central America” (Guatemala to Panama). You’d have to ask **Muffin** which usage he meant. In **either** case, since the population of the countries from Guatemala to Panama is [around 40 million](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_america#Human_geography), the addition of those countries still makes your claim that _“the vast majority of North America is crazy about the game”_ invalid. [QUOTE=fetus] The “sic” is only necessary in a US context: in my dialect, “Yank” means “All Americans”. You’re lucky I didn’t say “septics”. [/QUOTE] Hey, call 'em Yanks, seppos, whatever you want. **I’m** just a durn furriner here, myself. 😉 IMHO a couple of years ago, probably more Americans could have identified [Mia Hamm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Hamm) or [Brandi Chastain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandi_Chastain) than Beckham, due to the US victory in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and the subsequent [WUSA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_United_Soccer_Association) league (RIP, from a former [CyberRays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose_CyberRays) fan). ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/45 "2007-01-17T02:55:45Z")
Actually, I was thinking of Canada and the USA. I was not thinking of Mexico, although certainly it is part of North America. I live in northern Ontario. I have heard of Beckham because our public TV has shown his very pleasant instructional soccer series for little kids. He comes across well in relating to the nippers. Children’s soccer is huge in my city. No other sport has anywhere near as many kids participating. I vaguely recollect Toronto trying to get a professional team together many years ago, but it fizzling after a while. I was not aware of there presently being a professional soccer league in Canada and the USA (my apologies for saying North America). There is no TV coverage of any professional soccer on the four broadcast networks that transmit locally – since I don’t have cable, I can’t say what may or may not be transmmitted otherwise. Professional soccer simply does not have any impact on the tremendous popularity of children’s soccer here in the Great White. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/46 "2007-01-17T04:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] I vaguely recollect Toronto trying to get a professional team together many years ago, but it fizzling after a while. [/QUOTE] It didn’t fizzle out. They just sold [10,000 season tickets](http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070115.wspttorontofc15/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home) on the strength of the Beckham deal (yes, not even their team) and still going. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/47 "2007-01-17T07:28:13Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > That depends on whether one considers Central America part of North America. When talking continents it certainly is, but when talking about “regions” there are commonly-found groupings of “North America” (Canada, US, Mexico) and “Central America” (Guatemala to Panama). FIFA considers North and Central America the same region, as in CONCACAF. In discussions of soccer, that’s good enough for me. Anyway, if you went from Tijuana deep into Central America that’s probably about the same distance as from Toronto to L.A, right? > [@Antonius Block](#): > > the addition of those countries still makes your claim that “the vast majority of North America is crazy about the game” invalid. This may sound like a nitpick, but I had that in mind when I wrote my post and I meant “North America”, not “North America **ns** ”. That’s pretty damn valid, considering that each country has one major league and probably fields at least one team that would fare decently in a European league. > [@Antonius Block](#): > > Hey, call 'em Yanks, seppos, whatever you want. I’m just a durn furriner here, myself. I didn’t say that. > [@Antonius Block](#): > > IMHO a couple of years ago, probably more Americans could have identified Mia Hamm or Brandi Chastain than Beckham, due to the US victory in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and the subsequent WUSA league (RIP, from a former CyberRays fan). I wept when the WUSA folded. I had Spirit season tickets. > [@Muffin](#): > > I vaguely recollect Toronto trying to get a professional team together many years ago, but it fizzling after a while. Toronto has a new MLS team, starting this year I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/48 "2007-01-17T08:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] [QUOTE=Antonius Block] Hey, call 'em Yanks, seppos, whatever you want. I’m just a durn furriner here, myself. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say that. [/QUOTE] Please accept my apologies for the misattribution, **fetus**. I was trying to reply both to your post #37, and **jjimm** ’s post #39, and I screwed up the quoting. _Mea culpa._ No offense was intended, but there’s definitely egg on my face. [QUOTE=fetus] I wept when the WUSA folded. I had Spirit season tickets. [/QUOTE] Although not a season-ticket holder, I was a regular attendee at CyberRays games in San Jose. I’m a longtime advocate for women’s sports teams (I also used to go to **San Jose Lasers** games in the short-lived women’s [American Basketball League](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Basketball_League_%281996-1998%29)). I **really** wanted to see the WUSA succeed, and was quite evangelical about it, doing my best to try to rope in friends with no previous soccer experience. [By the way, your [San Diego Spirit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Spirit) were my second-favorite WUSA team, and I’d always root for them against any team except the CyberRays. I once briefly met Spirit captain [Julie Foudy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Foudy), and she’s an amazingly charismatic woman (her husband, Ian Sawyer, was the CyberRays’ coach and I’d been talking with him at a post-season event, when she came up to whisk him off somewhere). Their first child – a daughter – was born 2 weeks ago; Brandi Chastain had a son last July, and Mia Hamm’s currently pregnant with twins. Come 2025, US soccer might have an interesting crop of young players… 🙂 ] ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/49 "2007-01-17T22:27:53Z")
[QUOTE=duality72] It didn’t fizzle out. They just sold [10,000 season tickets](http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070115.wspttorontofc15/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home) on the strength of the Beckham deal (yes, not even their team) and still going. [/QUOte] Good for them if they can make a go of it. Sounds like the new Toronto FC team has serious backing – the same group that controls the Leafs, the Air Canada Centre, and the GM Centre. [Toronto FC - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_FC) This is not the same team as I was recallling. The one that fizzled out was the Toronto Blizzard, which stumbled along through several failed leagues from 1971 through 1985. [Toronto Blizzard - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Blizzard) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/50 "2007-01-17T22:31:06Z")
Whoops, make that 1971 through 1993. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![badkittypriestess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8baadc/32.png) [@badkittypriestess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badkittypriestess)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/51 "2007-01-18T00:30:31Z")
[beckham](http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2008/Events/2008/DavidBeckh_Grani_1164741_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Beckham,%20David) yummmm…Beckham!! (hee hee) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/52 "2007-02-27T06:14:37Z")
Well, it now appears the Galaxy won’t really be paying David Beckham nearly as much as first reported, though there must be a host of secondary ways that Beckham could make a lot more money. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/02/24/bc.soc.mls.beckham.ap/index.html](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/02/24/bc.soc.mls.beckham.ap/index.html) If this is accurate, the Galaxy are getting loads of publicity for a relative pittance. Beckham may or may not be a star on the field, but he’s not costing the Galaxy that much. So, this may turn out to be a bargain for American soccer. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/53 "2007-02-27T07:22:45Z")
I know how David Beckham is but the weird thing to me is that I had never heard of the LA Galaxy before this. I can’t name another US team that the Galaxy plays. Do they play the UK teams that I have heard of like Manchester United or Chelsea that one that starts with a “B”. Brighton? Belgium? I mean, there is a profession soccer league in _America_? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/54 "2007-02-27T07:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I know how David Beckham is but the weird thing to me is that I had never heard of the LA Galaxy before this. I can’t name another US team that the Galaxy plays. Do they play the UK teams that I have heard of like Manchester United or Chelsea that one that starts with a “B”. Brighton? Belgium? I mean, there is a profession soccer league in _America_? [/QUOTE] Belgium is now part of the UK 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/55 "2007-02-27T16:01:24Z")
[Fog Horn Leg Horn Voice] That’s a joke son, a funny, a real knee slapper, I say. [/FHLHV] ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/56 "2007-02-28T22:16:09Z")
In other news, the Beckhams’ move to America is going to be a [reality show](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/ap_on_en_tv/tv_posh_s_show). ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687/57 "2007-03-01T08:24:19Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] In other news, the Beckhams’ move to America is going to be a [reality show](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/ap_on_en_tv/tv_posh_s_show). [/QUOTE] I hate my country, and want to live in Barcelona. That is all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beckham-to-play-for-an-american-footie-team-for-250-million-that-must-suck/387687.md?page=2)