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David Beckham named one of U.S.'s biggest sporting flops as he celebrates England victory
daily mail ^ | October 16 2009 | Chris Johnson and Paul Thompson

Posted on 10/16/2009 8:58:45 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper

The Los Angeles Galaxy star came in the top ten of what one U.S. magazine called the biggest 'busts, choke artists'.

U.S. based Maxim magazine said Beckham's move to the Los Angeles team was nothing short of a 'catastrophe'.

After all the publicity about his £125m move, it said the former Manchester United star has failed miserably to make football - or soccer as it is called in the US - more attractive to fans.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: 3rdworldkickball; athletes; beckham; losangeles; soccer
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1 posted on 10/16/2009 8:58:46 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Berlin_Freeper
people do not understand that soccer is different. a player can be one of the best in the world and hardly ever score a goal.

americans will never warm to it. i love the world cup and cannot wait to get up reaaaaaaallllly early to watch it.

2 posted on 10/16/2009 9:00:43 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Laying SOCCER’s American failure at Beckham’s feet is a little disingenuous. Soccer has long floundered in the US, and using one man to jump-start it is an error in planning as much as execution.


3 posted on 10/16/2009 9:01:33 AM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Isn’t soccer kind of like a bad version of keep-a -way?


4 posted on 10/16/2009 9:05:38 AM PDT by stevecmd
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To: thefactor
a player can be one of the best in the world and hardly ever score a goal.

No wonder all the socialists love it. That about sums up their entire world view right there.

5 posted on 10/16/2009 9:07:10 AM PDT by riri (http://rationaljingo.blogspot.com/)
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To: thefactor
They took a look at wins:

The magazine points outs that attendances at LA Galaxy games are down by nearly 25 per cent - and the team wins more frequently when Beckham is not in the starting line up.

6 posted on 10/16/2009 9:07:40 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (Disgusted.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

I don’t know, maybe he hasn’t been such a bust...after all, fake injuries and sales of orange slices are up...plus the crowds at Chuck E Cheese are getting larger.


7 posted on 10/16/2009 9:09:15 AM PDT by JRios1968 (The real first rule of Fight Club: don't invite Chuck Norris...EVER)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

they are confusing correlation with causation. he ain’t what he once was, but beckham is still a great player. especially in any league in the US.


8 posted on 10/16/2009 9:09:41 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Whoa, that's an awful load to try to lay on Beckham. It wasn't Babe Ruth who made baseball popular, it was the other way around.

That said, the game would be improved literally if we were to incorporate the old Aztec rules. Losing team gets sacrificed.

9 posted on 10/16/2009 9:10:45 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Berlin_Freeper

The rest of the world will never understand how displays of pansy ass behavior faking injuries on every bump could somehow turn Americans off. Not surprising considering the rest of the world is a bunch of pansy asses.


10 posted on 10/16/2009 9:10:54 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: Billthedrill

sorry - “literally” = “considerably” - need more coffee.


11 posted on 10/16/2009 9:12:00 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: SJSAMPLE

The only thing that will save soccer in the USA is the enormous influx of Third Worlder’s.


12 posted on 10/16/2009 9:12:10 AM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Shouldn’t blame Beck. He was poorly used. At this point in his career, Beckham is a specialist. But the popularity of Soccer in America is growing by leaps and bounds. The LA Galaxy is currently in first place in the MLS Western Division, so who cares about whether people think Beck was a bust.


13 posted on 10/16/2009 9:13:15 AM PDT by Obadiah (Obama: Chains you can believe in!)
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To: riri
"No wonder all the socialists love it. That about sums up their entire world view right there."

Over in Britain, it's a Class thingy. Blue Collar plays Soccer, White Collar plays Rugger (Rugby Union, not Rugby League!)

Flame away Brits!

14 posted on 10/16/2009 9:14:40 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon
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To: Sir Gawain
The rest of the world will never understand how displays of pansy ass behavior faking injuries on every bump could somehow turn Americans off. Not surprising considering the rest of the world is a bunch of pansy asses.

Heck, someone here on FR once told me that all that falling on the ground crying was actually brilliant strategy that helped a team stop a shift in momentum and rest it's players.

15 posted on 10/16/2009 9:15:46 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (Happiness is a choice!)
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To: Sir Gawain

...Plus most of the world doesn’t have 4 MAJOR competing sports in the country. Football, baseball, basketball and hockey? Where would soccer fit? Other countries don’t have to deal with all that competition. In Europe you have soccer...soccer...and some basketball...then some more soccer.


16 posted on 10/16/2009 9:17:19 AM PDT by NELSON111
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To: Berlin_Freeper

I guess they’ve never heard of Ryan Leaf across the pond?


17 posted on 10/16/2009 9:17:59 AM PDT by fightinJAG (Mr. President: Why did you appoint a Communist to your Administration?)
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To: Sir Gawain; JRios1968

And Oguchi Onyewu’s injury was just a pansy fake, huh?


18 posted on 10/16/2009 9:18:21 AM PDT by Obadiah (Obama: Chains you can believe in!)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
the former Manchester United star has failed miserably to make football - or soccer as it is called in the US - more attractive to fans.

I remember my soccer team watching movies in the mid-70's about Pele and how he was going to bring the glorious international sport of soccer to us ignorant, provincial Americans.

19 posted on 10/16/2009 9:19:43 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (Happiness is a choice!)
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To: SJSAMPLE

All true. But it was also preposterous of Beckham and Posh to think their star power alone would make soccer relevant to Americans.

They did seem to conduct themselves as though they fully expected that Beckham’s soccer experience would not even miss a beat in being transferred from England to America.


20 posted on 10/16/2009 9:20:34 AM PDT by fightinJAG (Mr. President: Why did you appoint a Communist to your Administration?)
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