You’re a football star? That’s odd because you don’t look like Peyton Manning and we’ve never heard of any of the teams you say you’ve played on.
Apparently the U.S. is where old soccer stars go to die. Mr. B’s arrival in Hollywood got a laughable amount of equally laughable “reporting” which touted him as the Biggest Thing Ever. Beckham is about to encounter the sad truth that the U.S. still doesn’t care about soccer and that playing for Tinseltown's soccer team will actually decrease his star power because now he's not foriegn and exotic. And the alleged $250 million he is to be paid for playing in the City Of Angeles? There is much question as to how much of this will dance on the head of a pin. As ESPN.com’s Jen Chang wrote: “AP reported that the Galaxy, citing industry experts, said the Beckham deal ‘is worth more than $250 million in salary and commercial endorsements.’ The key phrase to note here are the words "commercial endorsements" and not the word ‘salary.’ It's actually more an estimate of what people think he could potentially earn as opposed to what he will receive annually in paychecks from MLS and the Galaxy.” Add to that the fact that he’s definitely going to be asked for ID when he tries to cash whatever size checks he receives and it’s easy to see that he is in overtime.
Mr. von Hoffman, have you no compassion? Don't you know that Mr. and Mrs. Beckham are on a "fruitless" search for an L.A. mansion? That they are "struggling" to find a suitable dwelling for under $20 million? Put yourself in Mr. Beckham's grass-stained shoes. He answers the call to adventure with the supernatural aid of deal broker Simon Fuller. He crosses the threshold of L.A. for his real estate search in the belly of the whale, and he must endure a road of trials to attain the ultimate boon of a mansion that doesn't require remodeling and is set back from the street. All this considering that, in soccer years, he is the same age as Hank Greenberg.
Posted by: Nina | February 27, 2007 at 02:23 PM