Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
Please! Beckham is no Gretzky
If I hear one more person try to tell me that David Beckham will do for the MLS what Wayne Gretzky did for the NHL by coming to Los Angeles, I'm going to jam a spork in my eye.
Last night, I watched the "debut" of Becks in his first game as a member of the L.A. Galaxy. I told everyone on the sports desk that I will give the Galaxy this one chance to get excited about the sport of soccer. I had watched with great interest the World Cup back in 1994, when the U.S. hosted it. But the excitement quickly died down for me once hockey started back up. And the Galaxy came along in 1996, and I was pretty much over soccer by then.
I figured in the interest of being a sports fan, I should give the Galaxy a try when Beckham signed. Since the biggest soccer star was going to be in my backyard, maybe I could start paying attention. So I watched with mild interest when Beckham and his Spice Girl wife, Victoria, started their trek to SoCal, three months before he even stepped foot on the Home Depot Center. I was amused when they unveiled the new Galaxy logo, since the club went from having a logo with a bunch of stars evolve into one with one giant star. A harbinger of things to come? Perhaps.
I have a hard enough time with people trying to be cute by saying soccer is like hockey on grass. "No," I respond. "That's lacrosse." I've given up trying to explain it further, as I often get the obligatory eye roll. Now those same people are telling me, "Just watch, Beckham is going to make soccer HU-U-U-UGE in the States. Just like Gretzky."
I just shake my head, because those same people don't realize that the Galaxy have been successful without Beckham. They have won two MLS Cups (2002, 2005), two U.S. Open Cups ('01, '05) and a CONCACAF Cup (2000). The Galaxy is the most successful franchise in the MLS, and yet fails to really register on the Richter scale. In a town who love winners, the Galaxy has barely been able to crack the surface of general fans interests.
All Beckham and the circus surrounding him has done to merge the paparazzi culture with soccer. Take his first game, played last night against Chelsea. He had a dedicated "Beckham Cam" on ESPN, which followed his every move. He warmed up for ten minutes, came into the game with 16 minutes left, touched the ball a a handful of times, got knocked to the pitch, and when the game was over, he was engulfed by the media like he just won the World Cup with one leg tied behind his back.
Afterwards, he said: "I'm not fit. I haven't trained since I got here. But it's nice to be out there." Well of course he had to play. Even with all the worries that his ankle wasn't going to allow him to play Saturday night, there was nothing that was going to stand in his way of giving the fans what they came to see. And there certainly no way he wasn't going to not give his employers what they paid him for. After all, his arrival has been loudly heralded since he signed in January. Tickets have been sold out for months, special ESPN coverage was programmed for his first game.
But other than being a spectacle, nothing could hide the 1-0 loss to Chelsea from the fans at the HDC. True, it was his first game, but talk about the hype heavily outweighing the outcome. Another Galaxy loss, yawn.
What Gretzky did was validate a struggling hockey franchise, mired out on the West Coast with barely any TV coverage. His arrival caused many fans, myself included, to start paying attention to hockey. People started to flock to the Great Western Forum to see The Great One in action. The Kings went from 68 points in 1987-88 to 91 points the following year. He ammassed 168 points that season, winning MVP honors and leading L.A. to the second round of the playoffs, a spot they hadn't been since 1981-82.
Gretzky was at the height of his skills when he came to Los Angeles. The Great One carried the club on his back, especially when the Kings made it to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The influence of Gretzky prompted many kids to start playing roller hockey in Southern California. Abandoned tennis courts were converted into makeshift hockey rinks. Interest was so high that it spawned a second hockey club, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He opened the door for other franchises to start, in places like Florida, Nashville and San Jose.
That was Gretzky's legacy, he provided the step needed for hockey to gain a small foothold in the American sports fans zeitgeist. What Beckham's influence on soccer has yet to be written. But other than there being an upswing of Hollywood starlets (Eva Longoria, Jennifer Love Hewitt) lining up to try and get noticed by Posh Spice and be invited into her luxury box, I suspect interest will die down in the average American sports fan.
After all, NFL training camps are offically open July 23. Baseball is in full swing, and NASCAR is in the final stretch of its season. Add to that college football is around the corner and, for those of us who care, so is hockey training camp. Is there room on your sports plate for an overrated soccer star for a lackluster sport? There isn't any room on mine, and I'm gorging myself with two plates.
Comments
Beckham is no Gretzky ! Look at how many records Gretzky holds in his sport. Also when The Great One came to LA he was not toward the end of his career. The effect Gretzky had on west coast hockey continues to this day, fans who never would have watched hockey are still season ticket holders long after Gretzky is no longer playing. I also think Beckham is the wrong type of player to try to get Americans to watch soccer. They need someone like Pele or Ronaldinio who can dribble the ball and juke people and make action without scoring. Beckham's strength is the long pass and shot. I also think it can be argued that Gretzky could be the most dominant player of any sport except for maybe Tiger Woods.
Posted by: rOGER | August 19, 2007 7:52 PM
I see where you are coming from, Jay. It solely depends what your view of "successful" is.
I was basing my observation that the Galaxy were the first club to achieve profitability and maintain it. DC United is still not profitable, from what I can gather.
The Galaxy also had a soccer-specific stadium built just for them, the second in the MLS. The owners have made a concerted effort to make the Galaxy a winner by bringing Becks in. The Galaxy is the perfect example of how to run a soccer team, from a business point of view.
I didn't use titles as the sole basis for my view. Perhaps that was my fault. I do appreciate your comment though!
Posted by: Mateo | July 27, 2007 11:37 PM
I'm a Galaxy fan, and the first thing I feel compelled to tell you is that the Galaxy is not the most successful MLS franchise. That would be DC United with their 4 MLS Cups, 3 Supporter's Shields, 1 US Open Cup, 1 CONCACAF Cup, and they were the only American team to win the InterAmerican Cup by defeating S. American Champs Vasco da Gama of Brazil.
After that comment, I stopped reading.
Posted by: Jay | July 27, 2007 10:44 PM
I actually think Beckham will be huge for the MLS. Galaxe does a a successful history and the cross-town rival Chivas USA is vastly improving. The key is the MLS cannot stop with Beckham, they need to court as many top notch high profile players as possible so people can see how good the MLS really is.
Posted by: Mitch | July 23, 2007 12:45 PM