Golden Balls Goes To Hollywood

[Touring Mars]

David Beckham, aka Golden Balls, former England captain and ex-Manchester United and (current) Real Madrid star has agreed a move to Major League Soccer with the L. A. Galaxy at the end of the summer.... Article.
And here was me hoping he'd sign for West Ham, too

 

[Sureboss]

He did say a while back he felt he could never play against United. Though he might in a friendly he never wanted to in a competitive game.

Real have made a blunder here, he may not be as good as he was but he's still a good football who can offer most teams in the world something classy.

 

[TheCracker]

He's only going to L.A. because the missus fancies living there

 

[Touring Mars]

 

[TheCracker]

£26m a year should lessen the blow for him

 

[Dave A]

He did say a while back he felt he could never play against United. Though he might in a friendly he never wanted to in a competitive game.

Real have made a blunder here, he may not be as good as he was but he's still a good football who can offer most teams in the world something classy.

Apparently he didn't like his manager at Real Madrid either, I remember him saying he didn't want to come back to the Premiership for any team unless it was to play for Man U. I feel sorry for Beckham in some ways like how he's dropped out of favour quite suddenly and imo undeservedly. He wasn't starting as many games as he should have been for Real and then McLaren axed him from the England team just shy of him getting 100 caps. He's still worth having in the England squad imo even though he's past his peak. So has Ryan Giggs and you wouldn't dream of axing him from the Welsh team because he still has plenty to offer.

I was hoping he'd return to the Premiership, he'd do wonders for a mid table club or lower. But at least in America he will be playing a lot more games and he'll be able to end his career possibly as a team captain.

 

[Mark T]

I think it's a good move. If he ever came back to the premiership he would do well but only for smaller clubs, but we know Beckham isn't going to join West Ham, Tottenham etc.

At least in the US he will get regular games, probably less UK press harassing him plus a nice big fat pay packet. He already has a football acamedy in the US and he has said that he wants to open a few more across the US.

Good luck to him.

 

[Zrow]

He could probably walk down a lot of streets here and not even be recognized.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I was listening to the radio this morning and they thought he would go to Newcastle for abit then to America.

But jeez, that's his international career down the drain, but his bank manager will be having a good time.

Beckham could easily rake in £30 million quid a year now, wonder how many more tatoos that'll get him.

 

[Touring Mars]

£26m a year should lessen the blow for him

Getting rid of Posh would also 'lessen the blow for him' too probably...

 

[Smallhorses]

Getting rid of Posh would also 'lessen the blow for him' too probably...

Sooooo bad. That went down like the

!

 

[Touring Mars]

As long as it doesn't go down like Posh Spice...

 

[Dave A]

👍 That was better .

 

[Famine]

A million dollars a week?

 

[Dave A]

Don't be daft, it's only £100k a week club wages, but including all his sponsorship and image rights ect he'lljust about scrape together around £400k. I don;t know how he'll manage.

 

[Famine]

O RLY?

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the Spanish season and sign a five-year deal for U.S. side Los Angeles Galaxy worth $1 million (514,199 pounds) a week, the biggest in world sport.

 

[Touring Mars]

Sweet Lord.... that is astonishing With that amount of money, even I would consider giving Posh a run for her money... (sorry, his money)

 

[daan]

How will he manage to live on £500,000 a week? He'll have to keep his sideline of driving a taxi in the evenings to make ends meet.

 

[Dave A]

O RLY?

Well that's different to what the BBC site says it's not quite that much, but I did use pound signs anyway .

 

[<_Spike_>]

Good move for him, but we all know as much as he may deny it he's in it for the cash. That sick and immoral earning that he'll never get through a fraction of would've been turned down if he was really moving just for the football.

Can't imagine how his new teammates will feel when they earn a tiny fraction of what he does.

 

[YSSMAN]

If I may interject a bit more of a serious American opinion here, I was quite happy when I heard the news. Knowing that his name carries a lot of weight here in America, I think it is particularly smart move on his behalf to attempt another Pele-esque increase in the popularity of Football/Soccer in America.

I know at least for myself, I have been reluctant to accept any form of the MLS (Major League Soccer) here in America as I generally don't care for the competition. It just isn't as exciting as watching ManU go up against Chelsea IMO, however the addition of a "real player" on an American team is sure to draw attention from both fans and non-fans alike.

Hell, maybe I'll even break out the old football and kick it around a bit. I'm a bit past my prime when it comes to playing (used to play on a travel team as a kid), but I do owe it to myself to get back into it. We've attempted starting a league at work for Soccer (we've done American Football and baseball in the past...), but thus far it has been a no-go.

Best of luck to him and his team this season. If we're lucky, maybe a few more of the good players will come over from Europe for a better chance to play and build the sport in America. As it is, Soccer/Football is indeed popular with the kids, but it is the young adults that need convincing, and hopefully Beckham is the man to do it.

 

[Zrow]

That sick and immoral earning that he'll never get through a fraction of would've been turned down if he was really moving just for the football.

Would you turn it down?

 

[daan]

The best thing about all of this is, with that kind of money coming in, Posh will never have to "sing" again.

 

[Touring Mars]

Everyone's a winner in that case...

Good move for him, but we all know as much as he may deny it he's in it for the cash. That sick and immoral earning that he'll never get through a fraction of would've been turned down if he was really moving just for the football.

Can't imagine how his new teammates will feel when they earn a tiny fraction of what he does.

Of course he's in it for the cash - to paraphrase Jeff Lebowski, he's got to feed the monkey... I agree that it's a sick or even obscene amount of money to give to a footballer - especially to play in a country where football is most definitely a minority interest sport - but I wouldn't call it immoral. If Beckham decided to spend his money on sampling the local, erm, 'hospitality' (like Hugh Grant did) or blew it all on cocaine etc., you could possibly have then said his behaviour was immoral - but to his credit, Beckham has always conducted himself in a manner that many Hollywood stars would do well to use as an example. Basically, what Beckham does with his vast earnings is entirely up to him... if anything, it's the people who are paying him and the people who are paying the people who pay him that are fuelling this ridiculous trend of sportsmen earning such vast amounts of money.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I don't get what the complaints are about.

He'll be retire from football probably before his 40 th Birthday. He's hardly Gary Lineker so he has no little of becoming a TV pundit.

He's got an expensive wife to keep happy and some sons that are going to expect the earth.

Better start saving Becks

 

[Touring Mars]

Ha, why do you think he's moved to Los Angeles rather than East London...?

The only difference is (obviously) that he's being groomed as a future movie star... no worries, Becks will make a fortune on his image alone, regardless of his football career...

On the other hand, he will miss out on the jellied eels, mash and gravy...

 

[Danoff]

Lots of sports stars make ridiculous amounts out of money... but they do something that only a handful of people in the entire world can do, and what they do entertains millions of people.

Tell me you don't think that someone who's skills are matched only by a tiny sample of the human population who benefits people all over the world shouldn't be paid accordingly?

It's not the people paying him that are responsible for this, it's the people watching him. Viewers make sure that sports bring in big bucks, and how are sports teams able to get viewers? Players. The players make you watch, they make a ton of people watch, so they should get paid for it.

Sick? No. Immoral? No. Fair? Why yes, yes it is.

 

[Touring Mars]

Lots of sports stars make ridiculous amounts out of money... but they do something that only a handful of people in the entire world can do, and what they do entertains millions of people.

Bollocks to that... Reality TV 'entertains' millions of people, but it doesn't make it any less trite...

Tell me you don't think that someone who's skills are matched only by a tiny sample of the human population who benefits people all over the world shouldn't be paid accordingly?

Bollocks to that too... there are plenty of equally 'talented' sports stars who never get paid anything near what the top sports stars get paid... does any sports star deserve that pay-dirt when a nurse or charity worker saves human lives every day for a pittance, whose supporting charities ask for a mere &#163;2 a week from Joe Public to help them?

My problem is not with the sportsmen themselves per se, since they ought to make the most of the industry that they are in... why not??? However, I'm stunned at how vacuous it is to celebrate this type of 'success' when much more tangible and meaningful types of 'success' go unnoticed, unrewarded and even ignored.

 

[Danoff]

Bollocks to that too... there are plenty of equally 'talented' sports stars who never get paid anything near what the top sports stars get paid... does any sports star deserve that pay-dirt when a nurse or charity worker saves human lives every day for a pittance, whose supporting charities ask for a mere £2 a week from Joe Public to help them?

A nurse or teacher doesn't reach as many people as an entertainer, and isn't as irreplaceable. There are two big things that drive your salary. How much people are willing to pay for the services you provide, and how many people are willing and able to provide the services that you do. Drive either part of that equation down and you've got a nice salary. Drive BOTH parts of the equation down and you've got a MASSIVE salary. Where does "nurse" or "teacher" fit in that balance?

We have a thread on this subject in the opinions forum, I'll dig it up.

 

[Omnis]

Firstly, sorry I posted in the dug-up thread before I reached this one.

Secondly, Teachers give more of their time to people than entertainers do. Far more.

Thirdly, I think Beckam's salary is ridiculous, although I appreciate his efforts to advance the sport beyond age 12.