By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Mar 5, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- Oh what a day it was back on January 12th, 2007. The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was in full swing and amateur players from all over the country were nervously awaiting their potential professional destinations. Maurice Edu went to Toronto with the first pick and things seemed to be going so smoothly.
It was a random, bitter Friday in the middle of January and a bunch of young hopefuls were ready for action. Young, cheap players (also known as the backbone of Major League Soccer) just wanted a chance to prove themselves, and January 12th was their starting line. The spotlight was on them, and then, well then something went wrong.
Like something out of pro wrestling, some unshaven, bleached blond Brit showed up and ruined the whole thing by satellite. He trotted out in a silver/grayish suit and smiled for all the cameras. What went down that day almost looked like a coronation. The king was finally here to save the day.
While Michael Harrington was in Indianapolis putting on the Kansas City scarf, Beck's was dusting the metaphorical confetti off of his shoulder.
Hindsight is what it is, but could the timing of what we'll affectionately refer to as The Beckham Arrival have been any worse? You really had to unveil the “savior” on the same day that you were going to sign some 21-year-old second-rounder to an $11,700 yearly salary?
It's sort of like the CEO of Merrill Lynch spending over a million large to renovate his office shortly before slashing thousands of jobs. It's just not right, even to the unaffected, casual observer.
Looking to the inevitable endgame of this whole situation, and we see that this early timing faux pas was just the very tip of the iceberg and probably a good indication of how the 'Beckham Era” would end up working out. Which one of you out there couldn't see him getting bored after about a year or two of MLS excitement? That happens with American players.
Come on now. This notion of “changing the game” in this country didn't get old after Beckham hit his umpteenth cross to Alan Gordon or Ely Allen only to see another great chance go begging. Top players want to play in top leagues with the best players and competition. Mercenary accusations aside, that's sort of the point.
Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and others left the US for greener pastures abroad. They went for a real challenge. Not to change anything, but to transform themselves. The notion that some guy is going to sign for any fledgling league around the world and improve said league is a joke. It's not just about Beckham either. If LeBron James signs for a team in Greece in 2010 that league is still going to stink and get no recognition on a grand scale.
Beyond what Beckham did or didn't do for MLS is the fact that this league is going to be fine. It wasn't great before he got here, it isn't great now, and it probably wont be great five years after his departure. The fact remains though that slowly but surely things are getting better, and it has nothing to do with one player's jersey sales or marketability.
A league in it's proverbially infancy like MLS needs time to grow. This notion of bringing in a heavy hitter to all of a sudden change people's minds does not work, period. It didn't work in the 70's and that hasn't changed today.
You need to continually prove yourself and slowly build on an expanding foundation to increase exposure. The problem with throwing money at a situation is that if it doesn't go exactly to plan, you look bad for doing it. Most folks have come out to kill the League on this one, and rightfully so.
Don Garber and the other execs thought, for some crazy reason, that one big media show would really do the trick. If they had any clue they would have invested the money into more youth development and increasing current player salaries. Instead, they went for the quick flash and, shockingly, it hasn't worked.
David Beckham and MLS are both to blame for how this broken marriage is ending. He didn't really want to be here and they should have known that going in. Still, this bust of a deal doesn't prove anything about the viability of the League other than the fact that it is still young and not up to European standards. Shocking, right? Give it some more time and everyone will begin to see positive changes.
MLS made another multi-million dollar mistake, yet they're still pushing forward. That should tell everyone something about their sustainability. This League isn't going anywhere anytime soon with or without David Beckham or Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho or….
While Michael Harrington was in Indianapolis putting on the Kansas City scarf, Beck's was dusting the metaphorical confetti off of his shoulder.
Hindsight is what it is, but could the timing of what we'll affectionately refer to as The Beckham Arrival have been any worse? You really had to unveil the “savior” on the same day that you were going to sign some 21-year-old second-rounder to an $11,700 yearly salary?
It's sort of like the CEO of Merrill Lynch spending over a million large to renovate his office shortly before slashing thousands of jobs. It's just not right, even to the unaffected, casual observer.
Looking to the inevitable endgame of this whole situation, and we see that this early timing faux pas was just the very tip of the iceberg and probably a good indication of how the 'Beckham Era” would end up working out. Which one of you out there couldn't see him getting bored after about a year or two of MLS excitement? That happens with American players.
Come on now. This notion of “changing the game” in this country didn't get old after Beckham hit his umpteenth cross to Alan Gordon or Ely Allen only to see another great chance go begging. Top players want to play in top leagues with the best players and competition. Mercenary accusations aside, that's sort of the point.
Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and others left the US for greener pastures abroad. They went for a real challenge. Not to change anything, but to transform themselves. The notion that some guy is going to sign for any fledgling league around the world and improve said league is a joke. It's not just about Beckham either. If LeBron James signs for a team in Greece in 2010 that league is still going to stink and get no recognition on a grand scale.
Beyond what Beckham did or didn't do for MLS is the fact that this league is going to be fine. It wasn't great before he got here, it isn't great now, and it probably wont be great five years after his departure. The fact remains though that slowly but surely things are getting better, and it has nothing to do with one player's jersey sales or marketability.
A league in it's proverbially infancy like MLS needs time to grow. This notion of bringing in a heavy hitter to all of a sudden change people's minds does not work, period. It didn't work in the 70's and that hasn't changed today.
You need to continually prove yourself and slowly build on an expanding foundation to increase exposure. The problem with throwing money at a situation is that if it doesn't go exactly to plan, you look bad for doing it. Most folks have come out to kill the League on this one, and rightfully so.
Don Garber and the other execs thought, for some crazy reason, that one big media show would really do the trick. If they had any clue they would have invested the money into more youth development and increasing current player salaries. Instead, they went for the quick flash and, shockingly, it hasn't worked.
David Beckham and MLS are both to blame for how this broken marriage is ending. He didn't really want to be here and they should have known that going in. Still, this bust of a deal doesn't prove anything about the viability of the League other than the fact that it is still young and not up to European standards. Shocking, right? Give it some more time and everyone will begin to see positive changes.
MLS made another multi-million dollar mistake, yet they're still pushing forward. That should tell everyone something about their sustainability. This League isn't going anywhere anytime soon with or without David Beckham or Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho or….
Graig Carbino covers American Abroad and writes a weekly column for USSoccerPlayers. Contact him at graiger11@yahoo.com
