every news outlet has picked this up, so it's definitely not gossip at this point = ESPN, LA TIMES, Bleacher Report. it seems The Mirror may have broken the story. i read soccer gossip all day long every day & half of it turns out to not be true, but this is a done deal.
i'll go out on a limb & say this could be the perfect ending for Becks. they'll probably win the Cup after a horrible start to the season. they're playing the best they've played in years right now - largely due to Robbie Keane being in possibly the form of his life.
will Becks hang it up after December 1st? who can tell. he is 37.
he's done well at that age like Ryan Giggs & Paul Scholes to keep playing at a high level. Maybe there's something in the water at that Man U schoolboy academy that keeps these guys playing for so long? ironic those 3 came up together as kids and all are still playing.
but rumor has it Beckham will keep playing after he's done with the Galaxy in a couple weeks. and actually he is even quoted as saying that he wants to experience one more challenge before he quits playing.
sounds like EVERYONE in the A-League in Australia wants him. probably just to make a quick buck. maybe join Drogba in that rich Chinese league?
OR, and this could be really interesting... there are rumors all over they place that Snoop Dogg... yes, Snoop himself, wants to buy Celtic. or at least be a major investor. then he would do everything in his power to bring Beckham to Celtic for his final season.
Celtic is the storied Scottish side who now has a straight up MONOPOLY in Scottish football after Rangers went bankrupt and were sent down to the 3rd division.
and yeah, the same Celtic who just beat Barcelona in an amazing game in the Champions League. who doesn't love Celtic after seeing that?
Beckham could fit in nicely there?
But wherever he heads next, there seems to be no doubt Beckham will be back in MLS soon - as an OWNER. yep. that was in his original MLS contract back in 07 giving him the ability to own an expansion team. my guess would be that they will add a 2nd New York team and Beckham will own it.
(although i hope they will add a team in the Southeast instead because there are NONE in this part of the country. apparently because all Republicans and rednecks believe "soccer" is some part of a liberal communist conspiracy? never quite understood that one...)
so, here's MY big question = was David Beckham a success in MLS? i think it all depends on how you view "success".
playing on the field i guess he wasn't all that. he didn't win every championship for LA. in fact, in 5 years they only won 1 supporter's shield and 1 MLS Cup (both last year). that's pretty sucky for a team so stacked with talent. (of course they'll probably win this cup in a couple weeks too.)
Beckham was injured half the time those first 3-4 seasons & kept going back to AC Milan on loan every chance he had.
the last 2 seasons have been special though. it's almost like he got better.
but let's face it - "success" for Beckham was never about winning games, trophies, goals, assists, free kicks, etc... it's been all about making this beautiful game more popular in America. it's been all about "brand awareness". taking soccer from a joke to a legit sport in this country. and i think it's taken a few steps in the right direction since 2007.
more specifically, "Success" was going to be about lifting the bar in MLS in many ways. Beckham has absolutely done that. he led the way. he was the 1st Designated Player in MLS. i'll be a bit cynical and just say he started the high profile trend of = MLS is where legends come to die.
so, in this year's MLS playoffs i got to watch David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, Rafa Marquez, Tim Cahill, etc...
those guys were all playing in AMERICA. Americans actually got to watch them on American soil. WOW.
these guys are legends. all heroes i watched as a little kid. (Except Rafa Marquez, of course. i hated his guts. still do.)
bottom line = i've watched a half dozen MLS games this year because of those guys. i still love to see the magic Robbie Keane and David Beckham can work with a ball.
i would NEVER be caught dead watching an MLS game otherwise.
so, thanks for coming over Becks. we'll see how things look in 5 years. successful for now, but my guess is that in 5 years i won't be watching any MLS games because the league will still suck. i hope i'm wrong.
as Beckham gets older and older, at some point my wife will have to land on a new man that she deems as her "sexiest man who ever walked the face of the earth." i just wonder who it will be? :)
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