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American sports fans are still buzzed about the biggest trade of all-time. And, so is the rest of the world. But those outside the States aren’t talking about A-Rod to the Yankees. No, most parts of the world would be referring to the blockbuster deal that sent David Beckham from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
I vaguely remember it.
And I think I might even be able to spot the guy if I were to see him in the Malibu Colony … mostly because he’s married to a Spice Girl.
I’m not as confident I would recognize Pele in street clothes.
Although it hasn’t made much of a local splash yet, in two weeks 14-year-old Freddy Adu makes his only visit to Los Angeles this season. The anointed kick-starter for American soccer will play his second pro game against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy, to get you up to date, is Los Angeles’ Major League Soccer team, which plays at the Home Depot Center, the venue you may have seen if you’ve ventured to Disneyland recently.
We just don’t get much soccer news here. The sport makes headlines in the United States only because of the motes built around European fields to prevent field access to crazy fans.
But then we heard about the teenaged Adu getting a $1 million Nike deal. Pepsi scored on an endorsement deal next. Sports Illustrated put this soccer sensation’s photo on their cover beside the words, “The Next Sports Prodigies.” And his high profile took off from there, joining David Letterman on the “Late Show,” and Britney Spears and Carmen Electra on MTV's “Total Request Live.”
MLS considers it a major coup that they beat out his European suitors (for now) and inked the phenom, creating the biggest stir in the world to the richest contract in the league. They arranged for him to join the D.C. United so he and his mother could stay near their home in Maryland … but the league doesn’t seriously expect to see him celebrate his 20th birthday in the States.
Can the kid kick off soccer in America? There's little reason to think the largely European, South and Central American sport will catch on this country. The women’s professional league just recently folded even with their initiator and most recognizable figure, Mia Hamm, still in the league.
With America’s “big three” indigenous sports overlapping perfectly on our calendar, we have little room for soccer. And with an otherwise international, long-standing appeal, soccer has little need for the United States.
But it won’t take much to give the MLS a higher profile.
ABC expects the nationally televised season opener to be the most-watched MLS regular season game in the league's eight-year history. For a league that had to make rule adjustments over the past several seasons just to accomodate the TV deals they were lucky enough to obtain, a record audience to watch the youngest player in league history would be nice but not necessarily impressive.
Except for the late start he got on his team’s preseason due to high school final exams, Adu’s age isn’t expected to hold him back.
Apparently, it’s not unusual for teens to play in the MLS. Eddie Gaven, 17, and Mike Magee, 18, played significant minutes last year for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. D.C. United teammates Bobby Convey and Santino Quaranta made their debuts at 16.
If you are like me, those names are completely unfamiliar to you.
Maybe if his off-field media hype continues once he’s on the field, Freddy Adu can be the one to finally show us what all the rage is with the other football.
I haven’t traded in my knee length basketball shorts for a pair of the much shorter kind. But I have reserved my general admission ticket to the Home Depot Center.
Submitted March 25, 2004
MALIBU, CA
