David Beckham still hasn’t apologized for his behavior at halftime of the Los Angeles Galaxy game with AC Milan, last Saturday, and continues to insist he did nothing wrong.
Major League Soccer begs to differ.
And bravo to MLS.
MLS on Friday announced it is fining Beckham $1,000 for his part in the exchange between Lord Becks and the peasants sitting in the L.A. Riot Squad corner of the stands. Beckham appeared to invite a fan to come onto the pitch. The man did, and he was 1) ejected and 2) banned for life from any event at the Home Depot Center, including Galaxy matches.
Beckham clearly bears part of the blame for the incident. And, thank goodness, MLSÂ agrees.
It is not the amount of the fine that is important. A sum of $1,000 is pocket change to Beckham. But so would be $10,000.
It was the message of the fine that mattered. To wit: MLS isn’t going to allow Beckham to trample all over the league anymore.
Here is the news story about Beckham’s fine. Note, please, the money quote, from MLS commissioner Don Garber: “… our players should never engage in conduct that can be interpreted as encouraging fans to come out of the stands and onto the field, regardless of the reason.”
Thanks, commish. Thank you very much.
This goes back to a principle even an athlete as egocentric as David Beckham should have learned long ago: Professional athletes should never, ever interact with jeering fans.
No matter what, you ignore them. Acknowledging fans who are jeering you never improves the situation. It only inflames it. Even if you seem to believe you own those fans … remember, you don’t.
And Beckham not only ignored The Cardinal Rule of pros vs. fans by shouting at fans (and using obscenities, according to spectators who were seated in the area), he ratcheted up the situation by a factor of 10 by calling for the fan to come out of the stands.
To my mind, that makes him not just partly responsible for the fan coming out of the stands. It makes Beckham entirely responsible. No one has yet suggested the guy was going to jump the stands — until Beckham urged him to come down.
Beckham has made an utter hash out of his first week-plus back with the Galaxy. We are left looking forward to the time when he goes back to Italy and, we hope, out of Galaxy and MLS history. Every week he is here is one more week of him that we would prefer.
Meantime, the league and the Galaxy, both, need to make clear that Beckham is an employee, not a king and not a god. Just a guy who can strike a motionless soccer ball with particular dexterity. Not a guy who holds a lien on the club — or the league’s — soul.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Doug // Jul 25, 2009 at 1:12 PM
The fine was totally deserved. Beckham has acted like an arrogant, spoiled jackass since his return. I still think he owes the fans an apology for his behavior and I will not miss him when he leaves. Having said all that, I still think he can contribute on the field.
2 Joseph D'Hippolito // Jul 25, 2009 at 8:29 PM
“Not a guy who holds a lien on the club — or the league’s — soul.”
Well, Paul, Beckham certainly has a lien on Tim Leiweke’s soul — if Leiweke can even be said to *have* a soul.
3 Dennis Pope // Jul 26, 2009 at 8:56 AM
In all seriousness, Garber and MLS should be embarrassed by their token fine. Beckham absolutely deserves to pay a price for his jeering, but $1,000? He wipes his ass w/ that kind of cash.
And good riddance to the fan now expelled from HDC. What an idiot. Beckham isn’t the only one who forgot the Cardinal Rule of pros vs. fans. The other side of the law is that fans cannot enter into areas not designated for fans, no matter the behavior of the pros.
To me, Beckham’s act was exactly that — an act. I didn’t see proper Sir David there, I saw Rick Flair engaging a partisan crowd and an old school NWA/WCW wrestling show. Did he cross the line? Maybe. But the fan was responsible for his own actions. Plain and simple.
4 soccer goals // Jul 31, 2009 at 11:57 AM
1k is like pennies for DB.
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