David Beckham Should Go Home, Leave America Alone

Editor's Note: This column has been updated from its original version.

So now the tension has turned vicious, leaving David Beckham as a hunted pariah by American soccer fans who feel used and abused by his whims. They did much more than boo him Sunday night in Carson, Calif., where he was making his 2009 home debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In a seating section unfortunately known as the "L.A. Riot Squad," a sort of riot broke out, with fans berating Beckham, waving banners that said "GO HOME FRAUD" and "23: Repent" and literally holding up his jersey and taking whacks at it.

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It reached the point where Beckham, a world-class metrosexual who hawks cologne and poses for magazines in his underwear, ventured over to the madness, confronted one of the unruly fans and gestured at him to come closer. "One of the guys was saying things that wasn't very nice. It was stepping over the line," Beckham said afterward. "I said, 'You need to calm down and come shake my hand.' "

This was not smart strategy. Next thing you knew, the fan was jumping out of the stands and onto the field, where security whisked him away. Later, when one of Beckham's patented corner kicks led to the tying goal in what would end as a 2-2 tie against his former team, global powerhouse AC Milan, he stayed in the corner instead of running toward the play, turning around and addre ssing those who were taunting him. The derisive banners were gone at that point, replaced by a line of security people in yellow jackets who were summoned to maintain peace in what ironically was termed a "friendly" exhibition game.

"I'm not disappointed. It doesn't affect me," Beckham said. "You can't be liked by everyone ... A lot of people predicted this kind of reaction."

All of which leads to the obvious conclusion: This only can be called a spectacular flop, a case of failed Beckspectations, the latest and most indicting proof yet that soccer in America always will be a niche sport. Beckham came here two years ago intending to lift Major League Soccer to unprecedented heights, but when he abruptly abandoned his stated mission in January for more prestigious duty in his native Europe, his purported goal became phony and rather pathetic.

Just because he's absolutely gorgeous, hot and chiseled -- a female admirer's description, not mine -- doesn't mean it translates to growing an enormous global industry that always has lagged on our shores. He thought simply showing up with his Spice Girl wife and playing some games with the Galaxy would make him as much a rage here as he is elsewhere, but beyond turning on soccer moms two summers ago, his impact has been minimal. As Hollywood celebrities go, he's a B-list afterthought who doesn't even interest the local paparazzi anymore. As L.A. sports personalities go, he's a gnat in Kobe Bryant's air space and a piece of fuzz in Manny Ramirez's dreadlocks. As box-office attractions go, he's now a bust, drawing only 23,238 to Giants Stadium in his MLS return last Thursday -- compared to 66,237 in the same stadium in 2007.

"We're in a recession so, you know, maybe that's part of it," he said.

No, Becks. We're just not that into you.

The fallout only reconfirms what we've known for decades: If futbol is a full-blown compulsion/religion/psychosis throughout the rest of the world, it remains secondary in America, a victim of slow pace and a somewhat xenophobic attitude that it isn't a man's-man sport like our big three of football, basketball and baseball. Talented young athletes need a reason to take up soccer for our quality of play to reach a world-class elite level. Clearly, Beckham isn't that reason. By leaving the Galaxy to sign a half-season loaner deal with powerhouse AC Milan, he was committing a marketing sin by acknowledging that the MLS is a comparative minor league. And when he tried to avoid returning to L.A. altogether, his efforts stymied when the Galaxy pondered legal action and battled Beckham for weeks, he did more harm to the MLS image than whatever good he did in his debut season. What's more, he showed up last week and immediately said he'll probably return to Europe next January, wanting better competition so he can maintain a spot on England's national team in a World Cup year.

"I can only show my commitment to the team while I'm here and while my contract is here," said Beckham, hardly overwhelming us with MLS passion. "The England manager [Fabio Capello] has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at a European level. I'll always regret it if I didn't do everything to give myself the chance to be involved in that."

Never mind that his dreams come at the expense of the MLS, where he's paid $32.5 million -- with the potential of making up to $250 million -- over five years. "I was given to chance to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world," he said. "If you ask any player in any league in the world, if they were given the chance to finish the season with one of the biggest clubs in the world, they'd have said 'Yes.' I'm a very honest person. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here. I've always been committed to every contract I've ever had, and that hasn't changed. I'm a very committed person. If people want to question my commitment and my professionalism, the fact that I'm willing to travel thousands of miles to play for my country says it all."

Considering Beckham flies on a private jet in utter luxury, don't expect much support for that lame rationalization. He thinks he's doing nothing wrong, failing to understand why he should apologize to Galaxy season-ticket buyers who expected more than a half-season of Becks. "No, not at all. I think what you've seen is that I've been very dedicated to the Galaxy, dedicated to the fans," he said. "With the last loan, I think it worked out pretty well. I'm not going to sit here and say it was perfect, because at the end of the day it was great for myself, but for the Galaxy and the guys, it is tough when you lose any player."

Tough is a gross understatement. His wavering commitment to the MLS created tensions within the Galaxy ranks and prompted a high-profile teammate, U.S. national star Landon Donovan, to attack him in a new book called The Beckham Experiment. Said Donovan, as told to author Grant Wahl: "All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us. As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways -- on the field, off the field. Does the fact that he earns that much more money come into it? Yeah. If someone's paying you more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game. Show up and train hard, show up and play hard ... Maybe he's not a leader, maybe he's not a captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum, you should bust your ass every day. That hasn't happened. And I don't think that's too much for us to expect. Especially when he's brought all this on us."

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Not only did Donovan accuse Beckham of quitting, he called him a bad teammate. That's a vicious double-whammy. "When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing. "He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well. Somewhere along the way, he just flipped a switch and said, 'Uh-huh, I'm not doing it anymore.' He's not shown [he's a good teammate]. I can't think of another guy where I'd say he wasn't a good teammate, he didn't give everything through all this, he didn't still care. But with him, I'd say no, he wasn't committed.

"My sense is that David's clearly frustrated, that he's unhappy and, honestly, that he thinks it's a joke. I also kind of feel [he has taken the team] for granted. I don't see dedication or commitment to this team, and that's troubling."

This caused Beckham, normally a passive sort, to fire back and refer to Donovan as "unprofessional." Said Becks: "For 17 years, I've played for the biggest teams in the world, I've played with the biggest players and icons of our sport and icons of our time, and the strongest and biggest managers in soccer. And not once have I been criticized for my professionalism." The two-way sniping continued until Bruce Arena, the Galaxy coach, ordered a cease fire. Most of last season, Beckham and Donovan didn't speak, which explains why the team was dysfunctional and unsuccessful. This season, at least for now, they've agreed to set aside their differences for the good of the Galaxy, which is 6-3-9 and in position to make the playoffs for the first time since Beckham arrived. It helped that they sat in a room and talked things out the other day, but obviously, Beckham's wounds run deep.

After all, Donovan brought the hammer when he said, "Let's say he does stay here three more years. I'm not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way. This is [bleeping] miserable. I don't want to have soccer be this way." Beckham's response was to take a higher road and claim he has done a wonderful job promoting and building soccer in America.

"What I've done for the league so far has been very successful, I've had a successful effect on the game here. You know, there are eight new franchises coming into the league, new stadiums going up [and] attendances, wherever we've played as a team. If you look at the attendances we have had throughout the seasons, there's not many Premiership [teams] that get the average attendance that we've had, excluding Manchester United and Arsenal and teams like that. So I think there's been a positive effect. We want to carry on growing this game here, it's the reason that I wanted to be involved in this, but like I said the first day I arrived, this is not going to happen over one or two years.

"People want quick results, but it's never going to happen over one or two years. It's five or 10 years, and if I'm not playing by the time it really takes off like we hope and know it will, then I'll still be part of this. I'm committed to it and I'm committed to the cause."

Alas, it's a lost cause. Because as Beckham professes his loyalty to American soccer, his former coach with AC Milan is intimating that Becks indeed will return to Italy in January. "We would be happy if he came back because he did really well. He's incredible," Leonardo said. "The precision he has is something very, very special. He never missed the ball. He controlled the ball. The way the Galaxy plays is very, very important. They see that every ball begins with him. If it's possible, I think it could be a very good thing for us. He knows everyone. Everyone loves him in our club ... David is without doubt a very intelligent player and I don't think there is anything strange to say that he could come back into my plans, because he can fit into any system."

Any system but the American system, that is, which suggests that David Beckham locate the nearest escape hatch and return to Europe at once. If he wants so dearly to be there, then, dammit, we want him to be there, too. "Is evil something u are ... or something u do," another banner read. After fans booed him in New Jersey the other night, he said, "It's sometimes nice to get the boos. It gives you some inspiration."

Then he'll be ready when the boos and venom keep bombarding him, all across a nation that doesn't appreciate a pretty boy exposed in a money grab.