FanHouse David Beckham

This is a few days old, but if you're waiting on Sports Illustrated to be delivered to your doorstep, it's four days early. Either way, SI has excerpted Grant Wahl's latest book, The Beckham Experiment, and in addition to learning the standard fare -- the Hollywood elite welcomed Becks and Posh into its loving bosom -- we're also afforded a behind-the-curtain glimpse at how Beckham's arrival threw the entire L.A. Galaxy organization into upheaval.

RECIFE, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil midfielder Kaka finalized his move to Real Madrid on Monday, marking the end of a "soap opera" and the start of a new phase of his career in Spain.

"Now the soap opera is over," said Kaka, decked out in a yellow Brazilian national team jersey after a practice session ahead of Wednesday's Brazil-Paraguay qualifier in the northeastern coastal city of Recife. "The only leftover details were the medical exams, and I've done them. The negotiations are closed and I have sealed my transfer to Real Madrid."

Real Madrid announced the signing of the attacking midfielder from AC Milan earlier Monday. The Spanish club gave no financial details but reports said Madrid will pay Milan 65 million euros ($92 million) for Kaka, making it one of the richest deals in football history.

Before an adidas commercial shoot this summer, Kevin Garnett and David Beckham battled it out in a game that combined elements of soccer and basketball. The object of the game, you ask? To kick a soccer ball into a regulation basketball hoop. Take a look at the results below:



(Via: Slam Online)

Tiger Woods isn't just the best golfer in the world. He's the world's second most powerful celebrity -- second only to Oprah Winfrey.

At least, he's the No. 2 celebrity according to the Forbes Celebrity 100, which ranks celebrities using a formula that incorporates earnings over the last year, Internet presence, magazine covers and how often the celebrity is mentioned in newspapers and on TV and radio. Woods actually ranked first among all celebrities in the world in terms of his number of press clippings.

Other celebrities on the list include David Beckham (No. 5), LeBron James (16), Michael Jordan (18), Kobe Bryant (19), Phil Mickelson (20), Roger Federer (23) and Alex Rodriguez (24). Woods also came in second to Winfrey last year.

American soccer doesn't draw much in the way of TV eyeballs, but when there's a highlight like this one, it becomes a sensation on YouTube:

That was David Beckham from about 70 yards out against the Kansas City Wizards Saturday. That clip is the most-viewed video on YouTube in the last 24 hours, and the goal has been viewed about 2 million times.

The L.A. Galaxy and its most famous player, David Beckham, toured New Zealand last week, and Beckhamania has so swept the country that fans are now buying and selling his food scraps and dirty dishes on New Zealand's version of eBay.

Take, for instance, this item on TradeMe.co.nz, which the seller describes thusly:

The coke bottle David Beckham drank from whilst dining in Nandos Chicken, Courtney Place, Wellington.

*Some Coke is left inside it*

That item currently has a bid of $4,000 in New Zealand currency, which is the equivalent of about $3,000 American.

Other items available on Trade Me include a half eaten corn cob and a French fry that Beckham -- according to the buyer -- dropped while eating on a street in Wellington, New Zealand's capital.

The Los Angeles Galaxy is touring Australia, and star David Beckham has found himself in the middle of a controversy. Beckham arrived at his hotel in a black SUV that drove right past a group of young cancer patients who had been told they would have a chance to meet him. That has set off a firestorm, detailed in this video:

It's fun to bash celebrities for being crass and self-absorbed, but the evidence that Beckham actually snubbed kids with cancer is somewhere between "slim" and "nonexistent." Beckham says he had no idea there were kids with cancer waiting to meet him, and so far no one has contradicted that claim. It sounds as though someone else promised these kids they could meet with Beckham without bothering to make sure that Beckham knew about it -- and that's who ought to get the blame.
Sorry, No Photos

Time was a town needed at least two tabloid newspapers to get embroiled in a full blown media war. But these days the weapons of choice are far less expensive and the barriers to entry a whole heck of a lot lower.

Such is the case this past week as Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis hit the blog warpath against SportsTalk 980, the local AM sports talk radio outfit in Washington, D.C. And irony of all ironies, the fight didn't start about hockey, it started over David Beckham's MLS debut in the nation's capital just a little over a week ago.

But make no mistake, this fight isn't just about Soccer. In fact, it has everything to do with the way the mainstream media, sports talk radio included, treats the NHL.

It was last Thursday that Leonsis, on his way to RFK Stadium to see Beckham and the LA Galaxy play hometown D.C. United as a guest of the team's ownership group, tuned to SportsTalk 980 in his car to hear local radio personalities Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin poke fun at the sport and the almost 47,000 fans who would show up mid-week for such an event.

After hearing the hosts spout off a few more platitudes about fans of Soccer and Ice Hockey, Leonsis held his fire before responding in a Sunday post:

Why is it that ESPN -- the godfather of sports coverage -- has embraced soccer and our own SportsTalk 980 hasn't in drive time?

Why weren't the Sports Reporters in the parking lot broadcasting from the game to connect with this large group of fans and building their own brand?

Doesn't SportsTalk 980 want to expand its served universe? Doesn't it know how to cross promote between audiences? I bet soccer fans would like hockey and visa versa.

[...]

As a programmer and someone who has grown up in scaling media businesses, I don't get the fact that the sports leader here in DC would go out of its way to NOT embrace soccer or hockey or any other sport that delivers an audience.

For most folks, that salvo would have been enough. But Leonsis wasn't done yet. Not by a longshot.

The first goal scored by David Beckham in his Major League Soccer career was a big moment for the MLS. But there's not much reason to believe that Beckham is doing what he was brought here to do, which is to establish the MLS as a popular American sports league.

Sports by Brooks notes that the Los Angeles Times reported that a "surprisingly small crowd of 17,223" showed up Wednesday night for Beckham's second home game at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center.

Furthermore, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "about 8,000 free tickets were distributed for the match." That's a total of 9,223. This picture says it all.

Previously at FanHouse:
Beckham Gets His First American Goal
Not-So-Random YouTube Magic: Beckham's First Goal in a Galaxy Kit

FanHouse's Top Five scans the sports blogosphere for the best posts of the last 24 hours so you don't have to. Got something for this feature? Hit us up at fanhouse@googlegroups.com.

1) It's been a bit of an arduous road thus far in America for David Beckham, or as arduous as any road can be for a millionaire footballer with sculpted cheek bones and a gorgeous wife. Thanks to some clubs' mishandling of ticket sales, fans have been taking their ire out on Beckham, as if he wants to be sidelined right now. (You don't think, if he's planning to take over American soccer, he'd want to be on the field ASAP? Please.) Anyway, Beckham broke through last night, and Digital Headbutt's had the live blog.

Fear Beckham. The MLS is too easy for him.

2) Seth Mnookin is a bit of a writer man-crush for your humble blogger, mainly because he seems to be able to work on whatever he feels like, and the product is universally stellar. The New York Times? Sure! Boston Red Sox? Let's have a look. Vanity Fair? I'll see if I can fit it in. So anyone with a passing interest in Red Sox, baseball, media, or Mnookin would do well to head to Red Sox Monster today for an interview with the man himself. Interesting stuff.

3) Epic Carnival's epically large blogging staff wanted to find out where they stood on MLB's various MVP's, so, like any red-blooded Americans, they voted. If the season ended today ... well, yeah, A-Rod's probably going to win regardless, huh?

4) The Big Lead located Dan Patrick's new, post-ESPN web site, and man, is that Java? CSS? Flash? Whatever it is, it's dead sexy.

5) The 2007 MLB Draft pick signing deadline has passed, and if you have trouble keeping these sorts of things organized in your brain -- I know I do -- here is a complete list, with salary, of the most prominent picks. Big ups to Baseball Analysts.