Bay Area Sports Blogging

The 2008 season of Major League Soccer is set to begin this Saturday, March 29. Bay Area soccer fans will once again have a reason to watch MLS this season; the San Jose Earthquakes are back! Ignore the terrible open tryouts from last year.

What? You didn't know the MLS was starting the new season? Yeah, marketing and advertising for MLS is on the low end. It lacks media coverage from the major networks. You probably have to start watching ESPN Deportes to get MLS updates.

With the recent crap of local Bay Area teams such as the SF Giants, the Golden State Warriors, and the SF 49ers, one professional sports team stands out as having recent success: the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Earthquakes is a professional soccer team for the Major League Soccer. The Earthquakes won the MLS Cup during the 2001 and 2003 year, with star player Landon Donovan. In 2005, the owner brought the team to Houston and was renamed to the Houston Dynamo. However, the Dynamo was considered an expansion team so the Earthquakes team name, records, and history remained in San Jose without an actual team. Until now. The Earthquakes are getting the band back together!

The Earthquakes will be competing in MLS for the 2008 season. Since the previous team moved to Houston, the current team is not carrying a full roster. One of the Quakes' first move was to hire former LA Galaxy coach Frank Yallop as the new head coach of the Earthquakes. The second move is to hold open tryouts to fill out the roster list.

David Beckham started his first ever LA Galaxy game last night against DC United. About half an hour into the game, Beckham attempted and scored on a free kick. Fifteen minutes later, Beckham passed the ball to Landon Donovan who scored the second goal of the game. This is the start of a new era in MLS.

Beckham's first start. Beckham's first goal. Beckham's first assist. LA Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon ran across the field to join in on the celebration. "The guy hadn't even taken a free kick in practice," Cannon said. "Think about what happens when he can start playing every day and start doing those things."

You can exhale now; David Beckham has finally made his MLS debut. The highest paid Major League Soccer star took the field in the 2nd half of the LA Galaxy vs DC United game. Beckham played the last 20 minutes of the 1 - 0 loss in front of a sell-out crowd of 46,000 fans.

Beckham took to the field even though he was not 100% yet. There is great pressure on Beckham to get on the field as soon as possible. For all the money Beckham was paid, he needs to be more than a cheerleader on the bench. Even if Beckham does not dominate the league, just being in uniform and active on the soccer field is paramount.

David Beckham made his MLS debut today with the LA Galaxy in an exhibition game against Chelsea. Even Beckham's presence was not enough for the Galaxy, as they fall to Chelsea, with a final score of 0 - 1.

Beckham did not start the game, but entered the game in the 2nd half with about 12 minutes remaining. This span is probably the most watched 12 minutes of soccer in this country since the FIFA World Cup. In his limited time on the field, Beckham managed to touch the ball a few times and perform a corner kick.

Last night was the Major League Soccer All Star event featuring David Beckham, the newest member of the LA Galaxy. The All Star event had a bunch of no-name MLS players competing against a bunch of no-name Celtic FC players.

David Beckham did not play in the game, yet he remains the main attraction of the night. Let's be honest here. The entire All Star event is nothing more than 3 hours of filler wrapped around a 15 minute half-time interview with David Beckham.

I saw some rather interesting numbers today: the median salary for a MLS player is $52,965 and 91 MLS players made $17,700 or less. That is just pitiful. That is like WNBA numbers for crying out loud. To quote a former Golden State Warrior, "I got to feed my family".

A yearly salary of $17,700 would be near poverty levels. I don't know where they're getting their numbers from, but that is damn shocking. A professional soccer player in the United States earns the same salary as a McDonald's fry cook.

In contrast, David Beckham joins the league on a huge multi-million dollar contract. As a note of reference, this is much more than a McDonald's fry cook. As I have stated before, the league didn't pay Beckham for his skills on the field. They paid him for his star power.

David Beckham started practice with the L.A. Galaxy on a decidedly ominous note--resting on the sidelines favoring a swollen ankle. How many other players in the MLB, NFL, and NBA have we seen sign a big contract and then loaf around for the entirety of their contract.

Warriors' fans may remember Dampier having a tremendous season in his contract year. He left to sign with Dallas for a multi-million dollar contract and ended up on the bench behind scrubs.

Will David Beckham do the same?

Source:

Yahoo! Sports - Beckham is day-to-day with swollen ankle