The Lakers have always been Drama.  Little things–that become big things–that only seem to happen in Los Angeles.  And I’ve always wondered–if they played in Milwaukee, would there still be this much drama?  After years of thinking about it I think I’ve figured it out–there would be, but they’d be in Milwaukee so no one would care. 
 
The LA Galaxy in the very recent past were Drama.  In fact this past year probably set a record for it, and in LA, that’s saying something.  And it’s drama that couldn’t have happened anywhere else, because David Beckham wouldn’t have come to anywhere else in America.

Mr. Posh Spice is quintessentially Californian.  He was Beverly Hills, even when he lived in Manchester–he just didn’t know it yet; well, he married a Spice Girl so maybe he did know it.  The original metrosexual, Becks has always been more known for the ‘off-the-field’ stuff and it has tended to overshadow the ‘on-the-field’ stuff, even when he won Championships–he’s Kobe, but with better PR.  And so his entrance to the New World was grand and his first year was memorable…for all the wrong reasons. 

In fact, it’s been nearly three years since his arrival was announced.  It’s been 2+ years since his debut.  And if you’ve read The Beckham Experiment, you know all about that first year.  You know about his people demanding the captaincy (and Landon giving it up), you know about the expensive meals that he took his team out for- only to pay for his meal and no one else’s (despite making one-thousand times as much money as some of his teammates), and ultimately you know about Beckham’s decision to bring in Ruud Gullit–because surely only a European could teach these Yanks the game.  Gullit, it turns out, wasn’t cut out for the American game; teaching fundamentals isn’t his strength (if anyone can figure out his strength, please tell me).  This isn’t to say that all of this was Beckham’s fault- the Galaxy are surely to blame as well; like a guy who just landed a chick that he knew was way out of his league, the Galaxy were willing to put up with way too much just to try to keep him happy.

Frankly all of that drama was just prologue.  Gullit was fired, and rather than get Beckham’s approval, rather than get another fancy European model (although I do wonder what would have happened if Gullit was gone a month earlier while Jurgen Klinnsman was still on the market), instead the Galaxy went and got the American coach.  Basically rather than continue to back Beckham, the team decided to back Landon Donovan.  Suddenly it was his coach, his team, and suddenly he had the captain’s armband back.  Not surprisingly as soon as the season ended, Beckham pushed to get out.  AC Milan was throwing pebbles against his window and Beckham was climbing out onto the roof even though he was grounded.  That was slightly more than a year ago.  It was the end of October that he began to push for a return ticket to Europe.  I know it was October because it was before the MLS Playoffs began, the playoffs that Beckham’s Galaxy weren’t going to be a part of. 

You may remember the rest–he played quite well for Milan, so well in fact that he wanted to stay there but the Galaxy wouldn’t let him.  So he came back to a chorus of boos, to a windfall of negative columns about him (including some by yours truly), and to fans willing to fight him- and anyone that has watched David Beckham knows that he’s more than willing to accept an invitation to a scrum. 

But something weird happened while we were booing–Beckham came back to a good team and made it better.  Landon was captain and Bruce was coach but in 19 games before David the Galaxy won 6, drew 9, and lost 4; Becks came back and in the final 11 games they won 6, drew 3, and lost 2.  (For the true soccer newbies, a win is worth 3 points and a draw is worth 1)  So BB- before Beckham- the Galaxy were getting an average of 1.4 points per game; with Beckham they were getting 1.9 points a game.  A run that was good enough to propel them to first place in the West.  Suddenly the Galaxy were everything we imagined they could be for the last few years, suddenly they were contenders.

When I said earlier that David Beckham is Kobe with better PR, I was only half-right; what Beckham actually is, surprisingly enough, is the anti-Shaq.  While Shaquille O’Neal has left 4 teams on bad terms, Beckham instead seems to always go out on a high note.  After years of great success in Manchester, Becks and manager Alex Ferguson had a falling out, clearly one (or both) would be gone soon, but that Spring the Red Devils turned it around and won the league.  The following season, even though Man U wanted him to go to Barcelona, Beckham signed a contract with Real Madrid.  After a few up-and-down years with Real, he was in a contract negotiation, they couldn’t agree so Becks signed with the Galaxy in January (even though the Spanish season runs through May.)  Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello was so upset that he swore Beckham would never play for Real again.  A few months later, Capello recanted, Beckham rejoined the team, and they went on to win the league.  Sensing a theme yet?

Obviously Beckham left Madrid, and so did Capello; in fact the Gods must love drama because Capello is now the English National Team’s coach.  Like Felix and Oscar (look it up kids), Beckham and Capello are back together.  And Capello again is making outlandish demands of Becks- in fact he insists that Beckham play in a high-level league (read: Europe) if he is to have any shot at the English National Team in next Summer’s World Cup.  Becks cares about playing for England more than anything else in the world, so much so that he’s willing to play year-round in order to honor his obligation in LA while spending half the year playing for Milan.  Maybe this is his last trip to Milan- play for them from January to June, then the World Cup, then back to LA for the rest of his career.  Or maybe this next trip to Milan will be permanent, which means this Sunday’s game against Real Salt Lake will be his last game for the Galaxy. 

There is an irony to Salt Lake playing the Galaxy (yes Lit Majors I get that this isn’t the definition you were taught, but I’m using the Alanis Morissette definition of irony, deal with it.)  Salt Lake’s name- Real Salt Lake- clearly is a play on the name of a certain team in Madrid.  A team that most Americans wouldn’t have heard of if not for Becks.  In fact I can’t help but wonder how much of the MLS is entirely predicated on fans that learned about the game because of a certain kick-bending, nice-dressing, pop star-marrying, penalty-kick missing, red card-getting, world traveler.  Have Right Foot- Will Travel.  David Beckham, arguably never the best player in the world, is undoubtedly the world’s most influential.  And if this is his last game for the Galaxy, well then recent history would suggest that LA is a lock for a win the Championship this Sunday.  But could Beckham be really anywhere else in the world besides LA?  People care when it’s Los Angeles, and getting people to care is what Drama, and David Beckham, have always been about.