Tuesday's Column: The Apology Galaxy Fans Deserve
But they're not going to get from Galaxy owner Anschutz Entertainment Group.
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Updated.
Here are some more excerpts from the Sunday morning conference call reporters had with Coach Bruce Arena and President of Business Operations Tom Payne, who were left to face the media after the orchestrator of the Beckham deal - AEG President Tim Leiweke - had much better things to do than explain his rationale in person.
Payne:
"(Beckham) coming back for six homes games is probably not the easiest thing for (fans) to stomach. ... We're trying to run a business. Having that player helps us run the business."
Not a successful team, you understand, but a business.
And here's Payne on how fans have reacted in terms of buying tickets while the Beckham saga dragged on:
"Frankly, its been difficult. ... People have been sitting on their hands. ... We're hopeful they understand how incredibly hard our company has worked to make this happen."
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About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
It's sad, how true it all is!
Sums up many issues.
On a note : Josh Tudela is a decent prospect (even, if always a bit close to a 2nd yellow) and Josh Saunders was much better than the mentioned Wicks and the departed Cronin towards last season...
What to say about this whole nonsense? Well, as usual, Dan Loney, the best soccer writer in the world said it best -- http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=4170
“Probably from the minute Beckham signed the deal in January 2007; certainly from the minute Beckham decided he wanted to play in Italy. AEG made the best out of a bad situation. Beckham was clearly going to pout his way through the season, and I think an actual player on the field during the majority of the season is a better option. It's a shame they couldn't get Beckham to buy out his contract and throw in enough to satiate the sponsors, but AEG got their bait back and then some. For those wondering how AEG could put the Galaxy behind Mammon, consider the kind of quality and effort the Galaxy experience would have been in 2010 going forward if AEG had lost money on all this. AEG turned 2009 straw into, literally, gold. It's easier to clean up if you can actually afford soap and water.
This is where I part company from most of my fellow Galaxy fans, and maybe you guys can help me out when I talk to them. They're blaming Phil and Tim, and I say Phil and Tim made lemonade out of AIDS (per Sarah Silverman Soccer News Topics).
They then point out that it was Phil and Tim who brought Beckham to Los Angeles to begin with, and it worked out like it did with Bo and Luis and Hermosillo, and it's a sign that AEG puts money ahead of soccer. I try to explain that putting money behind soccer is a great way to end up with the LA Aztecs, but I can't get anywhere.”
Exactly – AEG and Liewieke made the same mistake that MLS has been making for all of its history, and Beckham is just one in a long line of Euro/Mexi – busts including Mattaeus, Hermosillo, Hernandez, Youkief etc etc. But to AEG’s credit they made the best of it, and probably MLS will not go the way of the NASL.
So can we finally stop trying to be TJ Simers and stop the whining, Nick?
Hindsight? Make the best of a bad situation? Just don't F the team up to begin with. I personally enjoyed your article Nick. There is a difference between whining and pointing out the unspoken but obvious flaws of AEG, even if those flaws make AEG stock go up but screws the true fan. There are so many successful sports franchises that do not use the business plan of AEG, I wish they would just get it.
Let's see: Galaxy bumped ticket prices 50% when they signed Beckham. When they lost Beckham, the lowered the prices 10%.
I don't know who won in this debacle, Galaxy, Milan, or Beckham, but I sure know who lost. The Fans.
This was a great article Nick!
Hopefully it will wake-up a few people over at the GALAXY and cause them to think things through a bit more before loaning out their stars and then having to deal with the unexpected.
Beckham has stated in a Reuters interview the other day that he will re-evaluate his situation at the end of November, which I suppose is a signal that he may not automatically opt-out of his MLS contract.
We may find ourselves going through this whole scenario again soon...
Great article, Nick!
Bravissimo!!
That is all (for now).
Bravissimo, Nicola!
As far as Loney is concerned, keep in mind that if Leiweke and Garber had any brains (they knew that Milan wanted to buy Beckham as soon as the loan agreement was signed), they would have said together at the outset, "We're flattered that Milan wants to buy David but we're not interested in selling at any price because we believe he is too important to the league's development."
They didn't. Instead, they catered to Beckham, panicked at Milan's aggressiveness and revealed themselves as the greedy rank amateurs that they are. If they used their eyes and their heads, they wouldn't have had to "make lemonade out of AIDS," as Loney put it.
Ives said essentially the same thing on his blog, and some of his correspondents agreed!
The good thing here is that people aren't buying the spin. They know better.
One more thing: Leiweke is an inverterate coward. Why should he take responsibility when he has Payne and Arena to cover for him?
Now you know another reason why I think Leiweke is such a deleted expletive.
BTW, Dr. Death, my rants don't seem so unreasonable now, do they?
As a lifelong football supporter ( I'm English, OK) I could not believe how many Galaxy fans bought into the Beckham mania garbage on Beckham. If you really believe Beckham was going to stop every kid in America playing your trad. sports you're dafter than he is. Beckham's only loyalty is to himself & his bank account. The only reason he went to LA is because his boss (wife) told him to. She believed she was going to be a Hollywood superstar & that when she turned up the U.S would fall at her feet. When it did not happen ( 'cos she's so awful stuck up and bloody miserable ) it was only a matter of time before they bailed out. In American speak Beckham is a one trick pony - an old past it one trick pony. Small pay back for Starbucks, Paris Hilton & Everybody Loves Raymond. Don't worry you're better off without him & her!!!!! Good luck for coming season. We have a saying where I come from: "I wish you everything you would wish yourself." If somebody doesn't want to be with you get rid of them