Eight time zones east of his totally major house in Beverly Hills, David Beckham alights to an England national soccer team amid a bit of national media melodrama.
That's in contrast to the national media melodrama of this spring, when England's team struggled with Israel and Andorra, or the national media melodrama of last fall, when England lost at Croatia and drew with Macedonia, or the national media melodrama of the summer of 2006, when England limped dully to the World Cup quarterfinals.
None of that should be confused with the national media melodrama of recent years when the dour Sven-Goran Eriksson served as England's coach, or the national media melodrama of much of the 41 years since 1966, when the birthplace of soccer last won the World Cup.
It's hard to make a sideshow of Beckham, but England has the knack.
It's really hard to make a sideshow of a soccer diva who played for the Galaxy in New Jersey on Saturday on artificial turf on a wonky ankle, then flew to London, then jogged and practiced with the England team, then might play tonight in Wembley Stadium in a friendly against Germany, then will fly to Los Angeles, and then might play Thursday night in Carson against Chivas USA.
England can.
It's got this whole big mess with primo striker Wayne Rooney injuring his foot again, as in 2006, and it's got a whole lingering harrumph about Steve McClaren as the manager reaches his one-year mark, and it's got a fresh rash of dings that omitted four more players Monday from the Germany friendly, and it's got a whole issue about how the mighty English Premier League, the top sports league on Earth, saps vigor from the national team.
For connoisseurs of melodrama, that still leaves a bit of room for some doubts, quibbles and blasts about Beckham.
Sir Bobby Robson, a Rushmore figure in soccer -- hence the "Sir" -- and the England manager from 1982 to 1990, hailed Beckham's commitment to England but forecast he'd wane because of -- warning: gentle put-down ahead -- MLS.
"In the short term, he looks OK," Robson told the BBC, "but the longer he plays in America, with respect to the football being played there, the less competitive he will become." With MLS "not the greatest level of football," Robson said, "he will lose the match sharpness he needs to play at the top level with England."
