T.J. SIMERS - Question Beckham deal and Empire strikes back
THE BLOKE is already a joke, and a case could be made, if anyone really cared, that Beckham's a thief -- stealing millions from the Anschutz Empire.
He came here with the reputation of being an airhead -- misspelling his wife's name on a tattoo on his forearm, which explains why his handlers have gone out of their way to keep him from the media.
Hard to understand why the Anschutz Empire would spend millions on a soccer spokesman who can't talk for himself, until reminded it's the Anschutz Empire, which also owns the Kings, and the Empire never really does get it right.
NOW ON this point, and every other, Tim Leiweke and Page 2 disagree, but I do have great admiration for someone so passionate and so willing to be wrong all the time.
Leiweke, the chief sports strategist for the Empire, still speaks of Beckham like a godsend, saying such things as "David has done everything we've asked," and "David always rewrites history and proves the naysayers wrong," and "he will play again for the Galaxy this season" even though most reports have Beckham's knee injury sidelining him for the rest of the year.
If Beckham returns this season, consider the excitement as the Galaxy makes one last push to climb out of last place. Too bad he also can't suit up for the Kings.
"We've got a long way to go before rendering an opinion on the Beckham experiment," Leiweke said. "This is a five-year deal for us. This can't be judged by a matter of months or games."
First impressions linger, and Beckham has hardly made one. He has done nothing locally to sell the sport, although Leiweke disagreed, citing the five hours Beckham met with the media his first day here, including an interview with "Al Jazeera English."
The Kobester would find all this very funny -- making himself available for interviews one day, and then disappearing the rest of the year. Yeah, right.
Call the Galaxy now to talk with Beckham, and instead of putting him in a limo and sending him right over to keep the losers in the spotlight, the answer is always the same: "Unfortunately, he's not speaking today."
How about Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday? "Unfortunately he's not speaking on those days."
How about just putting him on the telephone for a moment? "Unfortunately, he's not speaking."
When he did speak recently for the first time, he chose Ryan Seacrest, and did I mention that Simon Fuller, the creator of "American Idol," is Beckham's primary handler?
