So my son trotted me out to RFK Stadium today to watch DC United, our major league soccer team, take on David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy. It was a normal July day here, which is to say hellish, but average hellish -- about 90 with high humidity. This was Beckham's second appearance here and the crowd was a little smaller than on his inaugural visit, but a still respectable 36,000 or so for a noon time start and just 3,000 fewer fans than DC's major league baseball team drew at the same time.
I am curious as to whether professional soccer will successfully establish itself in the U.S. I've come to love the game, but one of the things I like best about it -- a total absence of stoppages in play -- make it a far less desirable game from the perspective of television advertisers (not that this seems to stop it from being insanely popular in the rest of the world). I saw a couple of things that made me think it may yet catch on here -- first, rather than the celebrity treatment he got the last time, Beckham was subjected to spirited taunting and booing by the crowd (yes this is healthy). Second, the biggest ovation of the day was not for Beckham, but rather for the late game return of an injured DC United player, Ben Olson, a true everyman of the game not to soon be mistaken for an international celebrity and superstar. Okay it's possible that Beckham got a slightly louder ovation when he took his shirt off at the end of the game.
Oh, and DC United kicked ass and won 4 to 1 (it could have easily been 7 or 8 to 1) and poor Mr. Beckham looked totally wilted -- fabulous, but wilted.