Studs Up

So the lads at Random House sent me a review copy of The Beckham Experiment a number of weeks ago and while I finished it a few days later, I wanted to wait a bit to post my review just to see what kind of stories would emerge in the press. With all the salacious details being chatted about in the press I figured any review would need to be done in the context of whatever else came out in the news regarding Beckham, Donovan, the Galaxy and whoever else.

Bottom line is that, while I have a host of issues with the content of the book and the way it is presented to the reader, it is certainly a worthy and entertaining read. If you get the chance to pick up or borrow a copy, I highly recommend you do so.

Rather than get into too much detail, I’m just going to break down some of my issues and thoughts in easy-to-read, bulleted format. Who doesn’t love reading bullets? No one, that’s who.

- Wahl has spent 10 years covering US football and I was curious to see if he would demonstrate a balanced grasp of world football or if he’d have a view heavily skewed by American culture. On page 15, Wahl compares Landon Donovan’s 2006 potential to the likes of Michael Essien. Ok then…

- Everyone involved in the whole situation (Beckham’s camp, the MLS, the Galaxy, his teammates) was culpable in creating a sh*tstorm of mismanaged expectations and bad timing. They are all clowns.

- The only people in the entire universe who didn’t realise Beckham’s is not the kind of player to carry a crap team, and that his brand would override everything else, appears to be everyone interviewed in this book.

- Wahl’s primary problem with Beckham clearly seems to be the fact that Becks would say one thing (“I’m committed to the Galaxy”) and do another (staying on loan at Milan).

- Beckham’s camp refused to have any part of the book, meaning Wahl only ever presented the American point of view of every key event (since he could only speak to the likes of Lalas, Donovan and the Galaxy/MLS owners). Yet Wahl still has no problem telling us his book is a “fair-minded chronicle” of what happened, a hypocrisy I find curious given his chastising of Beckham for similarly contradictory behaviour.

- One of the big knocks on Beckham throughout the book, and in the press coverage leading up to the book’s release, is how cheap he was during his time in the MLS. Apparently this stems from his very first team dinner with the Galaxy where he didn’t offer to pay the entire bill. As the next couple of years is covered by the book, Wahl continually refers back to when Beckham didn’t pay the bill that one time. It’s even used as some kind of call-back gag right at the end when Beckham invites the players out again and Wahl claims they were all worried about paying their share again at an expensive restaurant. It was one freakin dinner and it becomes a core theme in the book? I expected something a little less sensationalist from an author who keeps preaching credibility and balanced reporting.

I actually had about another 20-30 pages bookmarked from the book where I wanted to scream, so it may seem curious that I’m recommending it. The book is basically a lot like your average football match – large parts make you want to scream and kill small animals, but you want to see what happens next.

Wahl entertains and makes you think about US football in ways you never thought you would, or perhaps wanted to. But this isn’t the credible, lasting effect that perhaps he was going for. In other words, The Beckham Experiment is exactly like The Beckham Experiment.