Becks in DC

Yesterday evening we were at RFK to see David Beckham's MLS debut against D.C. United. And despite his tender ankle, he did debut, much to the delight of the crowd - especially the ladies! [Yes, it was his MLS debut, because his first game was merely an exhibition, against a non-league team] . Here's the Post photo gallery, and here's a great photo of the Man of the Hour that Jenny took from the "cheap" seats, one row from the very top of the upper deck, where we were sitting.

I was a bit surprised that Beckham actually played because earlier in the second half, before he subbed in, it was raining, making the field a bit more treacherous (not torrential rain, as mentioned in the Post article - is everything associated with this guy hyperbole?) . But RFK has a natural grass field, and there are apparently a handful of MLS fields (4 out of 13) that use artificial turf. I'm convinced that the problems I have with my knees are from playing and refereeing soccer on a turf field at U of MD, so I completely understand Beckham's dislike of artificial turf. I don't think it matters how much padding is underneath the playing surface, that padding does break down over time and eventually it's like running on concrete. The previous link's turf-defenders point to lower injury rates on turf when compared with grass fields, but that doesn't take into account the chronic effects on the body, the wear-and-tear.

Back to the match! D.C. had the edge in possession and played a much better all-around game than the Galaxy, although they missed several good opportunities late in the first half and early in the second with some horrendous passing. Their passing looked sublime, however, compared to that of Los Angeles, which as a team looked much slower and was unable to spread the field much at all. Beckham's 21 minutes of play were uneventful, but he did have a few nice passes downfield, and a beautiful free kick that was on-target for the forwards to get a head on.

Who knows, maybe years from now we'll be able to tell our kids that we were at Becks' MLS debut, and they'll be awestruck that were were witnesses to the event that launched MLS into a elite global league. Of course, it's probably just as likely that they'll say "David who?" or "what's MLS?" or "soccer? Don't they still play that in Europe?"