No pun intended by the headline, honest! Unless you’ve been living under a rock like one person I know (who lives in L.A. for crying out load), you’ve already heard that David Beckham signed with Major League Soccer today. I’m as excited as my compatriots over at The DCenters, but I think it’ll be a good move for the league. The cynics amongst us might smell the faint taint of Lothar Mattheus here, but I think Beckham will play well, definitely bump attendance, and give the league a well timed publicity boost. If you don’t think its a big deal – check out the popular stories for today on Soccer Blogs. There are at least a ton more people, especially outside of MLS cities, that are now aware that this country has a soccer league. I caught talk of the signing on PRI’s business program Marketplace, our local Fox news affiliate here in DC, and on Canada’s As it Happens.
Already, this was shaping up to be a good year for the league, with the sale of DC United, and the transfer of Clint Dempsey (yes it was good for the league). I’m not looking forward to the throngs of screaming Beckham fans that will be at RFK next season. But, this is a turning point for the league – will the hard core stick with the league if it gets popular and loses its "outsider" aura? Will Eurosnobs give American Soccer a fair shake? After this year, we’ll be able to tell…