Wahl's 'The Beckham Experiment' just another celebrity takedown

August 3, 11:03 PMBoston Pro Soccer ExaminerL.E. Eisenmenger

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David Beckham
Photo: AP

I was excited to crack open Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment and learn the machinations of David Beckham's deal with MLS and what made it spin.

It started strong and well-researched until Chapter 5: "Let him be the captain, you be the star," when I got the "People Magazine at the dentist" feeling.

What started out panoramic got small quickly with a juicy chapter inserted for splash. (Common trade practice to highlight the pre-release tease.) It was clear Wahl had taken sides and you saw what was developing with every snide "Captain Galaxy" quip. (In eighth grade you learned that as foreshadowing.)

Of course, Manchester United and Real Madrid star Beckham would be captain - the Galaxy bought a leader, the former captain of the English national team, for $250 million dollars. Of course, highly qualified Landon Donovan was miffed at giving up the captain's armband - he wouldn't be worthy if he wasn't. But he's smart and professional, so of course, he offered it to Beckham.

What is not professional is inserting personal henpecking into a manuscript that professes to document a major policy shift and initative in Major League Soccer.

Kiss-and-tell with a money spin

The Beckham Experiment unnecessarily degrades to a kiss-and-tell story, the revelations of a fringe insider "revealing" the ordinary moments of someone in the public eye. This book has been written many times by ex-managers, ex-girlfriends, ex-photographers of musicians, actors, and other pop culture figures. 

David Beckham
Photo: AP

The author spills a lot of ink complaining how Beckham wouldn't give him and the teammates run of his house, pay for meals, yet the author (a career not known for filthy lucre) was sent to chronicle this peacock partly because of his extraordinary financial success (and excess.) Considering that even boring locker room conversations are sensationalized here, imagine what Wahl would do with a tour of the Beckham home.

Wahl implicitly blames Beckham for the failure of the Galaxy and loses focus on why Beckham was brought to the US in the first place- - and that has little to do with educated soccer fans and clinics for Galaxy teammates.

The Beckham Experiment never attempts to see from Beckham's (British) eyes the reality of MLS and how it differs from elite leagues -- the range of player quality, inconsistent refereeing, low-budget lifestyle, and laissez-faire US attitude toward soccer.

As Wahl spends an extra year with Beckham because of his injury - a tension, a resentment rises between Wahl and his subject and mysteriously, the book is almost devoid of quotations and interviews with David Beckham -- odd seeing how the author hounded him across the country.

David Beckham
Photo: AP

Wahl becomes part of the spectacle

Wahl's conduct at Beckham's press conference at the Galaxy's practice at Gillette Stadium before their August 2008 game was extraordinary. Far more media than usual attended, but Wahl dominated the questioning and it was clear there was a strange situation afoot.

It was made known Wahl was writing a book on Beckham and following him around the league, but if he was chronicling Beckham's tour and ways, why didn't he observe Beckham's interaction with the press instead of becoming part of the show and interfering with local press access? Five or six of the eight questions were from Wahl -- questions about Roy Keane and overseas experience, not MLS -- to which Beckham graciously responded then ended the press conference. The very civilized soccer press with no opportunity to question had been pushed two bodies behind by aggressive non-soccer press with sharp elbows and sweaty armpits.

It would have been smarter for Wahl to interview the non-soccer media, ask their perceptions and how they were going to present their material and why. Their answers would reveal the Beckham butterfly effect in mass media.

There was no "experiment"

The title of the book is a misnomer as there was no Beckham Experiment, it was a major investment and league initiative. No matter what the final outcome (to be assessed years ahead), Beckham's transition to MLS will always be a benchmark, a watermark, a touchpoint in the history of soccer in the United States.

For those one step ahead or behind, soccer is a political sport, David Beckham a political figure, and the United States at a political turning point.

Beckham did not try to "Conquer America," as Wahl states in the subtitle. Beckham came to bring soccer to common people in the United States and connect them with the rest of the world. Everything comes at a price.