Shall I go with the Mohawk today?

Professional European soccer leagues are getting started (or already have) in the next couple of weeks, and David Beckham looks like he's getting pushed out of the English national team. ESPN only covers British soccer, as seen with only Beckham news in a World Cup year after the WC and only British club teams being shown in the US during the Champions League. I became a fan of Real Madrid when I was in Spain two falls ago (fall of 2004), a sickening thing to most people who are down with La Liga because they're the NY Yankees of Spanish football. I fell into the media trap, I know, but I was really interested in a soccer-mad culture. I am trying to figure out one thing: Am I really a Real Madrid fan or am I more of a Beckham sympathizer?

Beckham is an interesting phenomenom that has been dissected over and over again (add one more "and over" after this). He's created a cult of personality like Michael Jordan, except he's in no way as talented as Jordan. He's a good-looking guy, single-handedly propelled the word "metrosexual" into Western culture (for better or worse), and has played soccer for two of the most popular teams in the world - Manchester United and Real Madrid - on top of being the English national team captain for six years. He has one of the best right foots ever, but his talent has always been overshadowed by his curious on-field behavior (getting red carded in a WC game, disappearing on the field for long periods of time), hogging paparazzi cameras with Posh Spice, his haircut, and the fact his voice is as soft as Mike Tyson's.

And despite all of these negative things, I can't help but like the guy. He's more like Alex Rodriguez than anyone else. They both try to live up to the hype that they created and are way too sensitive to the attention they welcomed. Both play team games where they rely on their teammates for success as much as the team relies on them. I know I pay attention when they're playing because of the sideshow that accompanies them, and they can never get that storybook ending that they really need to keep the criticism away.

(On a side note, their teams' main rivals parallel each other to a certain extent. Both of the rival teamsk, FC Barcelona and the Boston Red Sox, are always second fiddle and always HUGE spenders. In the case of Barcelona and Madrid, the political history of the two teams, and of Spain, is what fuels the rivalry. The Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 doesn't really compete with the Catalan culture being viciously repressed for 30 years. Barca has also won multiple La Liga and UEFA titles, but they still are considered second best, like the Red Sox in the AL East. In addition, Boston and Barcelona are always more interesting than either Madrid or the Yankees. The players are more fun to watch (Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi, Big Papi, and Manny vs. Beckham, Raul, Ronaldo, Giambi, and Jeter? No contest there in the charisma battle.), and the teams are always the underdogs.)

Despite Beckham being rich beyond belief playing a game, he has lost a couple steps and his skill level (not too high to begin with) is slipping. He won't remain at this high level for too long. And if he's anything like A-Rod, he'll never be good enough, but I'll still be rubbernecking and watching their games.