Unwelcome mat is out for Beckham!

David Beckham has been hanged in effigy outside a London pub, has had his photograph printed with a bull’s-eye around it in a British tabloid, and has endured visits to stadiums that roared with derogatory chants about his wife.

None of it seemed to fluster him.

At least not the way a 28-year-old video-game technician did Sunday night when he questioned Beckham’s loyalties during an exhibition between the Los Angeles Galaxy and A.C. Milan, his current and former — or is it future? — clubs.

On his way off the field at halftime, Beckham charged toward a small pocket of Galaxy fans who, feeling jilted over his desire to move to Milan, had taunted him with chants and signs, and booed his every touch of the ball. Beckham pointed a finger, shouted several epithets and attempted to climb over a signboard while challenging a Galaxy fan, David Martinous, to come down on the field.

Martinous did not, but a man sitting next to him, Josh Paige, did. When Paige jumped down about 8 feet, he was immediately pinned to the ground by three security guards and escorted from the stadium. Several more security guards, A.C. Milan defender Alessandro Nesta and Galaxy midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi pulled Beckham away as a fan threw a white No. 23 Galaxy jersey — which once retailed for as much as $99 — at him.

That such a scene played out not in Rome or London or Barcelona, caldrons of European soccer, but outside Los Angeles — where the atmosphere more often resembles an echo chamber — left some participants in disbelief.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Martinous said later at a bar. “I’ve spent three years trying to get under the skin of players who are nobodies, and I got under David Beckham’s skin? Never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d lose his head like that.”

Paige, an independent film producer, was issued a $55 ticket for trespassing and released by the police.

“It was surreal,” he said. “When David Beckham calls you out, you get on the field. In hindsight, I wish I didn’t stoop to his level. I wish I was the bigger man.”

These days, the stature of Beckham is rapidly shrinking. His highly publicized arrival in 2007 was heralded as a boost that would carry Major League Soccer into the mainstream. But through decisions by the league, the Galaxy and Beckham’s advisers, some of which were chronicled in a recently published book, “The Beckham Experiment,” by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, the train seems to have come off the tracks.

Sunday night’s game, which ended in a 2-2 tie, was typical. It was brokered when the Galaxy agreed to extend Beckham’s loan to A.C. Milan last off-season to six months, from three. As Galaxy fans watched Beckham hug and laugh with the Milan players, his body language seemed to make it clear where he would rather be.

“He doesn’t deserve this,” Clarence Seedorf, an A.C. Milan midfielder, said of Beckham’s reception. “It’s like a love-hate situation.”

Indeed, several Galaxy fans said they were conflicted when Beckham’s deliveries were parlayed into both goals for the Galaxy in a 2-2 tie.

“It kind of hurts,” Alex Kozela said. “I don’t know whether to cheer or boo.”

Kozela, like Paige and Martinous, is a regular in a Galaxy fan club called the L.A. Riot Squad, which has developed a reputation for witty if sometimes lewd chants. The comedian Drew Carey, before he became a part-owner of the Seattle Sounders, would visit with them, and Galaxy players have always shown strong appreciation for their passion.

When the former player Alexi Lalas, who later became the Galaxy’s general manager, was awarded the Riot Squad’s player of the year trophy — an inscribed beer keg — he would show it off to visitors at his home. Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena and the team’s captain, Landon Donovan, saluted the group before Sunday’s game, and other players paid visits afterward.

It might have been that way for Beckham, too. But when his effort flagged noticeably in the latter half of last year’s M.L.S. season, and he then sought to make his loan to A.C. Milan permanent, many Galaxy fans tuned out or were turned off. Attendance has dropped more than 25 percent this season, and some of those who remained wanted to let Beckham know just how they felt.

The publication of “The Beckham Experiment,” in which several teammates — notably Donovan — criticized Beckham’s commitment, cemented their resolve.

Beckham was expecting some boos, but not many. And a majority of the crowd sounded glad to see him. Many fans rose to their feet as he prepared for free kicks, which were accompanied by camera flashes throughout the stadium. But the minority was visible and vocal.

When Beckham took the field for warm-ups, he was greeted by a bed sheet that read “Go Home Fraud” with his number, 23, circled and slashed. “Here Before, Here After, Here Despite 23” read another. Galaxy officials asked the fans to remove the signs early in the game.

But there was no silencing the messages. Boos followed Beckham whenever the ball came to him, and on several occasions he was addressed with R-rated chants.

Beckham gave little hint that he had seen or heard any of the jeers until near the end of the half, when he playfully rolled the ball to A.C. Milan’s Ronaldinho, sharing a laugh with him.

Martinous said he yelled to Beckham, about 30 yards away, “Which team are you playing for?” adding several expletives. Shortly after that, Beckham gave a sarcastic thumbs-up. Then came the halftime whistle.

“I just tried to go over and shake one of their hands and tell them to calm down,” Beckham said.

When a reporter told Beckham he was sitting with the fans and that it had not sounded as if Beckham was so conciliatory, Beckham said, “Then you don’t need to ask me that question.”

In the second half, when a Beckham corner kick was headed into the net by Bryan Jordan for the tying goal, he did not turn the other cheek. Instead, he turned to face the Riot Squad. He placed a finger to his mouth, instructing them to be shush. He then blew them a kiss — perhaps, goodbye.

LA Galaxy Fans Get it!!

The latest turn in the David Beckham saga has left me with a new respect for Los Angeles soccer fans.

Upon his return to the Home Depot Center last night, Beckham was booed loudly--and met with several signs calling him a "fraud." A lot of members of the media will call the fans' behavior disrespectful and uncalled for. I'm just not one of them.

Beckham started to lose me two years ago, when he stiffed the media after a large group of us showed up to cover a game he played in after traveling all night. Here's part of what I wrote then, and it's even more true today:

Most of the fans and all of the media who show up at Home Depot Center are there to see Beckham. His bosses at AEG are paying him millions (some say hundreds of millions) to be not only the face of the Galaxy, but the face of the whole sport. He seemed to understand that at his hugely successful introductory press conference, when he said he was here to take the sport of soccer to "a new level."

But after the game....a game that he had traveled eight time zones in one day to play, making him THE story, Beckham went out the back door. He pulled a no comment on a night that he was the only guy any one was interested in hearing from. This is on the heels of his "false start." He caused a huge splash when he announced he was coming, sold a bunch of tickets, and then sat out with an ankle injury for a month. He's selling soccer on borrowed time.

I've been a sportscaster for 22 years, and there's one thing I can always spot: when a guy gets it. Beckham doesn't get it.

Beckham is a huge star overseas and doesn't have to sell the sport--they're already sold. Any really good player knows this about Europe...it's where you go to make millions and become a rock star. Being sent to America for these guys is like being sent to the minors--they not only don't want to be here, they consider it a demotion.

AEG rolled the dice and thought, "we can change that perception. If we pay this guy even more millions, he'll become Wayne Gretzky....the pied piper of our sport."

But Gretzky was smart enough to know that he was the story, not the hockey game. He never missed a chance to sell it. Same thing with Magic Johnson in basketball and Tommy Lasorda in baseball. These guys knew that part of their job was get people talking--about the game, about why it might be important to fly across the world to play twice in two days, about why their teams needed them. Most of all, they were all smart enough to know that if they didn't talk, people wouldn't care at all about the subject. They knew that television stations would stop caring and send their crews home. They knew that newspapers would move the story from page one to page nine.

David Beckham hasn't figured this out yet. And the more I think about his background, the fact that he doesn't need any more money and he doesn't want the attention, the only reasonable conclusion is that AEG might have picked the wrong guy.

What stinks about that is that Beckham was brilliant at that introductory press conference. He gave his bosses every indication that he was worth the extra money, and that he would be the face of the sport. He's perfect for that on paper, because unlike Gretzky, Magic and Lasorda...he has cross-over appeal. When he talks, gossip magazines and sports networks show up. So does Entertainment Tonight. It's a dream scenario that AEG is paying to help develop.

When he was introduced, he said he was coming to help grow soccer here. He stayed at the Home Depot Center and talked to any one would listen that he would try to take soccer to the "next level."

Last night, he did. He helped take it down a notch.

If he wants to to be paid just to play soccer, go back to Europe. If he wants to be the face of the sport, he can't go out the back door. Gretzky, Magic, Lasorda and countless other Hall of Famers never even knew a back door existed.

After I wrote that, I was secretly hoping that Beckham would change his tune. He does have a charisma about him that makes you want to watch him play. But he never changed his tune.

Grant Wahl (a very respected writer for Sports Illustrated) has a new book out, The Beckham Experiment. In that book, he outlines the real truth about what happened with the Galaxy, and why Beckham hasn't lived up to his end of the deal. Landon Donovan, the Galaxy's best player, is very outspoken and should be commended for his candor.

Beckham actually made things worse when he tried to get out of his Galaxy deal and stay in Milan. To fans in LA, that was an obvious snub that I'm sure Beckham thought wouldn't have any impact. But last night, the soccer fans joined together and told Beckham that he has a tired act.

For that, the fans should be proud of themselves--no matter what the media says.

The next move here belongs to Beckham. He can do what he did last night and say things like "you can't make everybody happy." Or he can actually try to make somebody--anybody--happy. He's still a big enough star that if he reached out to the city, we would all cover it from top to bottom. My guess is that every show in town--including mine--will ask Beckham to come on this week to give the fans his side of the story.

Anybody want to bet me that he doesn't come on, with anybody?

Right now, "The Beckham Experiment" is officially a disaster. Only he can can change the way it ends.

Tom Cruise Cheers On David Beckham!

Tom Cruise gets excited while cheering on soccer pal David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy during the Major League Soccer game against AC Milan at The Home Depot Center on Sunday (July 19) in Carson, Calif.

The 47-year-old actor was accompanied in the VIP box by his kids Isabella, 16, and Connor, 14. Also in the stands was Beckham’s wife Victoria and their three sons — Brooklyn, 10, Romeo, 6, and Cruz, 4.

During yesterday’s game, Galaxy fans heckled and booed at Beckham, holding up signs like “Go Home Fraud 23.” In the end, the game ended in a tie, 2-2.

Even a Superstar Can’t Be Everywhere

David Beckham made his 2009 Major League Soccer debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday at Giants Stadium. Two years ago, he made his wildly celebrated debut in the league, but this time there was no carnival atmosphere, no breathless promotion, none of the hysteria of 2007, when Beckham was portrayed as M.L.S.’s savior.

The fervor has subsided, and this much has become clear: Beckham is not soccer’s savior, but rather a Moses figure who may not be playing when soccer reaches its ultimate destination. But he says he is fully committed to the journey.

During a news conference before the Galaxy’s game Thursday against the Red Bulls, Beckham was asked — at times pointedly — about his goals and his commitment to the Galaxy and the league after spending the last six months on loan playing for A.C. Milan. The first question was whether he felt he owed Galaxy ticket holders an apology for missing so many games. He did not think so. “I’m dedicated to the fans,” he said.

Beckham’s words were more important than anything he did in the Galaxy’s 3-1 victory over the woeful Red Bulls, for there was none of the fawning of 2007 but instead tough questions about his commitment to helping soccer in the United States, playing in the World Cup and fulfilling his contractual obligations to the Galaxy and to M.L.S.

In responding to questions about these seemingly conflicting goals, Beckham outlined an ambitious agenda: He wants to represent England in the 2010 World Cup and plans to fulfill his obligations to the Galaxy and carry out his role with M.L.S. as an ambassador. And, he said, he wants to fulfill the larger mission of popularizing soccer in this country.

“I want to be involved in the World Cup, I’ve not hidden that fact,” he said. “Whenever I’m called up for a squad with my country, I will turn up. It doesn’t matter. I’ve always done the same throughout my whole career.”

Beckham said that managers in England had made it clear that the only way for him to make the 2010 English national team was to go on loan again for at least six months and to play at a European level.

On the other hand, Beckham said he intended to fulfill his obligations to the Galaxy and M.L.S. — “being part of this team and being successful with this team.”

“I’m committed to this; I’m committed to Bruce,” he said, referring to the Galaxy and its coach and general manager, Bruce Arena. “I’m committed to the players. I’m committed to the M.L.S. as an ambassador. “

He’s also committed to carrying the banner for soccer in the United States. “We want to carry on growing this game,” he said. “It’s the reason that I wanted to be involved in this. For me it’s about creative visualization, and I visualize that this game will take off and get bigger in years to come. And I want to be part of that.”

That’s noble and ambitious, but it also represents a lot on his plate. Someone asked Beckham, who has missed half of the Galaxy’s M.L.S. games the previous two seasons and the first 17 this year, if he might be spreading himself too thin — with commitments to different teams and public-relations appearances. Had he lost sight of the source of his blessings, soccer?

“My career and my whole life has been about soccer,” he said. “Nothing else. Yeah, I have the advertising and the appearances, but not once in my whole 17-year career have I let anything get in the way. So not once have I stepped out of that zone of my first job as a soccer player. Nothing else.”

Grant Wahl, a writer for Sports Illustrated whose book “The Beckham Experiment” was published this week, asked Beckham how he justified being committed to the Galaxy and to M.L.S. when he is a part-time player this year and whether he will be a part-time player next year as well.

“Let me just clear this up first,” Beckham said tersely. “Is this question for the second unofficial book or your magazine?”

Beckham needs reinforcements. Clearly, the infatuation that was so apparent the last two years has faded. What he did previously was wildly cheered, but Thursday night every move he made was booed.

“It’s to be expected,” he said. “It’s sometimes nice to get the boos, it gives you some inspiration.”

There is speculation that Thierry Henry could be headed to M.L.S. after the 2010 season, although Beckham has pointed out in the last two years that soccer’s battle for the American consumer’s heart is a multilayered long haul and not really about bringing in big names and megastars. Progress is like the game itself: built on endurance and subtleties.

“Like I said the first day I arrived, this is not going to happen over one or two years,” Beckham said. “It’s going to happen over 5, 10 years, and if I’m not playing by the time it takes off and really takes off like we hope it will, and like we know it will, then I’ll still be part of it, because I’m committed to it and I’m committed to the cause.”

Beckham is the prophet, not the savior.