Designated Player on a Whlole New Level

The problem with Major League Soccer could well be their lack of vision. They don't see a brilliant marketing opportunity when it is right in front of them. The Designated Player gimmick has been a failure. I mean, no one outside of the hardcore fan realizes that Guillermo Schelotto or Juan Pablo Angel qualify as DPs. And even fewer people understand that the chubby and grouchy looking Cuauhtemoc Blanco that stomps around the pitch is a total fucking legend in Mexico.

And David Beckham! I mean, Beckham...

No, my dear readers, MLS has not gone gimmicky enough in this case. To fix this I suggest allowing anyone in the entire world to qualify as a DP.

Think about Daniel Radcliffe pulling on a Kansas City Wizards uniform! The movie wizard becomes a KC Wizard. Now that is a true Designated Player. Couldn't the Houston Rockets center Yao Ming split his time between the NBA and playing for the Houston Dynamo? What an opportunity to grow the MLS brand in Asia!

The dude from the movie Goal! The Dream Begins could play for Chivas USA. Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarrett could get a run out with the league champs Columbus Crew. Once his prison sentence is over of course.

Endless possiblities.

MLS doesn't need to bring their season schedule in line with the European season or go to a single table with relegation. The need to embrace the complete marketing whore and gimmick overdrive that all the major American sports leagues have come to love.

Take that Euro Snobs!

Only when the league stops trying to take itself serious will the casual fan begin to take it serious.

I know how these things work. I'm a world renowned blogger.

Beckham is Burning

Major League Soccer cannot win this fight with David Beckham. They have every right to demand fair compensation but at a certain point they need to accept an offer and let Beckham remain in Milan.

Beckham is not going to be pleased with having to return to LA Galaxy. Any move back to the United Stated effectively ends his chances of getting in the England squad. You want to see a media savvy, fan friendly and all around terrific professional morph into Terrell Owens? Just wait until Becks has to board a flight to LA.

MLS are going to lose Beckham when his contract expires. Even if he cannot get a contract with a top European club he is going to blow out of LA even if it means taking an offer to play in the Championship. I am kidding of course. On principle alone he has to leave MLS if they force his return.

The Beckham Experiment has failed. He didn't play well. He hasn't ensured long-term viability for the league (MLS had that already before he signed). He hasn't brought traditionally non-soccer fans to the game. But MLS is still expanding into Seattle with plans to add 2-3 more cities in the coming years.

Given the economic climate and the cost of attending a sporting event in America, it could be argued that taking in an MLS game is the best value for your entertainment dollar. I would gladly pay to see Chicago Fire play Kansas City Wizards over watching the Chicago Cubs play anyone.

Were Beckham to leave now it would fly under the radar in America. Baseball spring training is beginning, the NFL draft is around the corner, the NBA season is reaching its climax and NCAA basketball's March Madness is set to begin. No one will pay any attention to this story.

I say let Beckham stay in Milan. Take whatever money AC Milan will offer. Rebuild the Galaxy and come up with an alternative means to promote the league.

Another underwear model is going to be playing for Seattle Sounders - Freddie Ljungberg.

The MLS at least has that. Now just improve the quality on the pitch and do away with this ridiculous playoff system and we can get serious.