Got It!

By: jen | July 13th, 2009

The Beckham Experiment arrived via FedEx earlier this afternoon. My advance copy arrives one day before the book goes on sale. Oh well, I’m just a lowly blogger chick. *wink*

I’ll be reading through and sharing thoughts as I do. It has been bumped to the top of my reading list but will still take me several days to finish. I’m about 30 pages into it and so far there is nothing too different from what we already know about Beckham’s arrival and first few days here in LA.

One thing of note though — I get the distinct impression that Beckham just lets Simon Fuller do his thing (promotions, appearances, name-branding, all things peripheral to soccer). I don’t know why Beckham doesn’t hold Fuller back more if he truly just wants to be “one of the guys” and the game itself is what’s most important to him. It will be interesting to see how much say Beckham himself has (or chooses to have) in his brand-Beckham management, and how much he just gives carte blanche to Simon Fuller.

To be continued . . .

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Category: Player News

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Diane

Plus, after reading Nick Green's column with the excerpts on Gordo, who could resist...
Diane

Thanks for the reviews! It does look like something I have to read. Whatever I think about individual players, you both know how I feel about everyone else who has a finger in the pie (or their own pie cubbard, see Simon Fuller, yuch).
jen

Laurie's right -- or I agree with her. :) And Diane, you WILL appreciate the book.

I'm halfway through. Will post something soon . . .
Laurie

Diane, I'm only four chapters in, but I think you will appreciate the book. It's not a hatchet job on Beckham by any means -- more a look at the clash of cultures that created the disaster. So far Beckham comes across as decent and largely unaware of what's going on with the celebrity aspect.

Quote:

"For if there was a common theme among Beckham's inner circle and 19 Entertainment in any matter connected to Beckham, it was their insistence on a breathtaking degree of control. They were the gatekeepers of the Beckham Brand, and they had discovered they could make detailed (and occasionally outrageous) demands of any groups -- team executives, sponsors, media outlets -- that wanted a piece of the Beckham magic. If some of those demands compromised the ethics of those organizations, that wasn't 19's problem to worry about. Besides, it was remarkable how often those groups ceded control that they wouldn't ordinarily dream of giving up, kowtowing to the star power of David Beckham -- who was almost always unaware himself of the ultimatums issued in his name. Beckham's advisers kew all too well: At the highest levels of celebrity, handlers were usually fired for exhibiting too little control, not demanding too much."
Diane

Thanks for sharing your book notes, I was hoping to find a designated reader for this one in case the book turns out not to be a cause I want to support!

It's bothered me that after all the f*ck ups by club/league/managers, that the spot light on "what went wrong" came squarely down on the shoulders of these two players once those excerpts were published.

I was hoping the scope of the book broadened that view and it sounds like its at least taking in 19 Entertainment (yuch). Jen, Beckham's always claimed that he can separate "that side" from what goes on in the locker room or on the pitch, but no one else can and he should look at the impact it has around him -- at least here where he's not surrounded by other players whose busy brands and branders are part of the parcel.
Laurie

I'm maybe forty pages into this, and I'm finding it painful. So much hope. I remember that hope.

Sigh.

Rocky, what's even scarier is that I know exactly what you're talking about.
Rocky Cole

The book will be interesting, but as with all these kind of exposes, the truth of what actually happened will be perhaps nearby, but not between the covers. What I am more interested in is what may have been discussed between Beckham and Donovan this week. Even more interesting will be how Beckham fits into the gameplan for Thursday night. I plan to watch for sure. This is better than General Hospital during the Luke and Laura days. (I know, scary that I used that as a reference but what can I say.)
jen

Will do, Laurie!
Laurie

I lied. It's here! We'll have to all compare notes and link to each other's reviews. :-)
jen

Hmmm . . . mine was sent out on July 9th -- a few days later than the July 6th date we were told. 's okay though, because it's a free book about *my* team. I'm already getting some great glimpses into some of the guys' personalities. Alan Gordon is a crack-up! :)

And this just in . . . the "feud" is over:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/...
Laurie

I don't have mine yet either!
nathanhj

Ok, so I should be expecting that I'll have a notice at my door today from FedEx saying "Sorry we missed you". Feh. Maybe I can re-direct them to work.

I think the really interesting thing, aside from what's acoutally in the book and the brand-managment thing Jen brings up, is will Becks stick by his statements that he intends to honor his 5-year contract?

I think most STH's are ready for him to go, not just because the second half of last season he just dogged it out and didn't do much, but also because he eats up so much cap space for so little on-field production. And because the whole circus thing is getting tiresome.

We'll see what his attitude is on Thursday.