What A Strange Win

By: jen | June 8th, 2008

Last night’s game against the Rapids had a little bit of everything in it. I’m not even sure where to begin.

After establishing a 3-0 lead, and after two red card sendoffs at the end of the second half (Gordon, LA, and Erpen, Colorado), the Galaxy lost its defensive pressure and possession allowing the Rapids to score two of their own by the 74th minute. The Galaxy hung on to their one goal lead and the game ended in their favor, 3-2.

But that’s just the scoring summary.

Perhaps the most notable moment came in the 85th minute when a “fan” ran onto the field for some David Beckham lovin’. He ran straight at Beckham and kinda side-swiped him with a high-five. The man then spun around and threw himself onto Beckham in a bear hug, which Becks did not return. Meanwhile, Chris Klein took off toward the man at a sprint and knocked him to the ground. A few seconds later Beckham’s own personal body guard tackled him again and held him down.

His own bodyguard? Um . . . no, that’s not okay. What if this guy had done the same as the rabid fan did to Monica Seles? There HAS to be better security than that. I look forward to hearing how the Galaxy are going to fix this situation.

But back to the game. The guys played well. Ely Allen was a surprise goal scorer. Edson Buddle was giving a clinic on finishing: delayed far post runs behind the defense, winning headers and putting them down onto the goal, and preparing, looking, and striking with pace his goal on the night. Ruud’s only criticism was for Carlos Ruiz who was ineffective on offense, and unwilling or unable to pressure adequately on defense. Check out Nick Green’s summary of the game, as well as Sideline Views’.

Oh, and one other tidbit. The Rapids were wearing borrowed shorts. Turns out the airline lost the bag that had the team shorts in them, so the Galaxy gave them the dark blue shorts that they wore last night.

Some Related Galaxy Posts:

Category: 2008 Season, Player News, Team News

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Diane

Thank goodness for youtube, Box. Because I have the worst memory on earth, for quotes anyway. Little football things I seem to remember forever! Glad you found it.
Box

ok..no need to explain Diane. i've already watched it on youtube just now. cheers!
Box

Chris - the Becks defender! hahaha :D

anyway Diane, what was actually ask by Jimmy about Chris and what was actually Becks' answer? i'm sorry for asking much..but i'm in Asia so no coverage of it. i hope it'll come up on youtube or something. ;)
Diane

If anyone's a basketball fan and turned on the TV for the Jimmy Kimmel pre-game show, Becks gave his own 2 second version of events. He was very cute about Chris. You know it will be on google.

To be serious for one second (horrifying). We have to be careful what we wish for because the only way pitch invasions have been completely prevented is with fencing.

There's always a balance with risk. Even the Beckhams try not to live in a complete bubble. Despite having had actual kidnapping attempts, as well as numerous death threats (are people NUTS or what!?), they use bodyguards to protect them from harm rather than contact, as evidenced by the fact that when they're not with their kids -- or at risk of lateness in the case of the OCD one -- they'll both stop for fans.

Beckham's security would have stayed put until danger was clear, but dear Chris went for more caution. I'm nominating him for defender of the year ;-) !
jen

I think another common assumption is that the "fan" is just going to run across the field, not actually run up and touch a player.

I'm not sure what the security is like now at the HDC, but when I went to the Rose Bowl all the people in their yellow security jackets looked like 18 year old rent-a-cops.

And I'm sure Becks' bodyguard must have a permit to carry, right?
David

I guess I will never know. I'd love to see the kojak moves from the guy in the suit though if anyone finds video. I'm guessing those guys pack heat too.

Right after, my buddy and I were talking about how the fan got all the way to Becks before being taken down. But it wouldn't be that hard. They have a lot of security guards posted along the perimeter. But we watched and there was a moment when the two near us looked away. The wall is only about three or four feet tall - easily hopped. It would take them a minute to get over after you (and it looks like in this case those guys stayed put). So if you were nimble, you could do it. Of course, they would probably ban you from the stadium for life!
JustJack

I'm with Box on the "strange" clarifications. I was biting the ends of my fingers off at the last 15-10 minutes... the nails were long gone. I'm glad we held out. The fan did us a favor by slowing things up in the final minutes... I don't remember it being in the middle... damn that Xanax messin' with my brain.

As for the fan-invasion... I got a laugh and a chuckle from it. If we were losing I'd probably be pissed off. It's the same craptasm that comes with having guys like Becks on your side. Either that or I've been in the Entertainment biz waaay too long...
Box

all of these talk of the "crazy" fan...photos please! please! i wish someone in the stadium has captured/recorded the whole thing and post it on the net!
jen

The guy in the suit who ran from where the fourth official was standing, and got there right after Klein, was his personal body guard. The other guys in uniformed shirts who led him off were stadium security.
Lee

I sit down on the other end of the field but all the
players just stopped until the guy grabbed Beckham
and then Klein decked him. Right after that three or
four people hustled onto the field and escorted the guy
off. It didn't look like any of them roughed him up
except to keep him from raising his hands in a "Rocky"
pose. I had assumed when they mentioned Beckham's
bodyguard they were referring to Klein. But again I
was down at the other end of the field.

What I couldn't get was the crowd cheering him. All
I could do was think this asshole is going to get two
more minutes of extra time put up and Colorado is going
to get the equalizer.
Diane

HILARIOUS! On-the-spot-Laurie had it first (I KNEW I would never have been reading The Sun ;-) ):
http://lagalaxy.theoffside.com...
I must have seen the photo with Guti showing in a Spanish paper -- he's holding his hand up which is why the security guy is screeching to a halt in Laurie's photo.
Diane

Since I couldn't find anything about this fan run, I went to look for a very similar one from Madrid, just about a year ago, that I thought was cute, and it turns out it mentions Galaxy security preparations!! So much for believing anything you read in the Sun:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho...

I hadn't remembered the reference, just the photo. The full picture includes Guti standing behind Becks, and holding back the security guard until the kid gives the gift and gets his hug.
jen

Looks like everyone used the FSN feed (DirectKick and MLSlive). Maybe someone who was there can chime in with an answer.
jen

I'm looking David and I don't see anything yet. But I'll keep looking and post it if I find it.

I just double checked my FSN DVRed coverage and yeah, the camera cuts away. I'm not sure if any other network broadcast the game, or if someone got it field-side. Off to check . . .
David

It seems like every video or picture set of the fan going on the field stops before the bodyguard gets out there. That's the part I really want to see. I think he punched him. If anyone finds video of that, send a link.
Diane

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/c...
Don't anyone faint, but Nick Green just paid Beckham a wee compliment without equivocating ... also a good point in terms of the Galaxy's run of play.
jen

Eliot, because you asked so nicely -- :) -- Here's the link to Jones' article, complete with snarkiness and backhanded compliments. Geez that man disturbs me!

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

Can you provide links to Grahame L. Jones' takes on the games in the L.A. Times too? It would save me a trip to their website.
Box

yeah..i know that "pitch invasion" happens everywhere..but i seldom heard a fan got to hug a player in the middle of the game. usually there's only the strickers running around to get attention, and not hugging or touching any players. if the fan in the incident last night only running around the pitch..i probably wouldn't say anything. anyway..thanks for reminding me. ;)
diane

(Box, "pitch invasions" happen everywhere, infrequently but they don't get shown on broadcasts to discourage copycats.)
diane

Fine, proof that I pay attention to more than the petty details! Diane's what-I-saw-of-the-match mini-summary:

Only caught last 15 minutes, the boys looked better than the reports I read later -- I guess that would have covered my last remark as well :) -- defense at least got to balls even if they didn't do exactly as we would have liked with them, an improvement.

Even with so little life left there were a couple of interesting sparks of potential at the other end as well. Those assume that Ruiz has one more gear when fit...but I don't know him and you guys, apparently along with Gullit, don't seem so sure about that.

Oh, and match-time commenters here are smarter (and MUCH more attractive needless to say) than those on any other blog.
Box

oh yeah..one strange thing - how can a fan get into the field in the MIDDLE of the game!!? thank god Galaxy has already won the game. but what if the fan has distracted Becks and the play and the Gs end up losing? that should not happen again as it just shows how weak the security of this league is and it would effect the league as a whole if it ever happened again!
diane

Glen and Jen, that tmz story (and Nick Green version) is so strange. The announcers' description of the hug attack included Becks helping the kid up after he got tackled while the stories make is sound like he had called in his enforcers (Chris not-included there, and yes he is approaching perfection) to rough the guy up. He's gone out of his way in the past to make sure no one gets hurt in those situations, they get their hug and they're off. OK, that was petty ;-) , left my match comment this morning!
Box

hi everyone! love to see that Chris Klein is so "protective" over David Beckham...:D

about the win..for me, i don't see it as a STRANGE win, but more to a DESERVED win with a bit of DISSAPOINTMENT for failure to keep a clean shit. but it was a CRAZY win and a crazy game coz they sure didn't make our heart stop beating fast until the final whistle!
if you said it's strange because we couldn't keep a clean shit after we lead, well, i have seen a lot of that happened before, especially while Becks was in Madrid. and if you said it's a strange win coz we lost a man..well..that's a very common thing in football! remember Holland vs Portugal in the last WC? that for me is the most weird game in football - with 16 yellow and 4 red cards - that i've ever seen in my whole life!

just my thought on the "strange" word..enjoy the win! cheers! ;)
Glen

here's a story @ TMZ on the guy running out to hug Beckham

http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/08/...
Glen

Jen, I completely agree. Our defense is coming around and improving every game. One of the biggest problems I see is we play well for 60-65 min's and then get a little sloppy and just what we saw in last nights game. Although Colorado really came on strong towards the end of that game and put all kinds of pressure on our "D". Good win, but I'm still not sold on Cronin, but he did save a great shot with his fingertips :P
jen

I think as our defense improves (and by that I mean the young 'uns) it gives Ruud more options on offense. So then he CAN leave MacDonald and Franchino out and bring in Vagenas (or potentially Tudela) as linking midfielders. Otherwise it's really only Beckham who is creating chances in the midfield consistently. As Ely Allen improves his defense-to-offense transition game he also provides more offense in the midfield.
jen

Agreed that Xavier played well. Franklin was a god on defense. Hopefully the Galaxy won't trade him in the off season, as they are wont to do with upcoming talent.

Klein has had my (and Laurie's) eye from early on. Whatever media attention he is receiving now is highly deserved. He works and works and works -- and he and Becks have an extremely effective unspoken understanding on the field.
Tom

Was at game last night. thought Xavier was on form for once and Franklin was sound also. something for everybody in the game. lots of drama. enjoyed it.
Limey

It was strange, Galaxy stopped playing in the last twenty minutes, and/or when Pete wnet off. For me he was the spark in the team last night, sure hope he doesn't get traded he was huge, let Allen Gordon go instead.

BTW, talking of overated who do think is the galaxy's most underarted player this year? Could be Chris Klien but he has quite a bit of media lately. For me it's Sean Franklin He has been outstanding, looks like a he's been at the center of the D for years. Possibly someone we could build a good defense around?