The last two classes were held online via blackboard, with the topics of discussion including Wayne Gretzky and David Beckham leaving their home countries to play sports in the United States. I found it very interesting to learn how much of a gut-wrenching and heart-breaking event the Gretzky trade was in 1988. As one of the few canadian teams in the NHL, Edmonton had become head over heals for Canada Native and superstar Wayne Gretzky. In fact, the whole country flourished with his success on the ice and felt a sense of pride that "one of their own" played at such an exponential level from his competitors. After breaking numerous NHL Records and winning 4 Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, Canadians were heart broken to learn that Gretzky was to be traded to an American NHL team, the Los Angeles Kings. This trade could be in comparison with the more current Lebron James migration to Miami, however, Gretzky was seen as more of a victim and praised for his accomplishments.
At the time of the trade, David Beckham was one of the most household soccer names in the world. He was a very good looking and physically appealing male athlete with a celebrity spouse (former spice girl {popular American vocal group in 90's}). These attributes made him a very popular star to recognize by name and face, even in the United States where soccer was not flourishing. Therefore, I believe the MLS picked up David Beckham in order to try and increase interest in the sport. At first, there was a lot of media hype and brief coverage of LA Galaxy news. However, the hype wore off quickly, due to Beckham being injured and not able to play when he came to LA. In my opinion, this put a huge damper on what could have been a deciding factor in the MLS success. If more companies would have endorsed Beckham in advertisements, maybe interest would have sparked more even when he was not playing. However, I don't remember Beckham being in many big name commercials for a long period of time. I think the idea was great, however, it did not play out due to the lack of interest and bad timing of injury. Beckham was past his peak in his soccer achievements. It would have been better for him to just finish his career over in Europe where he was a cultural icon and beloved by many.
I think Lebron's migration was a decision based totally on his own while Gretzky was not forced but sort of guided out. Lebron wanted to leave Cleveland to go and try to win a championship while Wayne was heartbroken and couldn't even address the media and tell them of the move because he was in tears.
ReplyDeleteDo you agree with the owners move to get rid of Gretzky for the money? Personally I think Gretzky would be more valuable than the money when thinking about the negative impact it would have on your organization and its profits and the damage it did to the town of Edmonton and all of Canada.
During the video "Kings Ransom" Gretzky was asked about not winning a cup with L.A. and that he thought he could have won at least 4 more with Edmonton. As a player knowing that you could possibly add 4 more cups to your resume and add to your unbelievable career, wouldn't you say no to your trade and say this is my home and my team and I'm not going anywhere?
Kelsey –
ReplyDeleteI agree that it must have been heartbreaking for Canadians to lose Gretzky. Canada’s loss was certainly the United State’s gain as he is an amazing player to watch in action. As you note Beckham demonstrated impressive soccer skills on the field, and he also provided great material for the media because of his impressive physical appearance. I totally agree that the MLS had multiple motives when the y pursued David Beckham. He brought exponential attention to the sport of soccer as he made his move to the LA Galaxies. It was unfortunate that he was unable to be fully present on the field due to injury. While it may have been better for personal reasons to complete his soccer career in Europe, I personally enjoyed the chance to see him in the United States.
I agree with you Kelsey when you said in class that you think the injuries Beckham faced probably hurt the launching of his career. It would have been a much more interesting story to follow if he could have excelled when he first started to play for the Galaxy. However, as several people pointed out in class, even if he had been healthy, he may never have had as great an impact as Gretzky did when he came to the U.S.
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