Jim Rome Should Learn More About Soccer from His Son

After ingesting more spittle from the lips of sports-talk shock-smacker Jim Rome as I drove home from Colorado on a quick 5-hour run last week (not that stupid 5-hour energy drink he boosts) I came to the inevitable conclusion that Rome, though well informed on everything from The Donald to a two-handed dunk, doesn't know squat on soccer.

After catching his "take" on the David Beckham invasion that is about to happen in America, I nearly threw up in my mouth. The point he made about Beckham not being taken seriously in Europe by the other clubs is accurate and fair (it is true some technical staffs have said his skills are not the caliber they once were) but he is missing the point.

Bringing David Beckham to America will have a bigger impact on soccer here than even the great Brazilian Pele. And that's due to Beckham's brand, an idea in sports that was not seen in the 1970s and 80s when Pele played for the New York Cosmos and hung out at Studio 54.

No, not since Michael Jordan have the Americans been subjected to such a figure-and international brand--in sports. It could be argued that Beckham may have a similar impact to Tiger Woods, but Becks is more media-friendly and will actually sign an autograph, as opposed to Tiger. I'd go so far as to say he'll have a bigger impact than Woods.

By comparison-and though Pele is most certainly the best soccer player ever and Woods the best golfer-Beckham has had a more commercially successful career, having had several books penned, along with the movie "Bend It Like Beckham." I haven't seen a "Whoop it Like Woods" movie or anything close. The great Pele had his time in the limelight, starring as a Trinidadian in the soccer movie, "Victory," also starring Sly Stallone. But even that film didn't generate the kinds of publicity and acclaim as "Beckham." Let's not forget his mammoth advertising deals with adidas and Vodafone and his Real Madrid world tour sold out stadiums from Salt Lake City to Tokyo, just so you know.

Though Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon may have been accurate in saying that Beckham may have lost some of his overall soccer skill-Beckham has fans from here to south of the equator-and even Real team captain and Spain international Raul stuck up for Beckham, calling Calderon's words "not appropriate."

And despite what Rome may think of him, Becks will put more butts in the seats. The Los Angeles Galaxy averaged about as many fans per game in 2007 as CD Chivas USA, the team they share close quarters-or the Home Depot Center-with. Now comes the news that the Galaxy have already sold double the amount of season tickets that they sold last season. Get ready to eat your words, Jim.

Though soccer has been, traditionally, a sport reserved for the middle and upper-classes of America, the reach of the sport is beginning, in no small part to Major League Soccer's rise in popularity, to extend into major urban centers.

Shoe companies like Nike, adidas and Puma are building foundations that are helping keep kids off the streets (even clubs like CD Chivas USA, Red Bull New York and FC Dallas are assisting in this regard) and on the soccer pitch. Some clubs have even got into the act using grants from Nike to build soccer fields and parks that help keep the game in the hands of the kids. The US Soccer Federation predicts that by the year 2016, 60 percent more children could play the game. The next great soccer star in the world may even be playing in one of these urban centers-or perhaps in a club or team already established. The biggest change that you will likely see is that the game's power center in the U.S. will shift from the suburbs to urban centers.

More to the point, Rome needs to talk to his son to ask him why he would want to play the game, instead of trying to talk his own flesh and blood out of playing it. Ironically, both Beckham and Pele are currently and actively involved in a campaign to rid the soccer world of racism, sponsored by Nike and started in part to curb racist chants and taunts at games overseas, which are far too common. Ignorance is all too often a part of misunderstandings and furthermore, hatred.

While Rome is not racist in any way, I do believe he is acting ignorant when it comes to soccer. Though he believes he is speaking for all of America (or at least the majority) the fact remains that he is not. Millions play the game in an organized fashion and millions more play for fun.

It doesn't make sense for Rome to say that Beckham's arrival won't have an impact. Evry kid I've talked to knows who Becks is-and they've seen his movies, read his books and follow his career more closely than I do. What I know is that my son and daughter live in a major urban center and next door to kids from other countries, primarily refugees. And what we see on a daily basis is the acculturation of my kids to the greatest sport in the world. This acculturation hasn't tainted them in any way; in fact it has strengthened them as people and has increased their level of sportsmanship. It's also helped with their foot skills. My two-year old daughter can already dribble a ball with both feet-and all she's done is watched these kids playing out in the street.

And one other thing: My kids watch soccer on TV, just like the Liberian kids who first played it on dirt fields and with a spool of string as opposed to the ball we use. They aren't watching the Dallas Cowboys or the Philadelphia Phillies. They would have no interest in doing so.

Though I watched the Cowboys as a kid and tried to run a go pattern, my kids would rather learn the same moves their Liberian friends learned by watching Manchester United or Inter Milan perfect them on TV.

And they perfect these same moves in the future by repeating and celebrating their past, not running away from it. I didn't run away from the fact that the Cowboys lost some times when Danny White was the quarterback-and these kids shouldn't have to run away from the fact that Beckham is going to generate some interest in soccer.

What may surprise Rome is that these stars, specifically those in MLS, play the game for the love of it. A good number of players were drafted out of college and he'd probably be surprised to know that some are even coming to MLS out of high school. And their skills are the same as those the younger ones perfect, though it is done at a much faster speed.

What Beckham is trying to do in the U.S. is bring not only his brand but also the world brand of soccer, or football as they call it, to foster a love of a game that transcends all races, backgrounds, and colors in an effort to determine a winner. But if you watch carefully, you will see that the winners of the game are the ones participating.

You are watching the game, right Jim?