Review: "The Beckham Experiment"

Our first proper book review provides an interesting query -- do we summarize and do the American thing by saving you the reading of the book, or do we tell you why you should read it?

In terms of Grant Wahl's "The Beckham Experiment," the answer most certainly should be the latter, though to be fair he may give a little more of the former when he joins my radio show Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EST. Major League Soccer sits on the periphery of the American sports landscape which allowed Wahl a terrific amount of access to the behind the scenes workings of the league, the LA Galaxy and -- somewhat -- David Beckham's camp.

To the league's credit, it didn't shut down Wahl when things were clear the "experiment" was a mess. The author gets almost unrivaled access to the Galaxy, and somehow maintains an unbiased feel while reporting on some actions that are -- at least from a sporting standpoint -- quite despicable.

Here's what it comes down to -- what the MLS has done to ensure competitive balance makes a player's life pretty tough. For example, the bottom five players on the Galaxy's 2007 roster made $12,700 per year. The hotels are barely a C-plus, the schedule is near impossible at times and the league gets in its way a lot. But you get the sense that Beckham could've handled all that if the team won, and the Galaxy squad was mis- and micro-managed in what read like a cruel, slow death.

For a guy who had never lost more than five consecutive matches, Beckham endured much worse with the Galaxy, and didn't react well. He was almost forceably installed as captain, and didn't really provide much leadership, eventually spiralling into a passenger on a garbage soccer team... that was still filling stadia.

Sadly, if you're in this book just for the incindiery Landon Donovan quotes about Beckham, every single controversial one has been leaked, but reading about Donovan himself is a pivotal point of interest in the work, and Alexi Lalas is a terrific personality as well.

The book is absolutely worth reading, if only because it feels like Wahl picked the exact parts of the brain needed to make something intriguing. The inner workings of the entertainment business are splayed about like open-heart surgery, and the guts are a beautiful and ugly wonder.

For a full conversation with Wahl, tune into WGR550 AM in Buffalo at 11:30 a.m. EST this Saturday (July 18). You can listen online here.