Becks recently announced his retirement from the soccer world, and at 38, it was certainly time. He began professional football at the age of 17 when he made his debut for Manchester United in 1992 in a League Cup match. He played on 6 Premier League champion teams and helped lead the Red Devils to a Champions League title in 1999. That same year he won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year. He has also won domestic titles at Real Madrid in La Liga, MLS titles for LA Galaxy, and even finished his career raising a cup for France’s PSG in Ligue 1. David Beckman is a decorated mid-fielder who played at the top level of soccer domestically and on the international level for over two decades. These accomplishments are remarkable yet this alone would not make him the most important player during his time, much less ever.

Yet, David Beckham more importantly became a brand off the field. He has become a fashion icon, a Pepsi pusher, and a fragrance in himself!

His marriage to Victoria Adams, aka Posh Spice, was another boom to his career and marketability. The couple has been found on magazine covers since their union in 1999 and has helped the soccer player amass a fortune of nearly $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Why does his off the field activity make him so important? His on field play would have been enough to make him known in soccer circles and soccer homes. Yet, his looks and ability to capitalize on it have made him a household name across the world. People who have never watched a match, or quite possibly a sporting event know who David Beckham is. His impact financially for clubs has been apparent as clubs have paid just for him to wear their uniform in his later years, as evident with his stints at Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. Though serviceable as a mid-fielder, it was well known that his appearances would draw fans and sell merchandise. Sometimes you hear that a person’s contributions are immeasurable, but Beckham’s actually are measurable.

Soccer in the United States has been a holy grail, in the fact that it’s popularity has always seemed to escape the mainstream but the sport has continued to seek it out. There have been soccer legends like Pele who have captured the public’s attention but that soon waned after the initial novelty wore off. Beckham’s introduction to the MLS in 2006 with LA Galaxy is quite possibly the most important act for the sport in America. There had been serviceable players in the league that enjoyed notoriety but never a culture icon. His arrival marked a change on the landscape of the American sports world. Richard Luker, a social scientist, marks that professional soccer is the 2nd most popular sport in America behind only Professional Football in 12-24 yr olds.

Beckham’s impact can also be seen in the MLS with the number of teams, salaries, and attendance all increasing dramatically since his arrival. More shocking is the creation of stadiums in the league from 2 to 13 since 2006. Much like the Yankees existed before Ruth and Yankee Stadium was the “House that Ruth Built”, can the MLS and it’s growth be known as the “League that Beckham Built”?

The overall and lasting impact of David Beckham’s career in America will not be known for years to come but the growth of the MLS and ESPN’s continued involvement in soccer programming point to soccer finally having a foothold in America. He has possibly done what others before could not do…make soccer a prominent sport in the world’s most coveted market.

Next time that you are feeling down about your week, remember that you could have had Titus Young’s week.  What has Titus Young done to deserve this harsh criticism you say?  Well as if getting arrested twice in one day wasn’t enough, Young got arrested for the third time in one week.

You may know Titus Young as the wide receiver for the Detroit Lions who got suspended three times in one season.   Or you may know him as the guy who claimed that he was a better wide receiver than Calvin Johnson.  But if you have a memory like mine, you remember him for the time that he purposely lined up in the wrong spot in a home game against the Green Bay Packers.

Titus Young is just out of control and it really is a shame.  He has a lot of talent and he showed it when he actually decided to play in the NFL.  But Young’s head has gotten in the way and lead him down the wrong path.  I mean, any guy who can manage to get arrested twice in a matter of 15 hours, has something going on in his head that isn’t right.

To give you a loose sequence of events, last week Young was arrested in suspicion of driving under the influence.  When he was let out of jail for that offense, he decided that it was a good idea to try and steal his car out of the police impound lot (he got caught and arrested for that too).  Then on Friday he was arrested for burglary, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.  Now, Young is in jail and has a $75,000 bond.

Many former teammates and other people around the NFL have reached out to Titus Young.  It is the general consensus around the league that Young is a good young man who is going through a rough time in his life.  People just want him to calm down before he not only hurts himself, but possibly hurts someone else.

Young’s dad had this to say about his son:

“I hope they just forgive Titus because this ain’t none of Titus, it wasn’t none of his fault. I look at my son right now, I don’t see my son. That’s not my son. I know my son. Titus is not the boy I really raised, I’m saying the way he act, the way he intermix in society right now.

“He shut down, he look through you, it’s like he’s depressed. He don’t like to watch TV, he don’t like to get involved with music that much. And these are the things that you’ve got to know what’s going on in the world. ‘Cause we in the world, you’ve got to have a relationship with the world. You’ve got to deal with people. I don’t know, but we’ve been trying to get him help.”

If that doesn’t move you after hearing your own father say that, I don’t know what will.  We hope that Young figures this out and gets his life back on track soon.

Reportedly, before the Yankees game against the Royals on Saturday, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera exchanged words in the clubhouse.  Apparently Rivera was having trouble hearing the media’s questions because Chamberlain was speaking to loud to his family.  Rivera said “Joba! Yo! Bro! Shhh. Stop it.”

Joba was having none of that from Rivera.   Chamberlain responded back with “Don’t ever shush me again. Seriously. Don’t ever shush me again. I don’t get to see my family very often. You [speak to the media] every day. I don’t get to see my family every day.”

Joba does have a point, with the job of being a Major League baseball player, you rarely get to see your family throughout the year.  So when they do actually get to see their family it must be a relief.  For Rivera to scold Joba over him enjoying his time with his family, seems way out of line.

In Rivera’s defense he immediately smiled and backtracked on his comments.  Rivera is one of the most respected people in all of baseball so of all the people that Chamberlain could get into it with, Rivera isn’t exactly the ideal candidate.

Both sides said that it wasn’t a big deal afterwards and that they would work it out among themselves. Chamberlin was stunned that the media had even taken it as far as they did.  ”There’s no need to apologize. For what? It’s over with. It’s done. It’s really not an issue in the first place.” Leave it to the New York media to give us enticing stories that can be argued whether its a big deal or not.

The scuffle didn’t effect the Yankees in the game as they beat the Royals to grab sole possession of first place in the AL East.  Rivera notched his 14th save of the season, allowing 1 hit in 1 inning pitched.

Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia do not like each other, to say the least.  Yesterday on the 2nd hole, Garcia claims that Tiger pulled a club out of his bag while he was getting ready to hit his ball.  Thus affecting his shot which landed him in the middle of the trees.

Everyone thought that Garcia had an issue with the crowd for just making noise in the middle of his backswing.  But in an interview Garcia said that Tiger was to blame.

“Well, obviously Tiger was on the left and it was my turn to hit.  He moved all the crowd that he needed to move, I waited for that. You do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit and right as I was in the top of the backswing, he must have pulled a wood and everybody started screaming.

“So that didn’t help very much… I think that I try to respect everyone as much as possible out there. I try to be careful what I do to make sure it doesn’t bother the other players.”

When Johnny Cueto went down with an injury earlier in the season, the Reds were forced to call up prospect Tony Cingrani to fill the void.  Nobody expected Cingrani to be as effective as he is at the Major League level this early.  In fact, Cingrani has been so good that many people are calling for the Reds to send down “veteran” Mike Leake and keep Cingrani in the rotation when Cueto makes his return.

For starters, baseball is sort of like golf in the way that it is very traditional.  People want to keep players happy and it is important to build relationships with each other.  Mike Leake has been in the starting rotation for the Reds essentially ever since he was drafted 4 years ago.  He was briefly sent down once but was called back up just 2 appearances later.  Leake has proven himself to be an asset in the rotation over the last four years.  Meanwhile, Cingrani has only been up at the MLB level for four starts (seven appearances).

That doesn’t exactly mean that Leake holds the upper hand on Cingrani though.  At some point skill and talent have to take over in the decision making.  Cingrani is looked at as a man of the future who could one day take that Ace role.  Meanwhile, Leake is probably never going to get above being a 4th or 5th starter in the rotation.

Lets compare the stats of the two so far this season…

Mike Leake – 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 7 starts

Tony Cingrani – 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 4 starts.  

Mike Leake has made 3 more starts this season than Tony Cingrani so the stats are kind of skewed.  But if you look deeper in the stats you can see that Cingrani has struck out 5 more hitters in 17 less innings than Mike Leake.  Also Cingrani has an opponents batting average of .179 compared to Leake’s .303.

Cingrani’s biggest problem so far is that he hasn’t learned to pitch to contact.  He feels like he needs to strikeout everyone that comes to the plate.  Which is all fine and dandy but it skyrockets your pitch count and forces you to leave the game in the 5th or 6th inning.  On the other hand, Mike Leake is the zen master of pitching to contact.  Leake doesn’t strike out many but he keeps his pitch count down and can go deeper into games on a regular basis.  By doing so, it saves the bullpen from having to strain itself.

Another aspect of this is the economic side of the situation.  As horrible as it sounds, it is very possible that teams put the use of money over the product that they put on the field.  Just look at the 2011 version of Bronson Arroyo.  Arroyo was absolutely terrible all season long and there was no reason for him to be at the Major League level, but he had a huge contract and he had been there for so long that Dusty just kept running him out there every 5 days.  This is the sort of similar to this situation because Leake has a 3 million dollar salary while Tony Cingrani is owed not nearly that much.

A little competition is never a bad thing for athletes, especially when it is going on during the season.  Both Leake and Cingrani are being forced to give it everything they have, every start, because they never know what might land them back in the minor leagues.  As long as it doesn’t cause a rift in the locker room and bring down other teammates, than this is nothing but a positive for the Cincinnati Reds.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this is the patented “issue that you like to have” though.  If Leake is sent down, what does it say to the role players on the team?  But if you send Cingrani back down, it is sending a horrible message to the fan base.

I personally am a big proponent of sending Mike Leake to the minor leagues when Cueto comes back.  This game isn’t about the money you make or the relationships that you build.  This game is about winning.  Nobody remembers the teams that lose in the World Series or the teams that lose in the Super Bowl.  All people remember is the teams and players that have a championship ring.  With Cingrani in the rotation, the Reds have a better chance of making it the the World Series and winning.  If the Reds want to win, they send down Leake.  If the Reds decide that they want to save money and be “nice” they will send down Cingrani.  We have seen debatable calls from the Reds front office before (Josh Hamilton / Edinson Volquez) but lets just hope that they don’t screw it up this time around.

The rain started around 10am on the day as spectators were lining the fence with tarps, following Churchill Downs decision to ban tents in the infield. The weather, mid-50′s and constant rain, didn’t stop the amazing fans from filling the event. The stated attendance was just over 151k, the 9th largest crowd to witness the event. On a day that every dress and suit were covered in plastic and every step was accompanied with a splash, Louisville again showed why it’s one of the greatest sports towns in the world.

Throughout the day the track conditions turned from fast to sloppy before the 11th race. The early betting favorites including Orb began to fall in the eyes of the betting world. As the rain continued to fall the odds on Revolutionary and his mount, Churchill Downs cult hero Calvin Borel, began to come down. By race time the movement had caught the eye of some and Orb ended up the 5-1 favorite with Revolutionary going off at 6-1. As the horses began their pre race parade onto the track, the seemingly non-stop rain gave way to a hint of sunshine.

The race and the crowd were amazing. Secretariat’s record is still well intact with the pace about 3 seconds off, but none the less it had all the drama and atmosphere. It was just the 5th favorite to win in the last 25yrs. Again we are set up for a possible Triple Crown with the best horse winning the first leg.

Here is a video and a few photos of Orb’s victory from my vantage point.

The UnExperts are back and we guarantee only one thing: It’s a bad idea to gamble using our predictions….but we encourage you to convince your friends we are greatest collection of sports prognosticators on the web!

Kentucky Derby 139 is here and the field is full. The weather is expected to be cold and soggy but hopefully our picks can warm your pockets with cash! Also, the Derby tends to gather wealthy celebs who take on the bourbon culture and mint juleps, we will give our best guess at which celeb will pull a Reese Witherspoon by the end of the night! Don’t You Know Who She Is?

UnExpert NickEv
Win: Golden Soul
Place: Orb
Show: Normandy Invasion

@StraitSportsG Instant Analysis:
A Golden Soul victory would certainly increase your bank roll, with a morning line at 50-1 this would be a huge upset. The horse hasn’t placed in his last 2 races and hasn’t won since December. In 5 total starts the Fipke owned thoroughbred is 1-2-0 and has an owner named Fipke! In the Louisiana Derby, he finished 4th behind Ky Derby entrants Revolutionary and MyLute. The horse likes the distance but I’m not sure it will like the quality of competition.

Celeb Most Likely to Witherspoon Amanda Bynes

Follow NickEv on Twitter @StraitPinkie

UnExpert CarlH
Win: OverAnalyze
Place:Verrazano
Show: GoldenCents

@StraitSportsG Instant Analysis:
The name immediately grabs you when you are an UnExpert…we look for hints like names for our insider info and this one is perfect. The Pletcher trained horse has one of my favorite mounts in Rafael Bejarano. The horse has 4 victories in 7 starts including the Arkansas Derby just 3 wks ago. At 15-1, the horse is going to be a favorite of gamblers who want to lay some green down on a horse who can make some money. Look for his odds to move down closer to post.

Celeb Most Likely to Witherspoon Guy Fieri

Follow CarlH on Twitter @CarlH1023

UnExpert Art Eddy
Win: Black Onyx
Place: Itsmyluckyday
Show: Verrazano

@StraitSportsG Instant Analysis: Like all UnExperts, Art looks for hints not stats to make his picks! The mount for this horse is Joe Bravo, nicknamed “Jersey” Joe! Onyx did win in his last time out at Turfway and paid a classy $33. The greatest factor against Black Onyx is his post position. We haven’t had a derby winner out of the 1 since marvelous filly Winning Colors in 1988. Anything can happen, and Black Onyx winning would be a huge surprise.

Celeb Most Likely to Witherspoon 50 Cent

Follow Art on Twitter @DadatworkNJ

UnExpert George
Win: Goldencents
Place: Normandy Invasion
Show: Revolutionary

@StraitSportsG Instant Analysis: Why not? It’s going to be a heavy favorite for locals because of the obvious connection but the horse is a real threat. In the Santa Anita, jockey Kevin Krigger was able to keep Goldencents within striking distance before closing strong and unchallenged in the final stretch. That may have been a preview for their game plan for the Derby

Celeb Most Likely to Witherspoon Mel Gibson

Follow George on Twitter @StraitSportsG

And our UnExpert on the Inside
UnExpertAndy
Win: Verrazano
Place: Revolutionary
Show: Javas War

@StraitSportsG Instant Analysis:Verrazano looks great on paper and has looked great on the track. 4 starts and 4 wins, including a victory at the Wood Memorial. The problem with Verrazano, if there is one, is he goes to the front and stays in the front. Historically in the Derby this doesn’t work. At the final turn I think a lot of people will be cheering his name but can he keep pace or fade to a 7th place finish?

Celeb Most Likely to Witherspoon Kid Rock

The Spurs built an early lead with a 9pt advantage after the first quarter. The Lakers were only able to put up 15 without Bryant. The remainder of the game was basically the Spurs controlling action and inserting Manu Ginobli for instant offense. Manu had 18 pts in 18 minutes on 6/13 from the field. The Lakers were led by it’s 3 premier players with Howard scoring 20 and the international duo of Nash/Gasol each adding 16. The Spurs were led in scoring by Ginobli and Parkers 18 and Duncan’s 17.

The biggest disparity, despite Bryant’s absence, were the benches. The Spurs had 10 total players score and 40 total points from their bench players. While the Lakers only scored 10 pts from 2 players. Bryant may have been absent from the court but he found a way to insert himself in to the conversation. He took to Twitter during the game to give some analysis with things like , “Post, Post, Post” in reference to the the Lakers need to use their All-Star big men , Howard and Gasol, on the offensive side of the ball.

Laker Coach Mike D’Antoni was a guest on the Dan Patrick show this morning and when asked if he cared that Kobe tweeted, he said, “Um, uh, well, you know, it’s a different time…” I take from his response that it is an uncomfortable situation for the team. Kobe may have confirmed the awkwardness by stating on Twitter that he ” would not do that again” and then requested fans to send him movie and book suggestions to pass the time!.

The match ended in a draw after a spectacular goal in the 91st minute by Luis Suarez, but it won’t be the moment remembered by the soccer world. In the 57th minute as the ball was being played into the box towards Suarez, Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic played the ball out, and was congratulated not with a pat on the back but a bite on the shoulder!!

Suarez is the Premierships leading goal scorer with 23 on the season. He is a leading candidate for the PFA player of the year, alongside Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie. The Liverpool scorer is no stranger to controversy as he was suspended for 8 games from hurling racist slurs at Patrice Evra in the ’11-’12 campaign. Amazingly its also not the first time he has bitten someone in major soccer. In 2010, while playing in the top Dutch League for Ajax, bit a player and faced a 7 game suspension. Is it possible the player of the year in the world’s most popular league will miss the remainder of the season due to suspension? Is it possible he will can even win player of the year? Suarez’s ability to score goals has never be in question, but his instability can destroy his team and even his legacy. The Uruguayan truly needs to evaluate his actions and his desire to remain as the worlds top players.

Matthews has become a superstar with his caveman looks and his sack success. In his first 4 yrs in the league, he has accumulated 42.5 sacks. Fox Sports is reporting he signed a deal worth over $65 million, including $31 million guaranteed over 5 yrs. At 26, and barring injury, he should remain at the top of his game for the life of contract. Matthews only played 12 games last year but was able to get to the QB for 13 sacks. The 4 time Pro Bowler took to Twitter today with a pic of himself signing his extension.

The Packers are now looking to lock up their offensive cornerstone by signing QB Aaron Rodgers to a mega deal. It is expected he will become the leagues highest paid player.

Follow @StraitSportsG