Golden balls get the boot and other whining insights on Beckham
Saturday, April 21, 2007
IT'S good to know I'm not alone. You see there's this survey done in Britain and released on March 12 that listed the books Britons found the hardest to finish. One of those that top the list is David Beckham: My Side.
A football and Real Madrid fan, I own the hardcover and quite pricey copy of My Side, which won a British Book Award for the fastest-selling autobiography of all time. Fastest-selling it might be, easiest to finish it definitely is not. I only took about half-a-year to finish the 391-page memoir.
And for those who are still treating the book as decoration, let me just summarise it for you.
Remember that hugely popular "makan bola, tidur bola, minum Coca-Cola" (eat, sleep football, drink Coca-Cola) World Cup 2006 advertisement?
Well, it almost summarises My Side. Almost, except that "makan bola, tidur bola, gila Victoria" (eat, sleep football, crazy about Victoria) would better describe the autobiography.
David Robert Joseph Beckham is a footballer first and foremost well, you'd better believe it before all the fashion, the Spice world, the glitter and a whole host of other gigs. Thus, it is his passion for the beautiful game, performance for his teams and the highs and lows of his career that provide the driving force behind the narrative of the book. So you'll get a whole lot of football in My Side the former England captain goes into great detail about the matches he played in, so much so that at times I felt like I was reading a football fact book laced with corny love lines a la Mills&Boon whenever the missus comes into the picture.
Take the celebration dinner with Real's bigshots, for example. The 32-year-old says: "Mrs Beckham looked unbelievably beautiful. Charmed the room too. Made the blokes she was sitting with think she cared as much about football as they did. Who knows? Maybe, for just that one evening, she did." Oh, puhleeze! (I am sure Beckham's co-writer Tom Watt, an ex-soap actor, relied heavily on his EastEnders experience for these lines).
Despite this, My Side is not just an aimless rant. Beckham, who has been at the heart of some of the biggest stories in British football for more than a decade and has weathered several lifetimes' worth of speculation, rumour, adoration and insults, is using it "to set the record straight".
As My Side moves along from one headline-grabbing incident to another, Beckham gives his take on those instances, states his case and makes his defence.
You may not agree with him, but, hey, he has the right to defend himself. The only trouble is, with endless newspaper column inches devoted to him, there is little that is new in this book. Worse, in some cases, he seems to think that whining amounts to self justification.
For example, he moans that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson tore him off a strip when he missed training to look after his sick child while his wife swanned off to a premiere. Now, how many times have we read about this?
But I guess the part that deserves special mention is the infamous episode with the flying boot when Fergie kicked a football boot at Beckham after a 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on February 15, 2003. Beckham describes in detail what happened in United's dressing room that eventful afternoon, saying:
"The boss took a step or two towards me from the other side of the room. There was a boot on the floor. He swung his leg and kicked it. At me? At the wall? ... I felt a sting just over my left eye, where the boot had hit me ... I went for the gaffer. I don't know if I've lost control like that in my life before. A couple of the lads stood up. I was grabbed by Giggsy first, then by Gary and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Suddenly it was like some mad scene out of a gangster movie, with them holding me back as I tried to get to the gaffer."
Newpaper editors love such controversial scenes. It makes for fantastic and juicy reading. But football fans will be shocked at his betrayal of dressing room secrets. Call me old-fashioned, but I've always subscribed to the principle held by Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta: "What we say within the changing room, I don't even tell my wife or my father."
But Becks also has some endearing stories to tell, especially about his mates. A sucker for friendship tales, I loved the episode with Ryan Giggs, Beckham's next-door neighbour.
It was 1998 and Beckham was public enemy No 1 in England after he was sent off in the World Cup match against Argentina. He was blamed for England's exit and there were many threats against his life.
One night, he thought he heard something in the kitchen. Fearing for his life, he called the police and Giggs. Like any good mate, Giggsy jumped out of bed and was immediately at Becks' defence shirtless, eyes half-closed and with a baseball bat in one hand.
Lucky devil, that Beckham!
Besides being a capable footballer, most people also find Beckham good-looking a friend once dreamily described him as effortlessly handsome. (We all have our preferences).
With several full colour illustrations, the book scores in this area, featuring adorable childhood pictures and a range of Becks' hairdos (among others the mohawk and the US$750 braids) as well as tattoos.
This autobiography won't win any literature awards, but like all champions, you either love him or hate him.
So go finish David Beckham: My Side to decide.The Brunei Times
A football and Real Madrid fan, I own the hardcover and quite pricey copy of My Side, which won a British Book Award for the fastest-selling autobiography of all time. Fastest-selling it might be, easiest to finish it definitely is not. I only took about half-a-year to finish the 391-page memoir.
And for those who are still treating the book as decoration, let me just summarise it for you.
Remember that hugely popular "makan bola, tidur bola, minum Coca-Cola" (eat, sleep football, drink Coca-Cola) World Cup 2006 advertisement?
Well, it almost summarises My Side. Almost, except that "makan bola, tidur bola, gila Victoria" (eat, sleep football, crazy about Victoria) would better describe the autobiography.
David Robert Joseph Beckham is a footballer first and foremost well, you'd better believe it before all the fashion, the Spice world, the glitter and a whole host of other gigs. Thus, it is his passion for the beautiful game, performance for his teams and the highs and lows of his career that provide the driving force behind the narrative of the book. So you'll get a whole lot of football in My Side the former England captain goes into great detail about the matches he played in, so much so that at times I felt like I was reading a football fact book laced with corny love lines a la Mills&Boon whenever the missus comes into the picture.
Take the celebration dinner with Real's bigshots, for example. The 32-year-old says: "Mrs Beckham looked unbelievably beautiful. Charmed the room too. Made the blokes she was sitting with think she cared as much about football as they did. Who knows? Maybe, for just that one evening, she did." Oh, puhleeze! (I am sure Beckham's co-writer Tom Watt, an ex-soap actor, relied heavily on his EastEnders experience for these lines).
Despite this, My Side is not just an aimless rant. Beckham, who has been at the heart of some of the biggest stories in British football for more than a decade and has weathered several lifetimes' worth of speculation, rumour, adoration and insults, is using it "to set the record straight".
As My Side moves along from one headline-grabbing incident to another, Beckham gives his take on those instances, states his case and makes his defence.
You may not agree with him, but, hey, he has the right to defend himself. The only trouble is, with endless newspaper column inches devoted to him, there is little that is new in this book. Worse, in some cases, he seems to think that whining amounts to self justification.
For example, he moans that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson tore him off a strip when he missed training to look after his sick child while his wife swanned off to a premiere. Now, how many times have we read about this?
But I guess the part that deserves special mention is the infamous episode with the flying boot when Fergie kicked a football boot at Beckham after a 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on February 15, 2003. Beckham describes in detail what happened in United's dressing room that eventful afternoon, saying:
"The boss took a step or two towards me from the other side of the room. There was a boot on the floor. He swung his leg and kicked it. At me? At the wall? ... I felt a sting just over my left eye, where the boot had hit me ... I went for the gaffer. I don't know if I've lost control like that in my life before. A couple of the lads stood up. I was grabbed by Giggsy first, then by Gary and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Suddenly it was like some mad scene out of a gangster movie, with them holding me back as I tried to get to the gaffer."
Newpaper editors love such controversial scenes. It makes for fantastic and juicy reading. But football fans will be shocked at his betrayal of dressing room secrets. Call me old-fashioned, but I've always subscribed to the principle held by Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta: "What we say within the changing room, I don't even tell my wife or my father."
But Becks also has some endearing stories to tell, especially about his mates. A sucker for friendship tales, I loved the episode with Ryan Giggs, Beckham's next-door neighbour.
It was 1998 and Beckham was public enemy No 1 in England after he was sent off in the World Cup match against Argentina. He was blamed for England's exit and there were many threats against his life.
One night, he thought he heard something in the kitchen. Fearing for his life, he called the police and Giggs. Like any good mate, Giggsy jumped out of bed and was immediately at Becks' defence shirtless, eyes half-closed and with a baseball bat in one hand.
Lucky devil, that Beckham!
Besides being a capable footballer, most people also find Beckham good-looking a friend once dreamily described him as effortlessly handsome. (We all have our preferences).
With several full colour illustrations, the book scores in this area, featuring adorable childhood pictures and a range of Becks' hairdos (among others the mohawk and the US$750 braids) as well as tattoos.
This autobiography won't win any literature awards, but like all champions, you either love him or hate him.
So go finish David Beckham: My Side to decide.The Brunei Times
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