Hey! Soccer!

So, for those of you who don't follow Major League Soccer in the US (yes, all 250 million of you who don't), David Beckham, possibly the most famous footballer in the world (and also married to Posh Spice) signed a deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS when his current contract with Real Madrid runs out June 30. Mind you, this is not an over-the-hill player, Beckham is 31 and still has quite a few years left in him and it is quite a coup for US Soccer. However, it does come with some crazy side effects: (1) the MLS has been, since its inception, well aware of spiralling salaries, which is why all players are technically signed through the league and then "assigned" to teams so that most salaries are standardized (and low). Heck, rookies only have guaranteed salaries of $11K/year! However, this year they changed the rules so that each team may sign a player outside the salary structure, meaning ... (2) David Beckham signed a 5 year, $250 million contract! Yes. $250 million. 5 years. He will make more in 5 years than the much ballyhooed/maligned. Alex Rodriguez makes in his giant 10 year $202 million contract. Indeed!
The way I figure, Beckham makes more than the entire rest of the L.A. Galaxy put together ... and then some. Next season, he makes only $24,463,000 more than the team captain of the L.A. Galaxy, Peter Vagenas, does. Now thats crazy. But hey, if you got the money, might as well spend it right. The next time you're at work, though, look at your coworker and think about the morale if you knew he/she was making only 390x what you make. Ha!
That being said, Beckham will be a hoot stateside and who knows who else he might bring along ... Rivaldo? McBride? Zidane? Rooney? Ha!