David (Beckham) and Posh (Spice)! Welcome to Los Angeles

I live in Los Angeles so it will be fun to see David Beckham play live on a regular basis, and it will create a much-needed carnival, or more accurately any, atmosphere around Major League Soccer. But joining the Los Angeles Galaxy at this point in his career feels a little like Kobe Bryant moving to the Scottish Rocks of the British Basketball League. It also reminds me of when Wayne Gretzky left the Edmonton Oilers and joined the Los Angeles Kings, partly because his wife wanted to be in the land of movies. (Tangent Alert: Has the NHL ever recovered from its abandonment of its roots?) I know, I know, endorsement deals (see Pepsi commercial above), re-igniting Victoria Beckham's (Posh Spice) career, and escaping the English paparazzi are, at least partly, the reason for the move to Southern California, but aren't most of the best MLS players trying to get out of one of the weaker leagues in the world?

Here is an alternative, and quite reasonable, view from the Guardian.