Zac Parsons

90 minutes was not enough time to decide the semifinal match between the L.A. Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo last night.  My childhood friend Alan Gordon came on as a substitute late in the game.  During the overtime period, Alan drew a penalty kick that would ultimately be taken by team captain Landon Donovan.

Here is a video of Landon Donovan’s goal from across the stadium with the shooter’s point of view in frame:

Here is another angle on that same goal, with the goalkeeper’ point of view:

From a physical perspective, it’s not really an impressive goal at all.  Most 12 year old soccer players could put the ball where he put it.  If the goalkeeper were to dive to his right, he surely would have blocked the shot with some part of his body.  But he didn’t dive to his right.  He was fooled.  Donovan has become one of the best penalty kick takers in the country.  What’s more impressive is that he has done this with one of the least powerful shots in professional soccer.  A little glance of the eye, twist of the hip, and a fountain of confidence gives Donovan the mental edge in nearly every duel from the penalty kick marker.

Speaking of mental edges, David Beckham is now one win away from making good on his promise to lead the Galaxy to an MLS cup championship.  As you may remember, Beckham was banged up when he first signed his MLS contract in 2007.  Most of his appearances that season were with him battling some sort of injury or another.  Now, he’s 100% and his fingerprints are all over the team.  Even if the Galaxy do not win, it makes you wonder if Grant Wahl want’s to add an addendum to his June 2009 book “The Beckham Experiment”.  With this excerpt entitled “How Beckham blew it“, it’s obvious that he considered the experiment to be a failure.

But Beckham paid no attention to charges level at him in the book.  At least, he did not allow them to disrupt his objectives this season.  His focus was consistent even in the face of loud fan objections, as I wrote about earlier this year.  The guy is nothing if he is not resilient.  Maybe more people will start believing that Beckham’s success has come more from his mental discipline than from his pretty face.  We’ll find out after the final on November 22, 2009.

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I love David Beckham.  In the midst of somewhat inferior talent, his feel for the game is some times thrilling, and at other times, sublime.  This goal has both.  You can’t put a ball in a much better place than that.  Oh so pretty.

It reminded me a bit of this goal by Eric Cantona from a few years back.  I’m a soccer aficionado.

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From the Fox Soccer Channel:

And from a fan:

Maybe people are quick to forgive and forget if one can perform and offer them something of value.  Seems like Becks is back in the good graces of the Home Depot Center faithful.  Are the fans fickle?  Or did they just need some time to sort out their feelings?

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After a mostly warm reception at an away game in New York earlier this week, there was a noticeably more hostile reception waiting for David Beckham at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on Sunday.  Signs saying: “Go Home Fraud”, “Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You”, and my personal favorite “Is evil something u are, or something u do.”  No question mark required on this one, I guess.  It is an interesting question though.

I say that the reception was noticeable, because…. Beckham noticed it.  Check out this video taken right after the blow of the halftime whistle while the players were headed to the locker room.

The fan interviews at the end were classic.  It’s quite easy to see who the Beckham supporter was and who the Beckham haters were.  It’s a nice lesson on perception and bias.  I would want to ask the fan with the drum why it was Beckham’s responsibility to be “professional” towards a drunken fan, as if the fan has more rights than the player.  As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a lot that Beckham did to be disrespectful from his body language, if he did, in fact, offer his hand to the fan.

Why so much hostility towards this guy anyway?  There are at least 10 people who are reading this article right now who don’t give 2 cents about soccer, but will check out something about David Beckham.  And do you know what they are thinking?  Soccer fans are idiots.  And they might be right.

Well, it’s time to show my bias now, if you haven’t already guessed it.  I’m a Beckham fan, so I’m more likely to give him a pass on questionable behavior than a non-fan would.  We do the same thing with our friends and family.  The introductory chapter to Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink” has a fascinating report of why marriages work or fail.  It’s all from John Gottman’s research about positive sentiment override and negative sentiment override in marriages.  Basically, if someone does something “bad”, do you say that was a good person who just did a bad thing (positive sentiment override), or was that a bad person acting like themselves (negative sentiment override)?

In reference to Beckham’s critic who forgot the question mark, I would say he is operating under negative sentiment override.  We are all biased, and it is wise to acknowledge this and discover how to live and love with that in mind.

One last piece of my own bias.  With the score 1-0 A.C. Milan, and a free kick in a dangerous spot, a fan with a nice HD camera decided to roll film.  He caught the deflected shot and ensuing counterattack, led by Beckham.  He plays the ball to Donovan, who plays it back across to Alan Gordon, who… hey just watch it ok?

My bias?  Alan and I played high school soccer together at Highland High in Gilbert, AZ.  He was one of my brother’s good friends and he’s the best player I have ever played with.  If I were trying to be objective, I would say that it wasn’t a great goal.  But because it was Al, it was an AMAZING goal!  Hugs and kisses from me, Alan!

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