After receiving harsh criticism from American fans and even teammates, David Beckham is expressing interest in owning an MLS franchise.

“There’s a deal in place where I can purchase an MLS team or start a franchise. It’s something I am definitely interested in, or I wouldn’t have it in my contract.”

Beckham’s option to buy a Major League Soccer franchise was reported last year, though he would not comment on the details. But now the international star, who will be 36 when his contract expires, is just two seasons away from the end of the five-year, $32.5 million deal he signed to leave Real Madrid and join the upstart American league.

He pulled a bank job on the Galaxy ownership, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t be able to buy that organization or any other he sees fit. Fans have been warming up to him since he’s actually playing matches, but he be should doing that without being forced into it. The Galaxy are paying him millions to win a championship and so far he hasn’t gotten close. If he were to do that, fans in California would warm up to the possibility of him buying a franchise. As of right now, most MLS fans in other cities can’t stand him. The last thing they want him to do is own their team.

I can’t deny that I have a soft spot for anything soccer related. I tend to write a rather large proportion of my articles about the sport, and I’ve been lucky lately because there has actually been relevant news. However, since the beginning of this whole Landon Donovan and David Beckham “controversy” I can’t help but roll my eyes at the whole thing. So hopefully I’ll be able to make this my last article about David Beckham, I think Norman Chad over at Sports Illustrated would agree:

The way I see it, you’ve just pulled off one of the greatest scams in U.S. history. You signed a massive five-year contract, you took a lot of money from a lot of people and, in the end, you were pretty much a marketing mirage.

Essentially, you’re Bernie Madoff with a bicycle kick.

In 2007, you had no goals and two assists and the Galaxy finished with the league’s third-worst record, 9-14-7. In 2008, you had five goals and 10 assists and the Galaxy tied for the league’s worst record, 8-13-9.

Not exactly impressive, plus given the English media’s coverage of this, it’s become some sort of international incident. Anyway, David Beckham, I can’t really blame you for your behavior around here. You were certainly charming, but I don’t see anybody caring about American soccer anymore than I used to. I’d say you failed in that, but I don’t think that’s what all this was about. In any case, happy trails. Enjoy your time in Milan, I know it’s quite posh around there.

Update: Oh, he’s still here for a little bit longer. My bad.

Much has happened during David Beckham’s five-month absence from the L.A. Galaxy. After the painstaking and very public negotiations between the Galaxy and AC Milan, Beckham was able to play for the Italian club, much to the disdain of his American fans and teammates. In an upcoming book entitled “The Beckham Experiment,” Landon Donovan is quoted as calling his teammate a bad captain who is also stingy. Apparently, Beckham is not too pleased.

“It’s unprofessional in my eyes. In every soccer player’s eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate especially in the press and not to your face,” Beckham said.

“But I’m going to turn it on a positive spin because that’s what this needs. But in 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism. It’s important to get this cleared up and I will be speaking to Landon either this evening or over the next couple of days.”

The Galaxy plays Chivas USA on Saturday, with Beckham returning to his first practice with the team on Monday.

And what about playing with Donovan?

“I’m personally very professional when I am on the field. I don’t care what people say about me off the field, once I’m on the field I’m professional and if there is a chance for him to score, I will be giving him the ball. Me and Landon will talk, but that will be a private conversation.”

Jesus, this whole situation with Beckham and the Galaxy has been horrible, hasn’t it? Donovan had every right to criticize his teammate, but sometimes you wonder why these guys choose to go to media instead of confronting one another man-to-man. I can understand why Beckham would be irritated, but at this point he should be getting used to this type of response.

Most people in America, and especially Los Angeles (thanks to bus advertisements everywhere), know that David Beckham plays for the LA Galaxy. The only problem is that he kinda doesn’t. With all his English national team World Cup qualifiers and his loan to AC Milan, his MLS season is about as long as a cocktail weenie.

After the tragic death of Michael Jackson last week, David Beckham’s future in American soccer has been called into question. How could these two seemingly unrelated things be related? Well, SPORTSbyBROOKS has all the answers. Due to spatial constraints, let me give you a quick summation: AEG is a corporation operating concert venues/events worldwide, including all those canceled comeback concerts in England with Michael Jackson. Davd Beckham has been a flop since arriving in America, his potential for igniting interest in soccer in America has fizzled. He is now a financial drain on his team.

And, of course, the owners of the Los Angeles Galaxy that could really use the cash on this year’s balance sheet to offset losses in other parts of the business… AEG.

On top of it all, the best thing that could happen to the popularity of U.S. soccer is happening today in South Africa as the U.S. men’s national team takes on Brazil for the chance to hoist their first international soccer cup in modern history. AEG didn’t need to invest in David Beckham to raise soccer’s profile in America; they needed to invest in U.S. Soccer. (Or better insurance.)

Hell yeah. Despite our loss to Brazil in the final today. I can’t agree more with Brooks’ sentiment that we should look to America for American soccer. While we don’t have nearly the farm system of the global soccer powerhouses like Spain and Brazil, the infrastructure is certainly there, as well as the ability. Remember when American ice hockey was laughable when compared to the USSR? Neither do I, being born in ’82 and all. But I saw the movie. Well hey, where did that go?

Having been a fan of American soccer since the ’96 (update: my bad, 94) World Cup here, I’ve never been able to talk much about it with other people. This past week, once I told them what had happened with Spain, I’ve never felt as much interest and enthusiasm for an upcoming soccer match as this morning. Keep it up America (and the LA Galaxy’s real hero, Landon Donovan) and good luck next month when we play our southern rivals, Mexico.

And as long as we’re on the subject of Michael Jackson and USA soccer, you gotta check out this memorial jersey.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS.com has the story of Colts’ defensive end Dwight Freeney, who had the opportunity to learn a little bit about gold-digging women.

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS ponders what would have happened if the Kentucky Wildcats had defended the in-bounds pass in their crushing Eastern Regional Finals loss to Duke in 1992.

- Deadspin discusses weird Japanese baseball curses.

- TONYBLOGS.NET writes that David Beckham plans to own a MLS team after his career ends. Hopefully this means that High Maintenance Spice will remain in the public eye for a long, long time.

- Calvin Pace (yes, that Calvin Pace) wonders aloud whether or not his linebacker brethren Aaron Curry should be the No. 1 overall pick.

David Bekcham’s three-month stint in Italy playing for Serie A team AC Milan will conclude on March 8. Apparently, he’s had so much fun playing for the club that he wants out of his five-year $32.5 million MLS contract, of which he still has three years remaining.

“At the moment my lawyers are not talking to the Galaxy but I have expressed my desire to stay at AC Milan now and it’s just down to Milan and Galaxy to come to an agreement,” Beckham said. “I have enjoyed my time here. I knew I would enjoy it but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I have and do as well as I have.”

Since arriving, Beckham has scored twice and helped to lift Milan up to second place in the Serie A standings.

He has also been included in Milan’s 25-man roster for UEFA Cup games against Werder Bremen on Feb. 18 and 26.

“I’ve expressed my desire to stay here for a while but at the moment I’m still a Galaxy player,” Beckham said. “I respect the Galaxy and everything they have done for me. They have always been great to me.

“But I hope they can come to an agreement and it’s down to the clubs now. At this point it’s out of my hands. I’ve said what my feelings are to both clubs.”

Honestly, I can’t blame him. I think we all saw this coming from the beginning. It’s kind of like when you’re in elementary school and you play basketball with your friends at recess or lunch. But your friends aren’t very good and you, well, you rock. Then one day some of the older and better players ask you to join them for a game. You have the choice of playing in a much more demanding and exciting competition or you could stay and play “Horse� for the umpteenth time with your friends. So, you compromise and tell your friends that it will just be one game. Of course you have the time of your life, knock down a couple buckets and get a pat on the back from the star sixth-grader. Then you tell your friends you will only play at recess. Then you’re telling them you’ll catch up with them walking home after school.

In this case, while Beckham has done well and made friends in the MLS, the league doesn’t offer the same experience as the EPL. Also, this isn’t about money, as Beckham would probably make less if he continued to play for AC Milan. There’s just a lot less pressure for Beckham when playing in Europe. He already established himself as a world-class player when playing for Manchester United so he doesn’t have to act like the poster child for a league like he does with the MLS. When he came over to the U.S., most Americans simply associated him with that movie and his hot wife. He really is a great player and frankly, he’s better than the MLS.

Think about it – would you rather play with Ronaldhino in beautiful Milan or (insert unknown player name here) in Los Angeles?

At the end of the year, it’s always interesting to look back at all that has happened in the world of sports over the last 12 months. 2008 brought us a host of compelling sports stories, including the culmination of the Patriots’ (unsuccessful) quest for perfection, a Bejing Olympics that featured incredible accomplishments by the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the Redeem Team, and, of course, Brett Favre’s unretirement, which managed to hold the sports news cycle hostage for a solid month or more.

As is our tradition, we’ve once again broken our Year End Sports Review into three sections. The first is “What We Learned,� a list that’s packed with a number of impressive feats. And when there are feats, inevitably there are also failures.

Don’t miss the other two parts: “What We Already Knewâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

The New England Patriots weren’t so perfect after all.

After rolling through the 2007 regular season unscathed, the Patriots entered the 2008 Super Bowl as overwhelming favorites to roll over the pesky, but seemingly inferior New York Giants. The Pats were just one win away from staking their claim as the best football team in NFL history. But thanks to a dominating Giants’ defensive line, an improbable catch by David Tyree, and a virtually mistake-free performance by Eli Manning, the unbeatable New England Patriots were beat. It’ll go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and considering Tom Brady’s season-ending injury in 2008 cost the Pats a chance for redemption, it seems that many have forgotten how New England stood just one win away from perfection. – Anthony Stalter

Michael Phelps is part fish.

Eight gold medals in one Olympiad? No problem. Michael Phelps made the seemingly impossible look (relatively) easy en route to one of the most – if not the most – impressive Olympic performances ever. Phelps had to swim all four strokes, compete in both sprint and endurance races, and deal with the constant media attention and pressure that came along with his quest. Sure, NBC turned up the hype, but what Phelps accomplished is simply incredible. – John Paulsen

Usain Bolt is part cheetah.

First, Usain Bolt made Jamaica proud by setting a new world record (9.69) in the 100-meter sprint. Then, he broke the 12 year-old 200-meter world record with a time of 19.30 seconds. He showboated during the first race but cleaned up his act to win the second race in a professional manner. Some even say that Usain Bolt – not Michael Phelps – was the biggest story to come out of the Bejing Olympics. – JP

The Big 12 has the best quarterbacks in the nation.

The Big 12 housed some of the best quarterbacks in all of college football in 2008. Texas’s Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell were all considered Heisman candidates at least at one point during the season, while McCoy and Bradford are still in the running. Amazingly, Bradford and McCoy aren’t done; both will return in 2008. And although they don’t receive as much attention as the top signal callers in the conference, Kansas’s Todd Reesing and Baylor’s Robert Griffin certainly turned heads this year as well. In fact, the highly versatile Griffin is only a freshman and could make the Bears a very dangerous team for years to come. – AS

Today, AskMen.com released their list of the world’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2008. Over 200,000 voters participated to help determine which men in the public eye most influenced the way they bought, dressed, and thought in the past year. Athletes made up 25 percent of the list, the most of any other category (music, politics, fashion, etc.). Their respective rankings are below:

46. Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees

45. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins

41. Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1 Racing

40. Brett Favre – New York Jets

30. Rafael Nadal – Association of Tennis Professionals

25. David Beckham – Los Angeles Galaxy

21. Usain Bolt – 2008 Olympics gold-medal sprinter

20. LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

18. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

9. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United

3. Michael Phelps – 2008 Olympics gold-medal swimmer

While I’m not sure how much Michael Phelps affected how males bought, dressed, and thought over the past few months, these athletes have certainly garnered interest for what they represent, their sport. Although the criteria might have to be worded differently next time around (at #48, David Simon, creator of The Wire, definitely affected how our culture thinks), I agree that these individuals have helped sports in general more than their peers. For example, Lewis Hamilton broke Formula 1’s color barrier, Rafael Nadal has reinvigorated tennis, and both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps momentarily united the world in celebration with their success in the Olympics.

It’s pretty interesting to see how much sway Kobe and Favre still have while sports such as golf, UFC, and boxing lacked a representative on the list.

It doesn’t matter how well you think you know someone, always keep an eye on your sh*t.

British newspapers are reporting that two people who worked for David Beckham and his wife were arrested after some of the couple’s possessions were spotted on an Internet auction site.

Both the tabloid Sun and the Daily Mirror say in Tuesday’s editions that two housekeepers at the Beckham’s mansion northeast of London were arrested and questioned by police last week.

The newspapers say some of Beckham’s soccer memorabilia had been placed on eBay. Dresses belonging to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham were also reportedly for sale.

No one has been charged. Hertfordshire Police said only that they are investigating a theft. Representatives of the Beckhams declined to comment.

The final count isn’t in yet, but last time I checked the numbers show that Posh Spice’s underwear was getting almost 10-times the Ebay bids than David’s old soccer memorabilia.

SI.com put together a collection of 25 Must-See YouTube sports videos and most of them are fantastic.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

Ali G interviews David Beckham and Posh Spice

Every time I see that “Boom Goes the Dynamite� clip I cringe and I can’t help but feel awful for the young man…but I just can’t look away.

Poor bastard.