Sprain It Like Beckham

(L.A. Times pic by Lori Shepler)

Overheard on the radio last night: An L.A. Galaxy commercial touting its upcoming game -- emphasizing David Beckham, as he and the Galaxy take on Real Salt Lake.

Then there's the big pic still appearing on the Galaxy site:



Sorry to say, it ain't happening now.

Angelenos of the Week: David Beckham and Roger Cardinal Mahony

Kind of an odd pairing... But since we didn't get a chance to do an Angeleno of the Week last week, we're double dipping.

And maybe the pairing isn't so odd. Both had rough yet ultimately victorious weeks.

Cardinal Mahony pulled off a $660 million settlement with victims who were abused by priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The settlement didn't silence critics -- quite the opposite, Yet, the L.A. Times' Opinion piece refered to Mahony this Sunday as "The Teflon Cardinal," noting that Mahony's relationship with the Latino community -- which now makes up a large percentage of L.A. Roman Catholics -- will help him survive this scandal, unlike Boston's Bernard Cardinal Law.

Meanwhile, it wasn't looking good for Beckham this week. An injury threatened to keep up from playing Saturday night in what was to be his L.A. Galaxy debut. But after all that hype, how could he not? So near the end of the game, Beckham leapt on the field and played for 12 minutes. Yup, kick around the ball a few times, make the crowd happy. All pretty staged and inconsequential. Yet, as the L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke writes, the people (including him) ate it up anyway. And so the Beckham hype continues...

David Beckham vs. the Atwater Village Newbie

Bring a camera that actually takes decent photos to the Home Depot Center, and risk getting its film confiscated by overly eager L.A. Galaxy security guards. That's the lesson learned by the Atwater Village Newbie, who hit the Galaxy game (only to see David Beckham sitting in the sidelines) and took part in this exchange with a Galaxy official:

Suit: Getting good shots?

Me: They're OK.

Suit: I'm have to confiscate that camera. You're not allowed to have that kind of camera here.

Me: What kind of camera?

Suit (pointing at the D50 on my Nikon D50): The number means that it's professional.

Guy in front of me with a cheap-ass camera being no help whatsoever: Yeah, it's nothing like my camera.

Me (knowing that D50 is strictly an entry-level consumer digital SLR and calling the suit's bluff): This is a personal camera. I'm on vacation.

Suit: Are you media accredited?

Me: No.

Suit (giving up): Well, keep the camera pointed at the field.

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooal for the Newbie! Check out his set of Galaxy pics here.