Has Soccer Finally Made it in America?

I'm an unabashed soccer fan (I'm not calling it "futbol"... just deal with it). Having a lot of friends who play the sport and being a huge sports fan myself made this an inevitability. To the average American, soccer lacks the intensity, high scoring, and familiarity of football, baseball, or even basketball. Honestly, the MLS simply does not do soccer justice. But watch an EPL game, maybe Manchester United vs. Arsenal, and there's no way you won't be able to appreciate the skill and the passion involved in the match. For years people have been trying to truly "bring" soccer to America. They brought over Pele in the 70s, America hosted the World Cup in 1994, and the men's national team made an unprecedented run in the 2002 World Cup... none of which truly did anything to bring soccer into the American sports forefront.
In probably the most drastic move yet, last year the LA Galaxy brought David Beckham over to the MLS. Beckham wasn't one of the over-the-hill European players that populated MLS rosters. He was (and possibly still is) arguably the world's most famous soccer player. He was an icon the world over. Many questioned his move to MLS. Beckham was making millions playing for Real Madrid, one of the best soccer clubs in the world. And Beckham was by no means finished as a player. He still had at least a few years left playing at the highest level. So he suddenly decides to leave the soccer hot-bed that is Europe to magically make the game popular in a nation that has thus far resisted any and all of soccer's embraces? Color me skeptical.
Beckham had an ominous start in the MLS, missing the majority of the season with an injury (and thus further embedding in the minds of many Americans the misguided notion that soccer players are pussies that can't play hurt - meaning they lack what American sports fans love the most in their sports superstars... heart). Any person you talked to about soccer would say something like "well Beckham sure was a bust" or "damn soccer player can't even stay healthy." But, in effect, Beckham may have done more by being hurt than he could've by staying healthy and playing on the Galaxy. Americans were now doing something they had never done before.... they were actually talking about soccer. They could name an actual living, breathing MLS soccer player! This was unprecedented. It brings to mind the old adage: any publicity is good publicity. Whether Beckham was a bust or not is irrelevant (for the record, as far as his actual effect on the field goes, I don't think you can fairly grade him due to his pretty much missing all of last season). People were now genuinely interested in soccer. Though probably not in the way he anticipated, Beckham had gotten Americans to kinda, sorta pay attention to soccer every now and then.
But the question lingered: were they paying attention to the actual sport or were people simply intrigued by Beckham's celebrity? Well ESPN decided to find out for sure, and I don't think you can give them enough credit for finally doing what they did. The Euro Cup is played every 4 years, and after the World Cup is soccer's second biggest tournament. After the World Cup and the Olympics, it's the biggest sporting competition in the world. It's literally huge. But if you wanted to watch it in America you were pretty much out of luck... until this year. ESPN not only aired games and re-runs of the games on its channels, but they gave the tournament lots of advertising and coverage on Sportscenter. These facts were important. For Americans to truly embrace soccer, America's sports network would have to embrace it first, and ESPN did just so, for which I commend them. The Euro Cup was everywhere. Every sports fan I know was talking about it or at least had seen a little bit of it. The final was even aired on ABC! And though I missed the second half of the final game, the fact that I could watch the first half in an airport bar is impressive enough. Now, soccer definitely helped itself by having an amazingly entertaining tournament with under dogs winning, super powers falling, last minute goals, and a free-flowing game that the casual sports fan could relate to. But you have to ask yourself, do the Euros even get broadcast here if not for Beckham and his porcelain knee? Hard to say. I mean, Beckham and England didn't even play in the tournament. All we can do is really speculate. I have to think, though, that without life going all Tonya Harding on David's leg the Euros would've passed by without the vast majority of America even batting an eye. So congratulations David Beckham. You have managed to get Americans, those with the 3 second attention spans and lives that are already saturated with sports, to actually pay attention to soccer. Just like you said you would. Will this interest grow? Time will tell. But for now, bravo David. Take a bow. On second thought, maybe just take a seat.... you never know when we'll need your other knee. Hell, we gotta spark interest in national healthcare somehow, right?