The passing of the Olympic torch from Beijing to London took on a decidedly Rent-esque flavor at last night’s closing ceremonies. I was struck by the cultural differences between the Chinese closing ceremony and the English part in it. They were worlds apart.

Beckham’s part was small. He was raised out of an open-topped double decker bus to receive a soccer ball from a sweet little girl and drop kick it into the crowd of Chinese volunteers. Then wave, wave.

I’m glad to know he’s a man of much more substance than that, because his presence seemed more like the requisite hot English athlete which, oh yeah, has a HUGE Asian following — isn’t he cute ladies and gentlemen? I have to admit I get sick of the rock star status.

In other Beckham news, turns out that Victoria and David aren’t too keen on Scientology after all. Whew! See? I told you Mrs. Beckham didn’t raise no dummies. Posh and Katie are reportedly growing apart “mainly because of the Beckhams’s (sic) reluctance to become Scientologists.” I, personally, think that the Beckhams are more likely to be interested in basic, easy-going Christianity, a la Chris Klein. But I could be wrong. I’m just a blogger, not a spiritual therapist.

So here’s the latest Beckham news to peruse while you watch some guy break a sitting record.  (I used to train up and down the Rose Bowl stairs, but this is a new one!)

No surprise here, but Becks has made the starting eleven for the MLS All-Star game.  He placed second in voting to my first love, Landon Donovan.  The two are magic together — add Cuauhtemac Blanco to the offense and it could be a beautiful game.  They will face West Ham United at Toronto’s BMO Field on July 24th.

Paparazzi got a shot of David checking out some gals while driving the other day.  The women look about to burst with excitement.

The Galaxy have noticed a 20% jump in attendance at the HDC this year, and attribute it to Beckham.  Um, duh!

You apparently can wear Beckham’s tattoos, just like the big guy himself.  I guess that would make sense if your children and wife had the same names (you freak!).  If that doesn’t work you might try Angelina Jolie’s.

Henry Rollins has given Beckham a big, metrosexual “Welcome!” to Los Angeles.  He shares what Americans think of soccer and warns Victoria not to fall into the adult sex industry.

The Galaxy plays Chivas USA tonight (8:00 PST, ESPN2).  Landon Donovan should be feeling better from the flu which caused him to miss the first half of last Friday’s loss to New England.  It should be a good game with a great crowd — so catch it if you can.

For the record, I don’t care if the bulge is enhanced or not.  I’ve seen photos of him in his uniform shorts where there has been plenty to notice.  Speaking as a woman though — with a body and face like that I wouldn’t care much about the package.

I promise some more soccer-related news soon. 

Actor Mark Wahlberg is pissed that Becks lives just down the street. Apparently, the paparazzi and fly-overs are interrupting what privacy the actor does have.

Victoria Beckham is planning appear on Oprah in the fall of this year to emphasize her work in fashion.

In basketball news, Beckham got whacked in the nose by Brooklyn’s missed shot. Good thing he doesn’t really need his nose to play. Later the two were seen supporting the Lakers in their bid for the NBA Championship.

Finally, Becks bought Victoria a vineyard, reportedly so she can make her own wine.

And that’s all for your Beckham news off the pitch.

With this complete LA Galaxy package, you will receive:

• An intimate meet-and-greet and photo op with David Beckham
• A David Beckham autographed jersey
• 2 VIP field seats to an LA Galaxy game
• A pregame tour of the stadium
• Access to a luxury box party with open bar and food
• 2 night hotel accommodations
• Round-trip domestic airfare for 2 to Los Angeles
• Ground transportation to and from the game
• Possible meet-and-greets with Landon Donovan and Cobi Jones

Proceeds benefit the Hattie B. Cooper Community Center.

]]> http://beckham.theoffside.com/off-the-pitch/got-10000.html/feed 1 http://beckham.theoffside.com/beckham-bits-and-bytes/bits-and-bytes.html http://beckham.theoffside.com/beckham-bits-and-bytes/bits-and-bytes.html#comments Mon, 19 May 2008 15:01:01 +0000 jen http://beckham.theoffside.com/beckham-bits-and-bytes/bits-and-bytes.html It’s time for your somewhat weekly, non-footy Beckham news.

* Bono has invited Becks to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Some could argue the request is not unlike his role in MLS right now.

* The Beckham kids are taking swimming lessons with Heidi Klum and Seal’s little ones.

* It is well know that Beckham prefers to drive himself around L.A., and quite enjoys it.

* And apparently Becks is not so much a gay man’s fantasy anymore. Who knew?

And there you have it for this week’s installment of Bits and Bytes. See why I usually stick to the news from the pitch?