OF BECKS, B-BALL AND BANNER ACHIEVEMENTS

Co-blogger Neil Acharya looks at a few things in the sportscape.

I've heard alot of people talking about David Beckham coming over to play for the L.A. Galaxy.

One point that has been brought up is that the 31-year-old Beckham is past his prime and we are seeing his garbage years and so this is much ado about nothing. While Beckham's best years are behind him and beyond the fact that he is selling the game whether he even cares to score or play hard, there is one thing that I think people are forgetting.

While Major League Soccer is certainly a high calibre of football (Sportsnet's resident expert Gerry Dobson says it is about the level of Division One in England) it's not even close to the Premiership, Italy's Serie A or Germany's Bundesliga.

For argument's sake, let's use Dobson comparison. to first division soccer in England. Put Beckham on the current roster for the team that stands at currently in middle of the pack in England’s First Division, 12th out of 24, Burnley.

Would Beckham probably sell out their remaining games at Turf Moor (their home ground) which is actually just a few thousand seats bigger than BMO Field, the home of Toronto FC? Yes.

Would David Beckham start in midfield and also look downright brilliant playing over fellow midfielders Alan Mahon, James O'Conner, Micah Hyde and John Spicer. There is no reason to think otherwise.

Would he help Burnley close the gap between First Division leaders such as Birmingham City, Derby County and Preston North End? Yes.

The belief that Beckham is washed up in Spain's La Liga, which is miles ahead of the MLS in terms of talent and intensity, is meaningless. Beckham should still be able to electrify, even if he is only a chap with a good right foot and not much else like so many argue.

HOGTOWN & HOOPS

Since I moved to this city, I have become a Raptor fan and have noticed three camps when it comes to basketball in Hogtown. There are those that love hockey and hate basketball, those that love basketball and hate hockey and those who love both.

I count myself in the latter and I think I am part of a silent majority. Sager's much the same way, living in Ottawa.

What bugs the hell out of me is the fact that people want to compare the two, rank one over the other and so on. Why? Get over it. If the city of Toronto wants to be considered a true sports town it has to embrace both teams. Sure hockey has been here for close to 100 years, and it should and will get priority, but there is no reason that this city cannot be united in its support for both the Raptors and Leafs. I wonder in New York, which is obviously a Yankees-first town, if Rangers fans cry in their Zima? probably not. We still have a lot to learn.

Should the Raptors (who are beating Dallas as of this writing) win the Titanic Division, I am certain I will hear a phone call to The Fan 590 asking why the hell a banner hasn’t been raised to the rafters at the ACC. The caller will echo the sentiment of a lot of Raptor fans in saying, "Come on, you have tons of leafs regalia hanging from the rafters, why not recognize us, what! you got something against us?"

Let's be honest, the Leafs have already been forced to "honour" sweaters due to former owner Harold Ballard's idiotic practice giving players' numbers away the minute they left the team (he was the one who was usually the one making sure they "left" the team.)

One great thing that teams like Montreal and Toronto have is the ability to choose to only put up their Stanley Cup banners. It shows a certain respect for your club and the aspirations of your club and the fact that they are franchises who dont have to manufacture tradition. Who cares about division championship banner or even a conference championship? Save for a President's Trophy banner, I don't see any reason for anything else other than a retired jersey and a championship banner?

So MLSE has a great opportunity, it can "retire" Raptors jerseys? One day Chris Bosh's number 4 will be hang among the Salmings and Brodas and we can have a Raptors championship banner, since they're more likely to win it all than the Leafs are.

Here's hoping MLSE will stick to their guns on this, unlike when they did away with the trim encircling the lower bowl that had a panoramic shot of leafs fans from the Gardens in black and white. That should still be up.