Notebook 7/17

There's a lot to talk about, so we'll break out The Notebook:



Obama Girl: This must be the new thing on political satire, because this is unintentional humor at its best. But then again, it doesn't hurt to have a very hot model throughout the video. Wonderful humor. There's more of it here: Obama Girl's Homepage



David Beckham: Should you, the American sports fan, care about an English footballer (soccer player) who is known back home as a pretty boy more than as an athlete? Yes. He's the new 21st Century face of sports marketing.

Major League Soccer needs all of the help it can get. Soccer in America is a niche sport, more popular in the youth levels than on the national scene. Millions of dollars have been poured into the league and into the top level of the sport in America - million-dollar stadiums in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles, just to name a few, with more soccer-only stadiums on the way. The level of play has improved, but compared to the European and Asian leagues, MLS is a few steps below.

Bring in Beckham. OK, he's closer to retirement than the peak of his career, but he's recognizable and popular for what he does on and off the field. If you've seen an MLS game on television - and the ratings show that not many people have - the stands are closer to empty, even in the newer stadiums. Beckham will put butts in the seats and bring some more exposure to the league and the sport.

Five years, $250 million - Beckham's contract is loaded with incentives, most of them tied to advertising and other off-field activities than what he does on the field. That should tell you more than anything why he's here in America - to raise the publicity of the league. His jersey: is now one of the biggest sellers in the league. At $80 a pop, there's some money being made.

As for the play on the field, he's currently hurt with an ankle injury he suffered while playing for the English national team in Euro 2008 qualifying. It'll be a few seasons before we truly know if his presence have made the Los Angeles Galaxy a better club, but that may not be the biggest priority. The sounds of cash registers ringing and bigger crowds in the stands are the main priorities.

For your first look at Beckham as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy (maybe), ESPN will show the Galaxy-Chelsea FC friendly on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. If Beckham plays, you'll have a good view of the player - 19 cameras will follow Beckham around from beginning to end. 19?



Championship Gaming: On the heels of poker as television's newest phenom, DirecTV is tapping into another "sit on your butt and play" activity and trying to turn it into the next television sports craze: Championship Gaming.

OK, over the past 10 years, there are kids - teenagers to early 20s - who have traveled the country making money for playing video games. Now in the past few years, there's a circuit of players from all gaming platforms making a career out of mashing buttons on a controller. It is, to a video gamer, a wet dream - get played to play video games.

Now, DirecTV has created a team-based league: six teams (New York, Carolina, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco) draft players in their ability to play Counterstrike, Dead or Alive 4, FIFA 07 and Project Gotham Racing 3; they play other teams against each other in an arena complete with tons of screens for the audience to watch the action as they play. A team wins when they win 21 contests out of five rounds from the games.

The production is slick and fast-paced, complete with coaches behind the players yelling and screaming encouragement. Currently just broadcast on DirecTV's Channel 101, the show is trying to copy what ESPN did for poker.

Except for one thing: IT IS VIDEO GAMES! Do you want to sit down and watch for an hour other people playing video games? Unless you are 12, not really. Then again, would you want to sit down and watch other people play poker?

Poker is a niche activity (not a sport) that has the considerable TV backing of ESPN and the Travel Channel. It also appeals to the male demographic who sits down with their friends to play poker and have a few beers. Watching video games is about the same thing in appeal, just replace poker with video games. The only difference is unless you have DirecTV, you can't watch it. It is on pretty much all day, all night, so you can't miss it - unless you try.

I hate to say it, but if this league gets onto a network that is on all systems (cable and satellite), it could gain a foothold. The next great thing: Video Game TV Leagues.



World Series of Poker: Speaking of poker, the final table of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker was Tuesday, available on PPV if you really need to see it before everyone else.

This year's field was smaller than last year's record crowd, but because of the U.S. Government's crackdown on Internet gambling and poker. Let that just sit there for a minute.

The game on television is getting bigger and there's more money to be made. There are more stories of younger and younger players getting into the game, making tons of money online and in live cash games and winning tournaments that used to be the providence of older men who have made their living at the poker tables before the bright lights.

But for every young gun who is making more money in one year at the poker table than middle-class families will make in a lifetime, there are thousands of players at your local casino/card room who believe they are one lucky break away from being the "next big thing." Just like in pro sports, there are the washouts and the "could have beens." Poker is still new enough to keep riding the high wave of success, but there will be a time when we start to read about the crashes and the low tide stories from the game.

The day will come soon enough. When it does, the game will fall but not fade away. And then we'll know if poker as a TV sport is here to stay. Count me in as one who believes it will.