Beckham Clashes With Another Fan

Version 3.0 of David Beckham's American odyssey isn't exactly off to the best start in the world. After being heckled in his first home game at the Home Depot Center, the Englishmen was involved in another incident with a fan Saturday night when the Los Angeles Galaxy played the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Unlike the ugly incident in Los Angles where a visibly agitated Beckham went over the signage barrier to confront a fan from the L.A. Riot Squad, what happened in Kansas City was just plain weird, with the audio clearly picked up by ESPN's microphones.

Apparently Beckham was catching some stick from a fan about his wife and, to his bewilderment, said fan was wearing an England shirt. Beckham went over to the signage dividing the playing surface from the stands and shook the fan's hand.

It was just plain odd, and that oddity was magnified since it all took place in a minor-league baseball stadium.

Beckham ought to expect mixed reactions wherever he plays in America the rest of the way. It might be in his best interest to ignore it. It's hard to imagine that if he hadn't confronted the fans in Los Angeles, then what played out in Kansas City, however mild it actually was, probably wouldn't have happened.

I'm all for heckling, but there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed. MLS ought to look into this, or at least increase security to some extent so these situations don't escalate. All it takes is one nut job. By the same token, somebody from the league office ought to suggest Beckham keep his cool and keep the physical interactions with the paying customers to a minimum. Fining him $1,000 probably isn't sending him that much of a message, either.

Let's hope this is the last of these incidents and we can finally shift everything about Beckham to the playing field, for a change.

Anyway, there's video of the whole incident below, which overshadowed a pretty incredible goal from near the halfway line by Kansas City's Claudio Lopez in the 1-1 draw.