so what? soccer people are so sensitive. Bend it like Beckham. I enjoyed it.

after all the experiences with referees in soccer, I believe that some open sanctions should be more public against them rather than players all the time. Referees in charge of games have control of the game, or should have. but, many times, they do not. None calls, bad calls, wrong calls, etc..when things then get out of hand, the blame is put elsewhere. It is common practice to waste time by players in final miunutes of a game they are leading in to kill the clock. Referees should be on top of this by now. I can not understand how a team caoch/manager can control thousands of fans, that is what we have guards on hand for an other stadium personnel. As to David Beck., I think he has a lot on his plate now an may be venting frustration because of all the things going on , including his personal life...it happens...BIG DEAL, clean our own backyard too...get the referees up to speed like they should be.

I don't know if there is a happier man about this punishment than Beckham himself. He will enjoy spending more free time with family and friends "visiting from across the pond." Who needs to cross the mountains and the plains for meaningless game in Chicago? The more appropriate punishment is to force him to travel and play the whole 90 minutes.

Indeed Beckham's boorish behavior on the pitch is abhorrent and he must pay for his "on the field transgressions." However, I do completely agree with Ernest Irelan that the level and ability of some MLS officials is suspect, to wit the other day I wrote about the LAG's gawd-awful loss to the Phillie team, and more specifically about the center official's inability to control the game when it was all too obvious that the Galaxy was getting the raw end of the referee stick, and yet we were told by commentator Coby Jones about a "shoulder-to-should charge" when the replay clearly showed a flagrant foul committed by the opponent against a Galaxy player, and yet no foul nor card. For too long now, there has always a hue and cry raised concerning the ability level of MLS officials, that the league is bringing in some guy from overseas to supervise and better train them, yada-yada. As for the "heavenly bodies" that permeate the MLS and its "disciplinary committee," well, I think I may have some beach front property for them in Arizona, or better yet, a nice bridge in the NY area, and yes Beckham deserves what he got - and it should've been more 'cause it just ain't sporting to kick a ball at an official - who by the way didn't have the cojones to give him a straight red, because after all was said and done, he was struck even though it was through the stupid actions of an extremely agitated and frustrated player. Lastly that Arena and Marsch were fined for publicly criticism of the officials, wow, now that's a reach, especially admonishing Marsch who several years ago flagrantly clobbered Beckham during one of their encounters, while Arena is not one to shy away from commenting, etc., etc. Play on?!?!

I don't like the sportsmanship on Beckham's part and I don't defend the outburst even though it's a symbol of his irritation, which comes from being a fierce competitor on a struggling team with an expiring clock and a player fake-rolling around on the ground. And isn't THAT the bigger problem? Wouldn't it be cool of MLS was the NO-FLOP league and players didn't do all the typical time-wasting crap? And didn't Beckham prove that's exactly what Cronin was doing? Wow, he jumped up fast to whine to ref about the flying ball. Guess his head injury wasn't so serious!

Did anyone else see how quick Cronin healed up after the magic ball hit him?? I think Beckham is onto something here...Tell goal-line technology to wait in the lobby.

Referees have it within their power to add time for delays due to injury, so if a player is hurt (or pretending to be), the referee should just indicate to the players the he has stopped the time so that all the time taken for the injury will be added on. I think the more blatant time wasting is the substitution in stoppage time (what, the player being substituted in the last minute of the game was too tired to make it to the end?), and the long, slow walk to the sidelines. If I were reffing the game, I'd tell the player leaving the field that the clock was stopped, and if he continued slowly, I would add twice as much time on as he took to get off. Referees do need to be more conscious of time-wasting tactics, and let the players (and coaches) know that such tactics will not work. As for the ref not ejecting Beckham, since the ref was attending to the player (with his back turned), I'm sure he didn't see it, and it was likely that the ARs or 4th officials didn't see it clearly either (since he was on the sideline when he kicked the ball) and the attention of most people would be on the players on the field. That is where the disciplinary committee should take charge. I also don't buy the argument that it was just an expression of Beckham's intense competitive nature; there are plenty of intensely competitive people who don't resort to unsporting behavior when they're frustrated, this was an expression of one of Beckham's flaws, his lack of discipline and self-control (he got ejected from a WC game when he was young for the same sort of thing). There in no excuse for a man of his experience and leadership abilities to act like this, unless he's just trying to justify his not being selected for the Olympic team (if that were his motivation, then his patriotism and selfless behavior would be worth emulating....).

I thought the whole game,LAvSJ, was fantastic, much to Beckhams credit.For me Sam Cronin should be fined for faking an injury to waste time in added time. Beckham got agitated because of the fakery and fired a 25 yard volley of supreme accuracy that clipped both the ref and Cronin. Brilliant! Ref came running with yellow card, Cronin jumped to his feet proving that he had been faking, and a minor donnybrook ensued. This is why Becks is worth the money!The only thing missing was the tying goal by LA which would have happened if ref had added time to account for Cronin's fakery. Beckham's detractors can be put in two catefories: the foolish and the jealous. The foolish will eventually like him. But the jealous-Never! Beckham is a leader, winner, athlete, footballing brain, and master showman. Enjoy him while it lasts.

It's interesting to note that Cronin's "time wasting" took about 10 seconds before Beckham kicked the ball at him (and he was actually starting to get up when Beckham did this), and the melee that happened afterwards took additional time off the clock. So if Beckham was trying to gain additional playing time for his team to come back, he failed miserably, since his action wasted much more time than the action he was protesting. I like a lot of what Beckham brings to a game, but his occasional lack of discipline is one aspect of his character that hurts his team.

And since when is Beckham NOT one of those to collapse under any challenge and waste minutes late in the game? The refs add time that is wasted, no other sanction is needed. This issue isn't limited to the MLS, it's in every other league in the world, including amateur and pro leagues. And those that are blaming a different referee's actions (or lack thereof) in a different game for Beckham's actions in this game? Your logic fails the simplest of tests. I was there, sitting close to the field, and Beckham's attitude was bad long before this incident. It started when his team began to give up goals to San Jose after taking a 3-1 lead in the first half, and only got worse as the Quakes piled on goal after unanswered goal until they gave up the game winner in the 61st minute. I think he was also bothered by the fact that San Jose pretty much ignored him during the game, instead choosing to mark Donovan and Keane. This turned out to be the correct strategy, as Beckham had one goal from a free kick, and a few nice crosses which the Quakes defended well. Other than that, he was pretty much ineffective, and Donovan and Keane were the players to watch. Nothing like a star being ignored to set the temper off!