The Beckham Experiment: How the World's Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America »

In twelve years at Sports Illustrated, senior writer GRANT WAHL has written thirty-one cover stories and more than two hundred articles while covering five World Cups, three Olympics, and twelve NCAA basketball tournaments. Wahl has won four Magazine Story of the Year awards, given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Céline.

The book that rocked the sports world with its explosive revelations of a better feud between David Beckham and American star Landon Donovan-and how they overcame their differences to lead the L.A. Galaxy to the championship final

With unprecedented access to the Galaxy and one-on-one interviews with Beckham, Veteran Sports Illustrated reporter Grant Wahl provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the ego clashes and winless streaks, the rivalries and resentments, the big gambles and great expectations, and the volatile mix of celebrity and Professional sports that was the Beckham experiment.

Introduction The Beckham Experiment 1

1 We [Love] Beckham 7

2 The Beckham Sweet Spot 24

3 The $250 Million Fairy Tale 37

4 American Idle 49

5 "Let Him Be the Captain, You Be the Star" 71

6 Velvet Ropes, Fried Chicken, and Alligator Arms 85

7 New York to London To Los Angeles (In Five Days) 108

8 $18,465 Per Minute 122

9 The 19 Takeover 144

10 Beckham 2.0 162

11 A Ruud Awakening 182

12 Europe Vs. America 196

13 Good Teammate, Bad Captain 214

14 "We're the Owners, and We're Gonna Act Like It" 234

15 The Galaxy Death Rattle 248

16 New Beginnings? 264

17 Commitment Issues 278

Acknowledgments 289

Index 291