More Fan Lawsuits!?

Alright, this one really makes me ill! Apparently David Beckham was being kind and handed the jersey off of his back to a child in the crowd at a game. Tugging and fighting resulted and now a potential lawsuit! The parents of these children have hired lawyers for possession of the jersey. Really!?

More frivolous lawsuits by fans. Great. What is wrong with people? This is a really crummy example for the children. Think about it, they are taking legal action over an article of clothing. While I am an admirer of athletes, they are just other humans on our planet and not deities. (Of course they are talented, well-off, and popular but that is beside the point). Certainly there was a more amicable way to deal with this. The children involved are now being taught that you should fight over trivialities in life and then sue when you don’t get your way.

In fact, a photo shows one of the boys struggling with other kids over the jersey with the other boy in the lawsuit standing behind him. What makes it even more disappointing is that the two boys are reportedly close friends.

Alexi Lalas told the media that a judge should teach the children about sharing and cut the jersey in half. Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s PTI pointed out that Beckham and the Galaxy could end the fight now by videotaping Beckham signing two jerseys and shipping them off to the boys. Of course, the caveat to the latter is that it teaches the kids that if they whine loud enough they will get what they want in life. Perhaps the answer is to take it away from both of them and auction it off for charity. On the other hand, this sort of gesture by the Galaxy could have ended the absurdity of this entire episode before it got to this stage. In addition, the MLS is not exactly the most popular sport in the States and this will certainly not help make them look good. Seriously, what is a jersey to them? These poor kids have lost a friendship over something trivial and made another argument for those who don’t like soccer and disappointment for those of us who do.

What do you think should happen?