I feel like I beat on Charlie Davies quite a lot. My beatin’ arm is all sore, in fact.
Word to Charlie Davies: Just behave, man!
Heck, when it comes to my writing and domestic soccer piñatas, Davies is right up there with MLS refereeing and Los Angeles Galaxy’s sense of entitlement as the most tiresome targets.
So I want to go on the record: I have absolutely nothing against Charlie Davies personally. I just want the young man to behave!
I need to be on the record because I beat on the D.C. United striker again in this week’s MLS review at SI.com. (It should be posted soon Posted here now) The latest point of Davies-related contention is Saturday’s stunt in Utah. Davies flung himself inside the Real Salt Lake penalty area late in a close match, drawing a highly dubious spot shot and helping his team earn the points. (Video of the incident is here.)
Yes, part of a striker’s job is to draw fouls. But there’s the rub; They have to actually draw a foul, not con the referee. Creating contact is different than pure, cynical simulation, a.k.a., diving.
You can read more about that at the SI.com page. Meanwhile, here’s what I’d like to say to Davies:
I’d summon my best Morgan Freeman-Shawshank Redemption tone and, as Red said in the landmark men’s favorite: “I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are.”
Charlie, man, here’s how things are:
The best among us probably aren’t going to get what you have. You have tremendous life opportunity in front of you.
You are a well-paid, professional athlete, handsomely compensated for playing a boys’ game. You are adored by fans, and you even have a shot at returning to national team grace, which means everything I’ve already mentioned gets amplified by 2X or 3X.
So don’t take it for granted, man! Don’t throw it away by making childish choices, or by dragging your reputation through the mud.
Davies has a history of spotty choices, some of which have been associated with (literally, sadly) catastrophic results. Diving isn’t going to create such dramatic, life altering consequences. But it will ruin your reputation. And in the end, it will hurt your team.
I know MLS referees aren’t held in high regard. But even this bunch doesn’t want to be made to look foolish. If word wasn’t out before about Davies before, it darn sure is now. United has earned a league-high six penalty kicks. But how many more PK calls do you suppose are heading United’s way over the second half of the MLS season?
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