End it like Beckham

I'm never really a big fan of football, but I decided to give a shot on the show of Posh & Beck on E! the other day (yes, i admit watching it simply because beckham is just too hot to resist). That is when i came across something.

It really proves how true of our common perceptual tendencies on favoring negative impressions. It is true that it will only take a bad reputation to drop the whole image.

Beckham's 1998 World Cup experience indeed became a major turning point in his career. In the match against Columbia, Beckham scored a spectacular game-winning free kick. However, he went from a hero to zero in just a split of second when in the next match against Argentina, he was "awarded" a red card ( for kicking Argentina's Diego Simeone just minutes into the second half with the score tied 2-2.



Argentina went on to win on penalty kicks, eliminating England in the second round. Simeone had flattened Beckham from behind and, in response, Beckham flung his leg out and resulted Simeone to fell dramatically hard.This is a low point for him when Beckham was given the first red card of his career, and was sent off from the match.

After the game, Beckham was vilified. The Daily Mirror's headline read "10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy," and the Daily Star's banner read "What an Idiot. Beckham was hung in effigy outside a London pub, and a Baptist church message board read "God Forgives Even David Beckham." He even received death threats and was continually booed the following season each time he touched the ball.

Beckham not being able to withstand the constant criticism later publicly apologized saying that he will always regret his actions and that he felt sorry to all his fans.

All this open my eyes on how true that human tend to exaggeratingly focus on negative sides. I believe this is why bad news will always be the headline of newspapers. Instead of reporting on how happy a 9 year old girl recover from an incurable disease, they will highlight on how disastrous the injuries suffered by the victims in a major car accident. I guess this is what the world is, because bad news sell and that people love reading bad news.

sources: http://sports.jrank.org/pages/351/Beckham-David-1998-World-Cup-Fiasco.html

@posted by, grace