Some See His Career Bending Downward

The soap opera that is David Beckham’s life becomes more bizarre by the day, and seemingly at the expense of his soccer career.

Fresh off the controversy caused this month, when Madame Tussauds, the London wax museum, put on display a Nativity scene featuring Beckham and his pregnant wife, Victoria, as Joseph and Mary, comes a black-tie christening party for their sons, Brooklyn, 5, and Romeo, 2, that cost a reported $900,000.

The British press took great delight in ridiculing last week’s lavish event, which the Daily Mail called “absurdly over the top.” Several newspapers recalled Beckham’s famous comment about Brooklyn: “I definitely want him to be christened, but I don’t know into what religion yet.”

Dubbed Britain’s “alternative royal family,” the Beckhams built a chapel on their “Beckingham Palace” estate north of London just for the ceremony. The black-tie guest list, which included Tom Cruise, Elizabeth Hurley, tennis player Greg Rusedski, and Beckham’s fellow England international Gary Neville, was headlined by pop star Elton John, who was named godfather to the two boys.

Meanwhile, the Real Madrid midfielder finds his star on the wane in Spain, where one newspaper recently described Beckham as “a model who plays a bit of football in his spare time.”

Trivia time: Time magazine included thoroughbred Smarty Jones as one of its 19 “people who mattered” in 2004, but which horse denied the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner the Triple Crown?

Sound waves: “The next deal the Dodgers should consider reneging on,” wrote Newsday’s Jon Heyman, is “J.D. Drew’s contract. Odd that they think Drew is worth $11 million per and Adrian Beltre is worth only $9.5 million.

“The club tried to paint Beltre as disloyal -- funny, given that it fired 28-year Dodger radio veteran Ross Porter. The thing about radio replacement Charley Steiner: He’ll try to make them sound much better than they are.”

Catch this: If the Chicago Bears were not so woeful this season, there might have been a louder outcry over the touchdown catch by Bernard Berrian that was ruled an incomplete pass and cost the Bears a potential victory over the Lions.

“The Bears were mugged Sunday,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti. “Mugged, bamboozled, hosed, Slim Shady-ied, railroaded, ripped off, blindsided, backstabbed, pickpocketed, hoodwinked, gagged, tied -- you know, all the mean things that happen to visitors on a typical afternoon in downtown Detroit.”

Travelin’ man: With his trade to New Orleans, Jim Jackson joined his 11th NBA team in a 13-year career. The others: Dallas, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Golden State, Portland, Atlanta, Cleveland, Miami, Sacramento and Houston.

Trivia answer: Birdstone, who won the Belmont as a 36-1 outsider.

And finally: “The NHL season may be canceled when the league meets Jan. 14,” warned Greg Cote of the Miami Herald. “That means you have only 17 more days to not care about the sport before your utter disinterest becomes moot.”