Belated Beckham on fans’ bad side

David Beckham shouldn't expect a royal welcome back for his return to Major League Soccer this month. In fact, the head of the U.S. Soccer Federation believes Beckham's return to the Los Angeles Galaxy will be met with a shrug or a boo rather than a cheer.

After missing the start of the MLS season while negotiating an extension to his loan at AC Milan, which expired Tuesday, Beckham should not expect a unanimously positive reaction from fans when he returns to MLS on July 16, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said.

"I'm sure there will be some negative reaction from some fans," Gulati said. "That's inevitable, but in the end he's a good player, a soccer icon and I think he'll help his team and the league. But are there going to be some people that are upset? Sure."

Beckham, 34, signed a five-year contract with the Galaxy in January 2007 worth $5.5 million a year. He initially planned to play in Europe only during the MLS offseason after saying he needed to stay in shape to remain in contention for a place on the England national team.

But in March, it was announced that the Galaxy and AC Milan had struck a "timeshare" deal for the former two-time World Player of the Year runner-up. That angered many U.S. fans, prompting the Galaxy to roll back ticket prices and issue refunds to fans who had already bought individual and season tickets.

Los Angeles is averaging 19,128 fans per home game without Beckham, about 7,000 fewer than last year.

• COACH QUITS -- When soccer coaches receive death threats, they normally occur after their team loses. But in Ruben Israel's case, he hadn't even coached his team before his life was being threatened.

The newly hired Uruguayan coach of a Bogota soccer team has quit and left Colombia after receiving death threats. Israel didn't get the chance to coach the Santa Fe club for even a single league game.

Club president Armando Farfan said Israel went home to Uruguay on Monday, a day after receiving two phone calls demanding he not bench defender Francisco Najera. Israel coached Libertad of Paraguay for the 2007-08 season and was hired by Santa Fe a month ago.

Farfan said threats against coaches are not uncommon in Colombian soccer,.

• LUCKY NUMBER -- When the Nationwide Tour resumes next week, the stop will be in Canada for the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. But the competition might not be limited to the course. There might be a battle for a certain locker in the clubhouse.

Justin Hicks won the event last year while using locker No. 99 -- the number Gretzky made famous during his Hall of Fame hockey career.

Using the No. 99 locker might not help, but it sure couldn't hurt.

• ON THE TOILET -- Many New York Knicks fans would say their team has been in the toilet the past few years. So leave it to the Knicks to come up with a toilet seat cover adorned with team logos for fans to dress up their bathrooms.

For $15, fans can buy a Knicks toilet seat cover set on eBay. As one fan acutely observed, "Shouldn't this go inside (the toilet)?"

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL