Galaxy quest: Make buck off Beckham

Which is more important for the Los Angeles Galaxy these days: To finish with a better record than the expansion San Jose Earthquakes, who have matched Los Angeles stride for stride, or to make a bit more money off David Beckham?

If you guessed the latter, you win.

In its continuing quest to become a global brand, the Galaxy will head Down Under in the offseason, with one match planned against an Oceania XI in Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 6.

Here, though, is the kicker: The Major League Soccer team is charging a $1.39 million appearance fee, according to the New Zealand Herald, which said a second match is being arranged for Beckham and company in Brisbane, Australia.

"We are pretty confident that Becks is still big news," said a spokesman for the Auckland Regional Council, which is footing the bill.

• MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH -- Duke and James Madison were warming up prior to kickoff Saturday at Durham, N.C., when two men unexpectedly parachuted into Wallace Wade Stadium with the game ball.

The men didn't hit any of the players on the field. They just hit the wrong field.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the parachutists were supposed to land at North Carolina's opening game, eight miles away in Raleigh.

North Carolina assistant athletic director Michael Beale said the jumpers from Virginia-based Aerial Adventures canceled the leap into Kenan Stadium because of bad weather.

When the weather cleared, the pilot saw a stadium and the skydivers jumped. It was when they landed that they realized they missed their mark.

The two men scrambled off the field with the game ball, and North Carolina associate athletic director Rick Steinbacher called Duke officials to apologize.

• NOW TO SARAH WITH THE SPORTS -- Those wondering what Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was like as a television sports reporter can check out a 20-year-old video clip on YouTube taken from her days as Sarah Heath at KTUU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska.

In it, she pokes fun at yawning Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, saying, "He's got to learn to relax."

The clip can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWjK1qSZSdc.

• IN THE SWIM -- It's not that Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote is envious or anything, it's just that he sees a certain dissimilarity between himself and Michael Phelps.

"Olympic swimming sensation Phelps has eight gold medals, is dating Australian gold-medal swimmer Stephanie Rice, has signed to write his autobiography, will present at the Video Music Awards and will host the season premiere of 'Saturday Night Live,' " Cote wrote.

"When I was Phelps' age, I bought a new pair of foam dice for the rearview mirror of my '64 Buick Skylark."

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