Beckham buzz could be short-lived

Text messages from press row ...

BRINGING A past-his-prime David Beckham to the United States to sell soccer to Americans, notes sports editor Gabriel Ochoa of the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion, would be like bringing a past-his-prime Shaquille O’Neal to Mexico to try to sell basketball to Mexicans....

“There’s going to be a lot of press and everybody’s going to be at his first game,” Ochoa says, “but nothing is going to happen beyond that.” ...

If Alex Rodriguez were to land with the Angels or Dodgers, the heat surrounding Beckham would cool considerably -- and instantly....

The Angels, who have not added a player or coach to their Hall of Fame since 1995, hope to announce before season’s end that they’ve formed a committee to review potential candidates to add to a roster of inductees that includes Bobby Grich, Jim Fregosi, Nolan Ryan, Don Baylor, Rod Carew and Jimmie Reese....

Michael Vick never before faced a blitz quite like this....

USC, a consensus No. 1 pick, landed eight players on at least one preseason All-American first team: quarterback John David Booty, offensive tackle Sam Baker, defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, defensive end Lawrence Jackson, safety Taylor Mays and linebackers Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing....

UCLA, generally regarded as a top-20 team and picked to finish second or third in the Pacific 10 Conference, landed two players on preseason All-American first teams: defensive end Bruce Davis and strong safety Chris Horton....

UCLA senior Chris Joseph, a geography major who moved to center in the spring after earning academic All-American first-team recognition as a guard last season, owns a 3.969 grade-point average, highest among UCLA student-athletes who have been enrolled at the university for at least two years....

BTW, regarding Lou Holtz’s suggestion that the Pac-10 should be applauded for adding a conference game rather than a “patsy” when college football schedules were expanded to 12 games, reader Ron Mason writes, “The Pacific 10 Conference did add a patsy for the 12th game: one of their own.” ...

Probably because teams aren’t sure if he’s fully recovered from the ankle injury that kept him on the Lakers sideline all last season, Chris Mihm remains unsigned more than a week after the NBA’s free-agent signing moratorium ended....

Sam Cassell is old and broken down, Shaun Livingston is young and on the mend and free agent Steve Francis is said to value potential playing time over all other factors in his search for a new team, so what better fit than the Clippers? ...

If it’s minutes he wants, it’s minutes he’ll get with the Clippers....

Karch Kiraly, resting his 46-year-old knees, will sit out this weekend’s AVP Tour stop at Marina Green Park, undoubtedly a disappointment to Long Beach volleyball fans, but the three-time Olympic gold medalist plans to be in Manhattan Beach next month for the final Southland tournament of his incomparable career....

New moms Lisa Leslie and Lindsay Davenport may be planning comebacks, but don’t look for soccer mom Mia Hamm to follow in their footsteps....

Twenty-five years ago today, Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres made his major league debut and the Long Beach Poly High grad collected the first of his 3,141 hits, a double against Sid Monge of the Philadelphia Phillies....

Gwynn, who with Cal Ripken Jr. will be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame on July 29, was a 10th-round draft pick of the San Diego Clippers in 1981....

James Blake, scheduled to play Paul Goldstein tonight in the second round of the Countrywide Classic tennis tournament at UCLA, hoped that Grammy-winning high school buddy John Mayer would come out to see him play this week. But with Jessica Simpson’s ex on tour, Blake had to make do Tuesday night with a crowd that included Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis, Serena Williams and U.S. women’s soccer team defender Heather Mitts, a.k.a. ESPN.com’s “Hottest Female Athlete” of 2004....

BTW, tennis observers report that Garnett didn’t look amused when he was shown on the video screen and public-address announcer Ted Sobel intoned, “There’s a team in purple and gold that could use you.”

jerome.crowe@latimes.com

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T.J. Simers is on vacation.