‘Friends’ bicker over worn Beckham jersey

My 4-year-old nephew, Sammy, started playing soccer earlier this month, so for his birthday, I thought it would be cool to get him a David Beckham shirt.

Beckham’s a mega-celebrity and one of the most recognized athletes all over the world. There’s even a movie with his name in the title — “Bend it like Beckham.” Needless to say, he’s a pretty popular guy and I figured it would be a good gift.

It was real easy, too. I just went to www.mlsnet.com and went shopping. I found a child-sized small on sale and had it sent directly to my sister’s house in Virginia.

It was that simple for me to get a Beckham shirt, so I’m sure if any parent wanted to get his/her kid a jersey, it would be just as easy.

So why doesn’t Eric Kerr just buy his son a David Beckham jersey? He and considerting a potential lawsuit against their former friends over the possession of a jersey worn by Beckham at the Pan-Pacific games in February.

Kerr, his son, and Wilfred Ho and his son attended the games together at Aloha Stadium. The two kids were friends and played on the same soccer team.

Now it seems, they are barely on speaking terms because Ho has the jersey instead of Kerr.

The Associated Press reported that following the Galaxy’s exhibition loss to Japan’s Gamba Osaka in the Pan-Pacific Championship at Aloha Stadium, a shirtless Beckham approached the boys, reached over a sign with his right hand and handed over his white jersey.

Kerr said his son held the sign throughout the game and that’s the reason Beckham came over to see the boys. Kerr claims Beckham pointed to his son and intended to give him, and not Ho, the jersey.

A fight over the jersey ensued. Now, both families have hired attorneys and Kerr is demanding the Hos give the jersey to its rightful owner.

That, to me, is just ridiculous. In watching the video, Beckham clearly gave it to the one kid. It doesn’t matter if Beckham “intended” to give it to the other kid. If he wanted to, he would have. No one knows exactly what was going through his mind except himself. If he meant to give it to Kerr, but couldn’t reach him because he was too far, wouldn’t have he said to give it to him instead of handing it to a kid and walking away?

This story received national attention, but it seems like this would be an easy fix.

If this happened to me and a friend of mine, I would be happy for my friend and his kid.

If I had a son and he was holding up a sign, then passed that sign to his friend for him to hold, and Beckham handed him a jersey, I’d be bummed. It would be an “Aw, shucks” moment and not battle over whose it really is. It would be a, “That’s too bad, but hey that’s kind of cool” moment.

Kerr said it’s been really hard on his son not to have that jersey, but here’s how you fix it. You go online and buy a jersey. That’s it. You say: “I’m sorry, honey, if you really want one, we’ll get you a jersey.” Or you say, “It’s OK. But isn’t it nice that he came over to give your friend his shirt?”

You don’t get into a ridiculous fight and hire lawyers. But since it has come to this, there’s another easy fix, this one falling into LA Galaxy’s hands.

Because it has gotten so out of hand, why not send the Kerrs a jersey. An autographed one at that. The organization sends jerseys to VIPs, family members and, in some cases, the members of the media. They have an unlimited supply of jerseys at their disposal, I’m sure, so why not send them one.

In speaking to the media on this issue, Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas suggested that the jersey be cut in half and give half to each of the boys.

That’s just dumb.

Then, he went on to say that’s it’s a pity that it’s gotten to this point. So, then give the boy a jersey and end the rivalry.

That seems like the easiest solution. In the meantime, while those two battle it out, I’m sure my sister will be taking pictures of Sammy running around in his shirt.

• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.