I am a little embarrassed to tell you that in the span of about 30 hours I’ve become a big David Beckham fan.

Can he save soccer in America? Despite drawing 66,000-plus to Giants Stadium for a 5-4 thrilla of a loss by the L.A. Galaxy to the Red Bulls, no, I don’t think he can. There’s too much precedence of soccer getting its big bump, it’s grand opportunity, only to have it nosedive back to the rear of sports consciousness.

But the game was terrific—“I haven’t been involved in a game like that since I was 9 or 10 years old,” Beckham said—so maybe some of them will come back.

And Beckham, still hobbling at about 70 percent on a left ankle sprain, was fairly fabulous with two of his bending passes being knocked in for goals.

Mostly, though, I’m impressed by Beckham the mega-star, the mega-celebrity. At first, having only read about him and seen his smarmy photo poses, and his celeb wife Posh, or Victoria, or whatever her real name is, and seeing him in those tight suits and in states of undress, and scowling like a model—well, to say I didn’t care for him would be an understatement. I don’t care for people who are famous just for being famous, which is what he is to a degree, and his wife, too.

But having seen two of his press conferences over two days in the New York area, this kid is smart, charming, polite, enjoyable, engaging, and polite (I purposely said that twice; and he said that’s the way he was brought up and that’s how he’ll raise his kids).

This is a gazillionaire who has everything, and who has a schedule that includes a game tonight at the Meadowlands, a flight to England tomorrow, a game for the English national team against Germany at Wembley Stadium Wednesday and a game at Los Angeles Thursday. And yet a highlight of his week was a clinic he gave for kids in Harlem Friday, a clinic designed not so much to teach and coach, but to let a lot of kids run around and kick a ball and have fun, regardless of ability.

I don’t know. I just liked him. I think he’s more than hype. I think he gets it.