Paul Smith is in Wellington for the arrival of Beckham, the buildup to Saturday night's LA Galaxy clash and the match itself.
KEY POINTS:
Wellington Phoenix captain Ross Aloisi is used to press conferences. Ones with a handful of journalists and a camera or two in them that is.
He isn't used to ones with a row of TV cameras and photographers, plus reporters from every major news organisation in the country.
He admitted it made him a bit nervous, and said he was glad his teammates weren't there to see it as they would have turned to jelly and been unable to play in the two games tomorrow (against Adelaide) and Saturday night (against Beckham's LA Galaxy) - or words to that effect.
Beckham himself has, of course, sat before much bigger media audiences and, though he looked tired, waltzed through some fairly light questioning.
(He also made all the right noises about cultural welcomes and looking forward to the game, though the wriggle room he and coach Ruud Gullit gave themselves on him not completing the game was a little worrying.)
The press conference and photo opportunity against the backdrop of Wellington's spectacular harbour were nicely timed for the TV crews to get everything together for their six o'clock bulletins.
Both TV3 and TV One used the story as their first item, with each having a reporter stationed outside the Copthorne hotel where Beckham and his teammates are staying.
There was a clear winner in the battle of the puns, however. TV3 managed to get "star from another galaxy" and the player's "gravitational pull" into its opening sentences.
It also boasted of being lucky enough to have got the first words with Beckham in New Zealand. And no one can doubt the interview, which went roughly as below, was a ripper:
TV3: Welcome to New Zealand.
Beckham: Thanks.
TV3: How was the flight?
Beckham: Very good flight.
Over at Classic Hits they were having some fun of their own, ringing up dessert restaurant Strawberry Fare to make a mock booking for Beckham to have his dinner there tonight.
Credit to the woman who answered the phone who after a few polite-but-distant answers totally rumbled the presenter as being a wind-up merchant from a radio station.
Ah, how David must have laughed if he was listening in his hotel room.
