FUTBOL HERO

Soccer icon David Beckham's membership in the L.A. Galaxy has certainly raised the excitement level about soccer in the United States -- at least around the "Rules of Engagement" set. "Rules" actress Bianca Kajlich, who's married to Galaxy star Landon Donovan, tells us people are a lot more interested in seeing her husband when he visits her at work now that he's teammates with Beckham.

"It's great that we really genuinely enjoy going to the other's workplace and watch each other do what we do. Now it's a little more interesting because there are more people attracted to watching the Galaxy. It's funny how I came back to work after hiatus and suddenly everyone knew more about soccer," says Bianca. And when she goes to meet Landon at the field, things are different, as well. "I don't ever remember security being that big of an issue, and now I drive up and they're like, `Where's your ticket?' I'm like, `I've never had to show my ticket before."'

Bianca's been glad to get back in front of the studio audiences for her CBS sitcom, which has its second season premiere Monday, Sept. 24. Speaking of her on-screen love interest, Oliver Hudson, she admits, "We are quite competitive with each other. We talked the entire summer trying to figure out who's been working out more and who's going to be more buff when we returned. I think I won."

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