Arguably the world’s most notorious couple has finally arrived in America after months of anticipation– or simply media frenzy. I called it as soon as it broke across the wire in Europe that Golden Balls was leaving Real Madrid to play in the states for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. If we thought Jessica/Nick, Tom/Katie, or Brad/Angelina were annoying celebrity couples, you have not seen anything like the magnitude these two carry with the paparazzi. All you are going to see for the next few years is rumors of them getting a divorce, moving out, her wanting to go back to England, blah blah typical paparazzi paper headlines.

It really was a no-brainer that Becks would come to MLS when he was done with Real, especially when he was given the sack from Team England at the end of last summer’s World Cup. Since then he has played true to old form and offered a spot back on the team… all while helping Real win the Spanish League Title. A feat all but impossible next year with David’s departure and Barca’s acquisition of Thierry Henry from Arsenal.

Becks stated in the past he had always thought football, err soccer, would eventually succeed in America just because of our size and devotion to sports. He has a soccer clinic in LA and London, another reason why it was all but predetermined he would be joining the Galaxy. Not too mention the celebrity lifestyles they live would be out of place in any other MLS city, besides NY–but its too fucking cloudy in NY. Posh and Becks need the sun– and the spotlight that LA inherently brings. It is truly the quintessential match.

I had the opportunity on Saturday to meet my newest Uncle’s Mother who lives in England (And can pound Captain Morgan like you would not believe for a mid-90 year old woman…God Bless Her). Anyway, I of course asked for her opinion on the Beckhams migrating across the pond to test the fertile land in America. “As long as he doesn’t do anything to me directly, he can do whatever he wants”, she replied. I wanted something more dynamic so I had to prod her a little. She went on to say that “She’s happy that they’re escaping the swarming paparazzi of England because he’s a good chap whom does a lot of work with kids. I haven’t gone to football in a long time but I watched him on the tele for every England game last year. He’s still very talented.”

So Posh and Becks are here, in the land of opportunity. And opportunity awaits to the tune of about $50 million per year for at least the next five, when David will be a FA in MLS. So for all you celebrity magazine readers (Mom) whom aren’t quite aware of the fame this couple packs, get ready for a constant maelstrom of all-encompassing Beckham content you can fathom.

I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. I can’t even say I’m mad. But when I learned that both Danny and Clutch left Buffalo yesterday in Free Agency in a matter of all but three hours, it hurt more than anything– heartache. Those whom aren’t passionate sports fans couldn’t really understand and would deem it foolish to hurt so over a pair of overpaid sports stars just changing teams, but it is so much more than that.

Since Danny went to arbitration last year, it has been on every single Sabres mind that the two co-captains of the team would be unrestricted free agents at years end, a team aligned to ‘win now’ in what was a glorious season that just fell a bit short of Lord Stanley’s hallowed grounds. I am happy for the two of them to get the payday they did, they’re both class acts who deserved the raise, but I’m upset that it seems the lockout didn’t really accomplish anything and that Sabres management didn’t make more of an attempt to resign one of their captains.

If Darcy had offered Danny a 5-year, $25M extension this season he would have taken it. But instead, we tried to bluff our hand and balk at talks of a huge raise because we were winning– who doesn’t want to play for a winner right? So Golisano and Co. (Which kills me to rag on because they’ve saved this franchise) instead decided to keep our heart of the team in the dark as to their intentions for a contract extension after the season. Both said they love Buffalo and would return for less money, hardly. Even Darcy seemed to know what was coming when he released a statement last week that Buffalo would stick to their commitment not to have any overpriced talent and commit to many mid-range contracts to continue their success. Then went on to add, almost directly to Danny and Chris– “Going for the most money will certainly not guarantee you success.”

So here we are, without our two captains..and arguably two best players. I feel like Jack Nicholson if the Lakers had lost both Shaq and Kobe following their peak a few years back. But instead they just let Shaq go and turned the show over to Kobe. The same way I expected this to go down. It became evident in the playoffs that Briere was the one that would be exiting. His style of play just wasn’t physical enough when it was needed and his asking price was going to be higher than his captain counterpart. Chris on the other hand took the reigns in the postseason and carried the team when they weren’t playing well. When I snuck on the web at work to see Philly had landed Danny for a staggering 8 year/$52M deal it hurt, but I wasn’t surprised and was almost relieved. As much as I love him and am glad he got his money and will be back with Marty, Buffalo just couldn’t afford to overpay like that.

Then the news starts creeping around the web that the fucking Rangers had agreed to terms with Drury. Every message board I was on was filled with confusion and uncertainty until it finally hit the wire and subsequently ESPN, Sportsline, etc. Heartache. I think Chris just realized the direction Buffalo was taking and decided, ‘Why the hell not? It’s a huge raise and I get to spend the next five years of my working life in Manhattan.’ Can you blame him? Sure, maybe he sold out but its our fault we let it get to that point. Then I thought we might pull one out of our ass and sign Ryan Smyth from the Islanders and then Colorado snagged him late. People don’t that aren’t from Western NY don’t like it here. It’s really that simple. Look at what we have seen with the recent Sabre and Bill departures. Then again there are guys like Brian Moorman who resigned with the Bills today.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a difficult place to kick, and most people would say I’m crazy to say I want to stay in Buffalo my entire career,” Moorman said, laughing. “When you get the chance to stick around for a number of more years and possibly finish your career in a place like Buffalo, where the fans are phenomenal and a place were I feel great in the community … I wanted to make sure I could continue to do that.”

And in regards to my earlier comment on the NHL lockout being a waste…the NHL jacked up the salary cap $6M last week to about $50M and look at the teams that made all these signings–the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and Colorado Avalanche. Has anything changed? 20:1 there is another labor dispute quite soon.

This hurts that much more because we were so close, so fucking close. This is the closest Buffalo has been in over 10 years to any sort of athletic domination and championship expectations. We won the division, we won the conference, and we won the President’s trophy. It was a great year and it was a lot of fun having Danny and Clutch along for the ride. But it wasn’t a Stanley Cup. We go from being the #1 team in hockey with the most dedicated fanbase to a borderline playoff team with a fanbase of immediate ill-will and resentment towards our team. I hope more than anything I’m being too pessimistic. Sign Vanek now.