DAVID BECKHAM LOVES L.A., BUT NOT IN THE SARDONIC RANDY NEWMAN SENSE

How's that for a bombshell to wake up to -- David Beckham has said adios to Real Madrid to apparently sign with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, confirming months of speculation that he would turn his back on European football.

Co-blogger Neil Acharya called Toronto FC's box office to see about the impact on Canada's new MLS team and was emphatically told by a ticket agent, "We are very busy" as he heard phones going off in rapid succession in the background. So don't downplay this -- it's the MLS equivalent of Wayne Gretzky going to the L.A. Kings in 1988. Beckham's (declining) soccer skills are no way on par with Gretzky's in hockey, but this is more about star power.

(UPDATE: FC says it sold 200 season tickets in the first few hours after the Beckham announcement. The Galaxy and FC aren't in the same division, but it's confirmed that L.A. will make a visit to Toronto this season.)

Unless it's just me being half-asleep, it seems like there's no 2007 MLS schedule available on Toronto FC's website, so there's no telling when Beckham and the Galaxy will visit BMO Field. FC's opening fixture (nice use of the lingo, Sagzy) will be in L.A. on Apr. 7, but it's against Chivas USA. The home opener is three weeks later vs. Kansas City. And as Sportsnet.ca's Ben Knight punned, when Toronto FC takes on FC Dallas, it will "determine just who the FC is the real FC."