An historic day here in America as the racial barrier decisively falls. I never thought I would see this day. Tune in at noon ET to see the swearing in, and maybe catch a glimpse of that really frickin' cool carbon fiber cello.

Obama's election has everyone in a comparative mood. Good=Obama, or at least that's what Barcelona paper Sport thinks with it's very funny "Obama=Pep" story today. (They're serious, BTW.) Of course, lots of other folks have made connections of this kind, so who can blame 'em?

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Yesterday: One of the best games we've seen in ages.

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Department of Great Quotes That Just Twist The Knife: "It would be suicidal to play for Manchester City."
Oh, and that other guy? He left too. (Though he says it's OK.)
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The man behind World Cup 2002 steps down.

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Remember all the folks who used to complain about MLS games being joined midway through? Yesterday's decision by ESPN to boot MLS from Thursdays and precede MLS games with live matches means that a lot of MLS games will once more start "in progress."

I could be wrong, but I'll bet that plenty of your get frustrated this season when that "live" event delays the start of MLS game coverage. I still recall a couple of really terrific WNBA games that went into double and triple overtime -- yep, great hoops -- that cost me a full half of some MLS telecast.

Second, if ESPN soccer ratings haven't grown enough to maintain a steady night/air-time for MLS doesn't that tell you that the Beckham "buzz" is dead, buried, gone, kaput. Now we'd already noticed that  but now it's there in a clear ESPN decision.

So, if you're MLS, here's what you do: sit down with AC Milan and get whatever you can for Becks. Extend the loan, get a transfer fee, unload that hellaciously big contract, rebuild the Los Angeles Galaxy as a soccer team rather than traveling road show get on with life.

Beckham's arrival got MLS a huge gain, but it's over.

Managing his departure should now be front and center in the league office.