Remember this day, friends. And not just because it's Orthodox New Year, according to the Gregorian calendar. But also because thanks to Major League Soccer's Toronto F.C. signing U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Michael Bradley and English National Team striker Jermain Defoe, today could be the day that everyone looks back upon and says "What a lovely Orthodox New Year. Oh shit, North American soccer IS for real after all."

Now some might've argued that the Seattle Sounders luring English Premier League and USMNT star Clint Dempsey to the land of perpetual rain and doctor-sex with Ellen Pompeo was the clearest example of MLS inching closer to very serious international respect in the soccer world, but further inspection from behind smart-people glasses reveals that these Toronto signings will likely have a more serious, longer lasting impact.

One of the reasons, quite obviously, is money. Immediately, Toronto now has the two highest salaried players of all time in MLS. And we're not talking some paltry sum. Defoe is set to earn $8.3 million a year. Bradley will earn $7.1. That is a make-you-question-who-your-real-friends-are level of cash, in any sport. To put it another way, Defoe is making more per year than the combined salaries of all eight running backs on the rosters for Denver and New England in the AFC Championship game, and need I remind you, the Pats have Brandon Bolden.

And though salary cap and "Designated Player" restrictions (which Toronto F.C. just used up on Brasilian striker Gilberto) prevent MLS teams from overextending themselves too heinously and committing adorable pyramid schemes just to get name players, what this move does is show that, on occasion, MLS teams can be willing to spend the kind of serious cash to compete with or even better offers from top European teams for serious players. And both Bradley and Defoe certainly are.

Defoe is the fourteenth leading scorer in English Premier League history. He has 55 caps for England's National Team, and he even scored a goal in the 2010 World Cup. Although he's 31 now and, for most of this year, came off the bench for Tottenham, he's still got game; just three days ago, he scored the goal above for Tottenham. Plus, the allegiance-confused rapper Drake called him and allegedly helped convince him to come to Toronto, likely by telling him about T-Dot's bomb-ass Textile Museum.

But for soccer geeks, the real prize is Bradley. Originally (and unfairly) overlooked because his father was the coach of the US National team, he went to Europe early and made his name in Holland, Germany, and, most recently, Italy with Roma, becoming the first American to really prosper with a major Italian club. Though Dempsey gets more of the glory (and goals), Bradley is widely considered the best all-around American player in the world, who at 26, truly is at the height of his abilities. And yet (and YET!) he still opted to came back home. Or to Canada, really, but you get what I mean.

A moment on Canada, though: Toronto F.C. is actually an interesting club. Despite finishing with the third-worst record in MLS last year, they've got crazy supporters (the Red Patch Boys, as they're known, even though that makes them sound like a breakaway group from Peter Pan's gang of kids), and a beautiful soccer-specific stadium, and now the president of its owner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, is Tim Leiweke who (wait for it) was the same guy who brought one David Beckham to the Galaxy in 2007.

So yes, you say, great. But what does it all mean? What is the takeaway I can tell my friends in the bar, who still belittle soccer and my love for Ellen Pompeo?

Well, you could point out that more and more top world players continue to come to America still in their primes; or that average attendance at an MLS game is actually higher than those in the NBA and NHL and rising; or that, according to Forbes, the average MLS team is worth $103 million (up 178% from 2008); or that, by 2020, the league has plans in place for 24 teams, making MLS the largest top-flight pro soccer league in the world.

Or just tell them that a potentially reckless owner may have just overspent on two name athletes to jumpstart a failing team. After all, in American sports, overpaying just may be the surest sign of belonging.

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