Well, here's probably the first of many English players going abroad. Serial drunkard Jermaine Pennant will be playing for Real Zaragoza in the La Liga. With the current financial climate in the United Kingdom, who can blame him really? By next April, every Tom, Dick and Harry of the rich and famous nature will be [.

The rise of La Liga and its increasing appeal to foreign players can be attributed to more than just Real Madrid spending money like a teenage girl with a trust fund. Everyone agrees that the "Beckham Law", which allows footballers to pay almost half the taxes that normal people do, has been a big draw, especially as the tax rate has risen in the UK.

While all were oohing and aahing over Barcelona's sex on a pitch football and the free-spending ways of Florentino Perez returning to Madrid, the biggest difference maker in Spanish football was lurking under the Spanish limelight. In fact it was lurking so far under the Spanish limelight it was in Britain.

From the office of the Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith comes this:

A plan to establish a "green" jobs development institute, put federal money to work creating tens of thousands of new infrastructure jobs and getting more than 1,000 new cops on the street are just some of the job creation efforts included in this year's budget passed today.