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The Blue Links: February 15th

Dom and Sydney had a covert wedding, SKC returns to Arizona, and an important step has been taken in the CBA negotiations.

By Cody Bradley
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Dom and Sydney tied the knot back in January and chose Valentine's Day to share the news with fans.

Technically the news was released via an article on People.com referring to them as the "Soccer Power Couple". Say what you will about Dom and his antics but he's been getting soccer into American pop culture.

The couple just got a house in KC and Sydney has a pretty nice to rock to show off.

❤️

A photo posted by Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) on

Andy Gruenebaum asked everyone about their Valentine's Day plans. Peter Vermes has skills..

Brian McBride, Bob Bradley, and Kristine Lilly have all been inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame.

Brazilian media is reporting that Gilberto is be sent on loan to Vasco de Gama through 2015.

The team is back off to Arizona for part two of the preseason.

It will be our first chance to get a look at the new signing of Soni Mustivar and where he will fit into the depth chart. After hinting at a change earlier in the off season, we could also get a first look at a new formation for PV's squad.

The boys will play 4 games in the Desert Diamond Cup and all will be streamed online. Schedule is as follows:

vs. Colorado Rapids at 6:30 p.m. CT on Feb. 18

vs. Seattle Sounders FC at 9 p.m. CT on Feb. 21 (Nate and Andy will call the game)

vs. Real Salt Lake at 9 p.m. CT on Feb. 25

vs. TBD (1st/3rd/5th place match) on Feb. 28

And no, not everyone is all the way fit. Jurgen Klinsmann's comments recently about team fitness caused quite a stir, and Matt Besler says the players never planned to be fit.

"My goal is to be in my peak fitness on March 1," Besler said. "That's when my season starts. It goes from March to December. So on Jan. 15, we devised an offseason plan for me to hit my peak fitness on March 1, and I think that's what most of the guys did.

While Besler didn't want to respond to Jurgen directly, Peter Vermes took a different approach.

"To expect those guys to be in top form in a January camp," Vermes said, "is – and I mean this – utterly ridiculous."

While that situation is a mess in itself, MLS is dealing with much more pressing issues as well. With less than a month until league play is supposed to start, it would appear that the players are ready to strike.

ESPN FC clarifies the ordeal right here. Free agency seems to be the biggest issue at hand. The players want to be able to choose where they play, while the league doesn't want to lose its structure as a single entity.

However, there is some good news. Each of the sides have agreed to bring in a federal mediator to facilitate the process.

"While the presence of a mediator isn't a guarantee of anything, it does signal a willingness on the part of both sides to move off of their entrenched positions. It's also an indication that so long as the mediator is present, neither side will move toward initiating a work stoppage. Five years ago, the presence of mediator George Cohen was widely hailed as being instrumental in getting a deal done."

With the momentum and talent the league has for this season, I do not believe either side would let a lockout happen. A deal is going to get done and we will all be drinking and singing at Sporting Park on March 8th.

Now here is 22 minutes of highlights from last season to really get you ready.

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