Not Game Day

Saturday would have been game day. Earlier this week, the Crew, Toronto FC, and MLS decided to push back the game until August 22nd. It's rare that a league will reschedule a game and especially so when the reason isn't weather related.

Any decision to move a game isn't taken lightly. The Crew came within 30 minutes of postponing the June 30th game against Real Salt Lake due to the widespread power outage. This was different; a situation without a play book and all involved took an unprecedented step.

It's clear from all of the comments from the players, very few were interested in playing the game today. As soon as Kirk Urso's services were scheduled, they wanted to go to the funeral on Saturday rather than the game. The team even looked into chartering a flight to go to Chicago and fly back for the game.

This situation could have put the Crew, the league, and Toronto in a difficult spot, but they handled the situation with the class this situation required. Toronto agreed to push back the game to the only available spot in the schedule between now and mid September.

Teams will do nearly anything to gain a competitive advantage, but it's heartening to know that there are somethings sport doesn't transcend. The game will go on, but just not yet.

The majority of players didn't feel right lining up; their hearts were elsewhere. It's again rare that fiercely competitive athletes can't focus on game day. It would have been a cruel spectacle to play.

A funeral, obviously, doesn't finish the grieving process, but it does seem like it marks the return to some semblance of normal.

The Crew return to action on Wednesday to face the L.A. Galaxy.