Major League Soccer has made the correct call year, no doubt about it.
Scheduling at this time of year is especially tricky due to CONCACAF Champions League complications and simply because open dates are getting scares, with just two months left in the regular season.
Still, the choice to postpone this week’s Columbus-Toronto contest is absolutely the right call.
Columbus rookie Kirk Urso, 22, died early this week. Funeral services begin today and extend into Saturday in Urso’s hometown of Lombard, Ill. So Major League Soccer postponed Saturday’s match in Columbus until Aug. 22.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Crew players felt strongly about the need to attend Friday’s service, but were concerned over the logistics of getting back to Columbus in time for the Saturday night kickoff. So they addressed their concerns Thursday during a meeting that included general manager Mark McCullers, according to the story in the Dispatch.
Players will travel to Illinois by chartered bus following Friday’s training in Columbus, spend the night there and return following Urso’s burial Saturday, which is scheduled for 11 a.m.