In no time at all we shall be getting, in MLS, the benefits of video replays to help referees make the right calls.

The tragedy that was Chuck Blazer is now over. And tragedy it assuredly was, a good man destroyed by his own excesses, a man capable of wondrous warmth and humanity who ended up vilified as The Soccer Rat.

To laugh ... or to cry? There is no middle course here, no way of dodging the utter failure of soccer's response to the concussion crisis. No way to ignore the inadequacy of the protocol, no way to pretend you haven't noticed the pathetic hesitancy of referees when confronted with head injuries.