ESPN Brings Out The Sad Trombone

When your whole reason for being is fun and games, it's tough to strike the right tone when real life intrudes on your happy time. (Ahem.) On live TV—you win some, you lose some.

ESPN briefly removed their annoying crawl when first reporting on the death of Nick Adenhart this morning. (It's back, unfortunately, but it was a nice touch.) Then out of nowhere they pulled out a melancholy version of the "Baseball Tonight" theme. That was a bit odd, but their heart is clearly in the right place. Stories like this are never easy to handle, especially on a free-wheeling morning sports show. But I guess no one thought to talk to the advertising department (why would they?) and maybe ask them to hold off on the NASCAR ad where racers talk about experiencing the rush of the crash.

Yeah, that was unfortunate. Put that on the checklist for next time.

Nick Adenhart of Los Angeles Angels killed in car crash in Fullerton [ESPN]