I took a few minutes this evening to scan through the online edition of USA Today and made my way quite quickly to the sports section.  What I noticed as I moved through the stories was something both sad and shocking.
An NBA player’s girlfriend died after an apparent suicide attempt.  Although this is very sad news indeed and something that needs to be covered, its not something that I need to read in the sports.
What sports are supposed to be is a distraction from the sad and painful news that happens in real life.  It doesn’t need to be covered in the sports section.  That section is for baseball, football and basketball. 
Not only does this news not belong in sports but it seems to trivialize this horribly sad event.  There is definitely a much more appropriate place for this to be shared where the proper respect can be paid. 
I know I sound redundant when I write about these kinds of things but I really feel like these lines need to be divided more fully.  Just because there is news involving an athlete doesn’t mean that its sports news and I for one,  don’t need to hear it or read about it.  Sports are my diversion and I want them to stay as such.  Its bad enough that weird things like food eating contests, spelling bees or even workouts have made their way into the sporting lexicon but we have to draw the line somewhere.
There are plenty of things in the sports world to talk about without having to bring these things into it.