We were all captivated by the news Sunday night that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. It caught many people off guard and brought out a ground-swell of patriotism. But for the 3rd time that I can think of recently, a lot fans got the news while watching a sporting event.
The Mets were playing the Phillies in the Sunday night baseball game. Apparently a fan at the game saw the headline on his phone, and told everyone in his section. The news spread quickly and soon the fans were chanting "USA! USA!". The players on the field had no idea what was going on. Fans there were checking their phones and PC's and ipad's for the latest. And even for people watching at home all around the country, they got the first updates during the game. I also heard people tuned in to ESPN specifically because they knew they would be talking about it on the coverage.
Its a little similar to how we all heard about the death of John Lennon. It was first announced during a Monday Night Football game. Howard Cosell broke the news to the entire country watching that game.
And remember what was going on when they broke into programming for the OJ Simpson car chase? It was the 1994 NBA Finals. The Houston Rockets were playing the New York Knicks, and NBC kept cutting back and forth from the game to the chase, before finally giving up and showing the chase, leaving the game behind.
Games are just that...games. They pale in comparision to big-time world events. But its ironic how sometimes, the sports world can be helpful in letting millions know what's going on around us.
