Real life tragedy marginalizes sports again

A gunman at Virginia Tech University slaughters 22 people and wounds at least 28 others in a killing spree that dwarfs all other campus slayings

One day after celebrating the life of one of America's greatest heroes, Jackie Robinson, and on a day when the historic Boston Marathon is being run, the NHL playoffs are in full swing and MLB & the NBA have a full slate of games scheduled, a tragic mass-murder on one of the nation's most picturesque college campuses has made athletic endeavors meaningless.

At around 7:15 this morning a gunman entered a resident dorm on the 2,600 acre campus located in Blacksburg, Virginia, and opened fire on the students inside. According to MSN.com, as police & investigators responded to that scene, the gunman evidently relocated to a class building and resumed his massacre.

He later reportedly killed himself.

It's still early & obviously chaotic on the site, so details are sketchy at this time. It is not known who the shooter was, if he was a student or not, how many people died in each building, and what the reason for the rampage may have been.

All we do know is that this tragedy now has the dreadful distinction of being the deadliest campus killing spree in American history, surpassing the University of Texas and Columbine High School massacres. If any others are found dead, this will become the deadliest mass-shooting ever in the United States.

And suddenly sports are revealed to be the unimportant bits of trifling entertainment that they truly are.