A Life Isn’t Worth a Full Sentence?

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While driving home on Thursday, I had the radio turned to ESPN.  The top-of-the-hour news concluded with this item:

“Former baseball commissioner [tag]Bowie Kuhn[/tag], passing away today at 80.”

Now, what gives here?  This isn’t even a full sentence, just a fragment.  I realize that fragments are broadcast journalism style, but doesn’t a person of note–or any person–deserve at least a full sentence; for instance, “Bowie Kuhn, former baseball commissioner, passed away today at 80”?  Or how about even two sentences:  “Bowie Kuhn, the former baseball commissioner from the 1960s and 1970s, passed away today at 80.  He was famous for overseeing the end of baseball’s infamous reserve clause and the introduction of free agency”?

How about a little dignity for the man?

(The same day baseball legend and notorious MLB outlaw [tag]Pete Rose[/tag] garnered several sentences and paragraphs on most media outlets for admitting that he had bet on all the games he managed in the 1980s.  Vice makes for bigger stories and bigger headlines, I guess.)

Categories: Grammar Sucks

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