Has the world gone mad?

Sean Taylor, the 24-year-old safety of the Washington Redskins,… Has the world gone mad?

Sean Taylor, the 24-year-old safety of the Washington Redskins, was shot in his home Monday morning and eventually died because of his wounds.

So ESPN, the beacon of sports news around the country, grants the tragedy all of 36 seconds on SportsCenter on Tuesday morning.

Instead of elaborating on the tremendous heartbreak, the loss of not only an NFL player in his formative years but the father of an infant daughter, the hour-long daily news program spent nearly 20 minutes of the hour discussing the poor conditions at Heinz Field that led to a 3-0 Steelers victory of the winless Dolphins.

Oh, and Charles Woodson is uncertain for tonight’s game with the Dallas Cowboys because of turf toe.

Is there no sanctity in the sports world?

A mere accusation of dogfighting against Michael Vick brought ESPN to a halt for several days. Anxious fans were bombarded with images of Vick’s Virginia home, videos of pitbulls scarred from fights, and lawyers discussing what Vick will experience during his trial and the possible sentence that he could receive.

When a beloved player, a quiet and humble young man, dies however, Sportscenter can’t grant him more than 36 seconds to open the show, without even a moment of silence. Rather, it seems they felt the more important news of the day was that Heinz Field had been resodded and it rained a lot.

Some stories transcend football, or even sports in general. There is now a 1-year-old girl without a father because he attempted to protect his little girl and his girlfriend from an intruder in his home, and was gunned down in his bedroom with his girlfriend looking on.

Sean Taylor may have made some poor choices in his early years, but how is his loss of life, or similarly the loss of Denver Broncos’ cornerback Darrent Williams earlier this year, less important than Vick’s dogfighting indictments, or even more discouragingly, the new turf on Heinz Field.

It’s time to wake up ESPN, there is more to sport than business. There is a human element that cannot be ignored. Players are not just pawns for our amusement; they too have families, dreams and aspirations. One player’s family must now cope with the loss of a valued member barely past his youth.

In other news, it rained Monday night in Pittsburgh.