BY DANE WINDISCH

Following the tragedy in Newton, Conn., I was interested to see how the media covered the story in their pregame broadcasts and during Sunday Night Football.

CBS, ESPN and FOX all acknowledged the event and did so in a very respectable way. They should be commended. Even the slightest choice of wrong words could hurt many people. 

Each network interviewed Giants head coach Tom Coughlin about how his team wanted to remember all the victims with a moment of silence and initials imprinted on their shoes. The networks were respectful of the emotions involved with this tragedy.

At halftime during Sunday Night Football, I wondered if Bob Costas would use the events in Newtown as another stage to address the issue of gun control. Just a few weeks ago, Costas was heavily criticized for his feature on gun control in the wake of Jovan Belcher’s suicide.

This Sunday, Costas instead chose to discuss another topic and avoided any political issues.

NBC also decided to cut into the first quarter of Sunday night’s game to televise President Obama’s speech at the prayer vigil being held in Newtown. This was a classy and respectable move by the network. It demonstrated how sports should be in the back of viewers’ minds right now and instead focused on showing respect for this tragedy.