Bennington tragedy affects sports world too

If you came to this site and clicked on this column at no external suggestion, odds are you are visiting, first and foremost, as a sports fan. As such, you have likely heard the work of Chester Bennington in an athletic setting or context.

Bennington, who took his life Thursday at age 41, was the co-vocalist for Linkin Park, among other enterprises. His untimely death sparked a slew of tributes from his fellow musicians and fans who came upon his output their own way.

But then there are those whose introductory or getting-to-know-better phase came through Linkin Park’s presence in canned music.

Back when rinks still saw this author’s shadow in his days as a “traditional” sportswriter, “Faint” and “Somewhere I Belong” were common on the pregame playlists at Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Warmup periods in Providence featured “Bleed It Out,” “Numb” and “What I’ve Done.” Zamboni shifts sometimes included “In the End.”

NHL fans have surely thought back to periods when their teams were synonymous with Bennington’s belts. For the first quarter of 2009-10, as “New Divide” was fresh off its summer showcase in the Transformers sequel, the Boston Bruins capitalized by using the song for their pregame montage. The San Jose Sharks used it for a longer stretch, deep into the winter of 2010.

Those who cheered the mashup of Bennington’s voice with the visuals of their favorite team could only have done so because, at least to a degree, they liked Bennington and his band’s work. But with Bennington gone far too soon, it ought to sink in that those connections were still wholly impersonal.

Team music directors and players who select their warmup tracks have the freedom to use any artist’s work upon purchasing it in a legitimate form. Intentional cross-promotion is rare, though Bennington’s band had one notable instance with “Burn It Down” and TNT’s 2012 NBA playoff coverage.

Those who came to enjoy Linkin Park through those inlets were surely shaken by Thursday’s tragedy. While it should go without saying that any premature, innocent death is awful, it hits a little harder when someone had touched your life to any degree.

Between Bennington’s troubled past and the fact that his work is such a staple in sports, Thursday’s events warrant a little soul-searching. Stadium and arena sound crews, their ticket-holding customers and other listeners should do more than take the music and run. As celebrities (or celebrity associates) in their own way, they should use their bigger-than-average bullhorn to share why they connect with a given artist and their work.

Granted, a band’s pre-taped presence on a PA system is a different animal from when they stop at the same venue on tour. They are an unwitting sideshow in the former instance, the main attraction in the latter.

Still, they bring people to those buildings for the same basic purpose the sports teams do. They make their living by providing an enjoyable diversion from the locals’ everyday lives.

And as glamorous as those lucrative professions can be, Bennington’s suicide is the latest reminder of their troubled side. In a Thursday report, the BBC’s Steve Holden wrote, “The singer is said to have struggled for years with alcohol and drug abuse, and has talked in the past about contemplating suicide as a result of being a victim of abuse as a child.”

The Mirror, to whom Bennington had addressed his struggles in his last interview, added, “The singer’s death on Thursday has shocked the rock community at large, even more so given that Chester appeared to have made a concerted effort to fight his demons and concentrate on his loved ones as well as his career.”

In sports and pop culture alike, we have heard overwhelming examples of this type. There are athletes and artists who try to suppress their proverbial demons through their work, those whose struggles stem from occupational hazards and those who contend with both, often too quietly for too long.

The hockey community, for its part, has endured the heartache of former NHL players, especially enforcers, meeting premature passings throughout this calendar decade. Besides the urgent search for common threads in the veterans’ careers and lives afterward, that tragic trend has fueled awareness campaigns like the annual #bellletstalk Twitter initiative.

In the music industry, awareness will likewise be at the forefront in Bennington’s memory. But as long as athletes are using the late singer’s output to charge their psyche and game-day crews do the same for crowds, sports figures should be in on this as well.

No contributor, however indirect or unknowing, to someone else’s good time should have their human condition overlooked. Accordingly, sports entities and their counterparts in music and elsewhere should pursue more overt crossover campaigns.

Thursday witnessed one symbolic step toward solidarity between the fields. Dodger Stadium organist Dieter Ruehle drew ample applause through his instrumental rendition of “Numb.”

That was a fitting tribute in a place where the original “Numb” has likely had its share of airtime. But there needs to be more collaboration in combating depression, isolation, their causes and their exacerbating variables, especially stigma.

Such united initiatives can only strengthen the army for the living and the memory of those we have lost.