A man tripped on the asphalt in the University of New Mexico Stadium parking lot, hit his head, and died.

It doesn’t matter who he was.

It doesn’t matter how old he was.

It really shouldn’t matter if there was “a buildup of asphalt” on the asphalt. 

It’s asphalt!

“Negligence” is leaving a dog in a hot car. It’s shooting a gun in the air and killing someone a mile away. It’s texting and driving.

Negligence isn’t failing to run a level over every bump in your parking lot just to maintain business operations.

Tragedies happen, but bilking taxpayers in a bogus wrongful death suit won’t bring back the dead. Though it probably will pay. Greed usually does. 

Educational institutions are easy targets for frivolous lawsuits because they’ll settle out of shame for having their name associated with the death of “a champion of track-and-field sports in New Mexico.”

Which is a shame.

You have to wonder if the deceased would look down and feel honored by their families capitalizing on their death.

“Between The Lines” is a series featuring fictional headlines of real events.