Not to jump on the newly built (and yet to be washed) Court Sullivan typo-search bandwagon, but I found this rather blatant mistake on ESPN.com. The caption above this picture reads: “TWELVE ATHLETES WHO PLAYED WITH KINDNESS.”
Now, I got my degree in creative writing, which means I took two math classes in college: Algebra and Logic. And I’ll admit, they were tough. I’m no math wiz. Also, I’m not the kind of guy to get snippy about a little mistake here and there. No one’s perfect. Furthermore, I read ESPN.com with much regularity and find their website to be one of the best in the known universe. They hire only the best writers, designers and artists in America and abroad.
So how come no one on their staff can add up to 13?
And since I’m stealing ideas off the typo-search bandwagon anyway, here are five reasons why this typo is huge.
1. It’s not that hard to count to thirteen.
2. My five year old niece can count to thirteen.
3. They typed in thirteen names and drew thirteen pictures. That means the caption creator had a word list and visual aids. Someone draw him a map. To kindergarten.
4. If you can turn on a computer, the odds are strongly in favor of your being able to count to thirteen. Strongly.
5. Seriously, it’s just not that hard to count that high.
I wish Caption Boy the best of luck with the rest of his life. Hell, I wish him the best of luck keeping track of the remaining years of the rest of his life.
I hope he has more than thirteen.