Eating crow

EAT CROW: to admit that one was wrong or accept that one has been defeated (Merriam Webster)

Chicago Cubs 3rd baseman Robin Ventura charged the mound on an elder statesman of baseball, 46-year-old pitcher Nolan Ryan, on August 4, 1993. That lopsided fight can still be viewed on YouTube, and has millions of views.

Nolan Ryan, 20 years older than Ventura, clearly teaches the young man a very public lesson in respecting his elders. With Ventura in a headlock Ryan’s powerful pitching arm landed six or seven unanswered blows before Rangers catcher Pudge Rodriguez caught up with Ventura. Still, I always suspected that the thought of being taken to the woodshed in front of millions in a fight Ventura started hurt more than his face.

Now, your editor having been taken to the woodshed in the Wyoming press, I am sure of it.

I did not charge the mound or commit the falsehood, but I failed to catch it. And it is my job, dear reader, to see that the facts in your paper are facts.

It matters not that the false quotes were the apparent error of a hurried rookie reporter that trusted AI. It was my job.

You only have to go back a few weeks of editorials to see where I wrote lambasting the former Director of the Secret Service for failing to take responsibility. The buck stops here is the title.

In my own words: When you are the captain of the ship, you are responsible. You hold full responsibility for everything that happens to it, even when you are not aboard. When the buck stops here, this is the deal, either when you encounter mighty storms at sea or slightly sloped roofs.

If I were to make excuses about how busy I am or how new I am to editing, I would be no different than Director Cheatle. Failures are failures and must be owned by responsible people.

I will eat crow with what dignity I can muster, though pheasant tastes much better.

I apologize, reader, that AI was allowed to put words that were never spoken into stories. I apologize to the Governor, the astronomers, our Public Works Director, Warden Crane and any other that I have not yet been able to confirm as misquoted.

I will do better.