Part of being a good journalist is the ability to admit your mistakes and do your damnedest
to correct them.
It's rarely fun, but it has to be done.
A great example from the past few years is Ira Glass' apology for producing a false story on NPR's "This American Life."
He found out his information was wrong, said sorry, and went about correcting the mistake.
Granted, his hour-long mea culpa was a bit heavy handed, but it let the listening public know he cared about the truth even if it makes him look foolish for a while.
Now it's our turn to make an apology, but we are nowhere near sad about.
In fact, we're downright giddy.
In our Sept. 5 editorial, "Lessons from the season opener," we called for caution and patience concerning head football coach Gus Malzahn's return to The Plains.
There was a great deal of hype surrounding the beginning of this season, and we were leery of what seemed like an unfounded craze.
Although the Tigers were winning the first few games into the season, they had yet to face the real challenge of the SEC.
Nick Marshall was relatively unproven as quarterback, and we had no idea how the rest of the team could perform under a completely new staff.
Malzahn's abilities were a mystery as well.
Yes, he played a major role in the Tigers 2010 BCS Championship win, but he had Cam Newton, Michael Dyer and Nick Fairley.
This time around, he was the man in charge, and his team was a bunch of guys coming off one the worst seasons in the history of Auburn.
But he proved us wrong, and we couldn't be happier about it.
Malzahn and the Tigers have worked hard to accomplish nothing short of a miracle.
For a team to rebuild this fast is completely unheard of.
We've all heard the sports media and how confounded they are at the Tigers' success.
After the Tigers' angelic win against UGA, however, many sports journalists have become believers.
Auburn is the knight in shining armor that can save the NCAA from the ugly, fire-breathing monstrosity that is Bama.
Marshall, Sammy Coates and, now, Ricardo Louis have grown into absolute threats for Bama, and now the insufferable, toothless horde of Bammers knows it.
Sometimes it feels good to be wrong.
Sometimes it feels better than being right.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
