A Social Experiment

Just when I thought no one was reading my column, I make one small….ok, kind of big mistake and I am reassured that spending my Thursday nights (even on Valentine’s Day) stressing over what I’m going to write each week, is actually worth it.

Yes, I did watch the Super Bowl. Yes, I do know that the Ravens won the game! However, somehow in my column last week I mistakenly wrote that I wished the Ravens had won the game….not once, but twice!

I could say it was a social experiment to see how many people read my column or I could blame it on the fact that I had a pretty rough week and didn’t start my column until 11:00pm….or better yet, I could blame it on the Times proofreading staff (my mom), but she stays up later than me, so I guess I’ll take the blame on this one.

I received the first call on Saturday night from my brother-in-law. “Hey who won the Super Bowl?” he asked in a mocking tone. I assumed he was calling to point out that my Super Bowl prediction (2 weeks prior) was wrong, but instead he was calling me out on what I had written. “You do know that the Ravens won the game, right?”

In disbelief I went online to see what I had written…..yup, he was right. I immediately edited my column online to prevent other calls and e-mails. Thankfully, my dad had not noticed the mistake.

One thing my brother, mom and I have learned over the years is when a minor mistake is made by one of us in the paper (ex: an ad is mistakenly dropped, a picture appears twice, the page numbers are not in order, or instead of advertising a “Roast Beef Dinner at the Fire Hall”, a couple of wrong keystrokes and an unfortunate spell check replacement now pitches the event as a “Road Beef Dinner” instead. Yes…that actually happened ), we try not to call out said mistake to the Editor (dad).
Fast forward to Monday night…I’m enjoying dinner with my wife and daughter and I hear my phone ring in the other room….I think nothing of it. A minute later it rings again….another minute goes by and it rings again. It rings another 8 times in the next 20 minutes and I have a bad feeling that someone has alerted my dad of the mistake. There are 10 missed calls from my dad and 2 messages “call me.” This is never a good sign. I call back and am informed that they have received numerous calls/e-mails from readers informing them of my error. I tell him that at least it’s good news that people are reading my column. He’s not amused.

I promised him that I would call attention to the mistake in this week’s column. So I want everyone to know that I indeed watched the Super Bowl and I do know who won the game.

Thank you to the half a dozen readers who e-mailed me to let me know of my error and I thank you for taking the time to read my column each week and appreciate the kind words that were sent to me this week letting me know how much you enjoy my column! It’s been a very busy year, so I’m glad this is the first mistake I’ve made….at least the Red Sox won the World Series this year! Just kidding everyone. Reminder: Section V Basketball (Girls and Boys) tournament starts this week. Watch for nightly coverage (updated scores and pictures from the games)

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