Regrets in 2018? This sports columnist has more than a few. | Bob Ford

They have accumulated again, like old traffic tickets stuffed into the glove compartment. Despite the best intentions and resolutions of each new year, a large number of corrections and clarifications that should have been published throughout 2018 did not appear because of the diligent effort of the author.

The 15th Annual Corrections Column is not something we're proud of, but it is time to come clean, ask forgiveness, and make a new start. Once more, the promise is that this won't have to happen again.

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In a Jan. 1 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “If it’s any consolation for Eagles fans after watching the somewhat uninspiring performance of Nick Foles against the Cowboys on Sunday, at least Carson Wentz’s chances of winning the MVP award got a lot better. We knew Wentz was good, and knew he lifted the whole team, but now it’s clear exactly how much. With their playoff seeding locked in place, Sunday was supposed to be just a minor tune-up for the Eagles. Well, the vehicle obviously needed more than a tune-up and, unfortunately, the part that is needed won’t be available until next season.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford, who did not believe in Nick Foles, needs a tune-up as well.

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In an Oct. 2 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “The clock stopped with 5 minutes, 8 seconds to play in the first quarter of Monday night’s preseason game between the 76ers and the Orlando Magic. The game clock itself kept going, but the clock that waited for the first professional three-point basket by Markelle Fultz, and had been ticking louder all the time, finally came to a halt.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford does not know the difference between a light bulb and the sun.

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In a Nov. 13 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “It sounds good, but Schwartz certainly didn’t think “everybody” this season would include Cre’Von LeBlanc, Deiondre' Hall, and De’Vante Bausby. By the end of the year, the defensive backfield might lead the league in apostrophes, if nothing else.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford does not appreciate the value of creative punctuation.

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In a Sept. 25 column on the Phillies, Bob Ford wrote: “Gabe Kapler believes that experiencing discomfort is even more beneficial, and that a familiarity with chaos will eventually pay dividends. If he’s right, then the last seven weeks have been nothing but wonderful for the Phillies.”

The Inquirer regrets having to watch the Phillies play defense in 2018.

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In a Feb. 4 column on the Super Bowl, Bob Ford wrote: "Against that formidable edifice, the Eagles are coached by a former career second-stringer who was dismissed as a strategic lightweight; a quarterback who washed out once and is only a temporary starter; and even an owner who failed more than 20 years ago to buy the Patriots, his boyhood team, and had to settle for the Eagles a year later. If that’s not a fable that could be told under the El as a Philadelphia bedtime story, what is?"

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford didn’t find a way to fit Rocky into this somewhat tortured image.

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In a Feb. 20 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “If the Sixers hadn’t been as transparent as concrete about Nerlens Noel, Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, and Joel Embiid when they were going through injuries and rehabilitations, the team might have earned the benefit of the doubt with Fultz. It doesn’t help when Bryan Colangelo bolts the podium after being asked about Fultz’s possible return for the fourth time. Sure, it’s frustrating to keep saying there is no time line for learning how to shoot a basketball. I can tell you that mine has stretched for decades.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford does not always keep his elbow close to his body when releasing the basketball.

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In a July 24 column on Tiger Woods, Bob Ford wrote: “A return by Tiger Woods isn’t going to mend all that. For one thing, how long can he last this time? He can push the sport a little farther forward in the country’s consciousness, however, which is more than you can say for Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose or any of the current superstars who all seem to have some variation of the same name. All those guys can do is play golf.”

The Inquirer is actually quite partial to Bryson DeChambeau.

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In a Feb. 25 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “The town has gone goofy for Nick Foles, and would like to reward him with his druthers on a future career path because he deserves it. The NFL doesn’t work that way. Foles did pull the most painful thorn from the paw of the lion, but unlike Androcles, who was granted unrestricted free agency, Foles' reward is limited by the terms of his contract.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford still does not recognize the brilliance of Nick Foles, and also feels the use of Aesop’s Fables should be limited in modern newspapering.

READ MORE: Bob Ford’s corrections from 2017

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In an April 22 column on the Flyers, Bob Ford wrote: “General manager Ron Hextall is playing the long game and didn’t give in to the organization’s history of gobbling a sugar rush of veteran mercenaries in place of intelligent, measured growth ... There have been teams that would have gone into full Hotel California mode at that point, checking out even if they didn’t leave. And there certainly were teams that would have pointed the blame at the coach so frequently it would have resembled a Brittany spaniel convention. Part of Hextall’s genius is he selected a coach who the players understood wasn’t going to be moved out if they complained.”

The Inquirer would like to ignore the confluence of the sugar rush, the pop music reference, and the unfortunate spaniel analogy to point out it should have been “whom” not “who” in the final sentence.

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In a July 31 column on the Tour de France, Bob Ford wrote: “This time, Geraint Thomas had a mostly uneventful clockwise circuit of France. He claimed the yellow jersey when the road went up into the Alps, impressively winning back-to-back mountaintop finishes, including the legendary, sinuous climb of Alpe d’Huez. With a decent lead on Chris Froome and the rest of the pack, the only question was whether the Pyrenees would change anything.”

The Inquirer regrets not reading as far as the Pyrenees to learn the answer.

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In a March 16 column on the NCAA Tournament, Bob Ford wrote: “Oh, it’s going to happen one of these years. In fact, it could still happen this year. Sooner or later, in the fullness of time, a No. 16 seed is going to beat a top seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Villanova Wildcats dodged that fate on Thursday night against Radford College in the PPG Paint Arena. Could the game have gone differently? Probably not, but it was still a reason to exhale.”

The Inquirer regrets not having a shekel or two on the Retrievers of UMBC the following day against Virginia.

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In a May 27 column on the NFL, Bob Ford wrote: “There are walls of distrust that separate us, and we’ve got some people in charge who are all about building more walls. What we need are bridges instead where we can meet in the middle, or at least edge uncertainly up the on-ramps and see what happens.”

The Inquirer always checks its mirrors before merging.

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In a May 31 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “This is weird and sort of unexplainable because it’s just so dumb, but the story hangs together, and whether it was Colangelo or some social media war dog of his doing the actual tweeting, the result is the same. The accounts demeaned Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Joel Embiid, Markelle Fultz, Hinkie, and Brett Brown behind a screen of anonymity and with information from inside the franchise. Aside from the one about the yellow Lab birthing seven puppies in the Tampa airport, it’s the damnedest Twitter-related story you’ve ever read. It is also the end of Colangelo with the Sixers, even if it takes a while for the team to officially unfollow him. That’s going to happen, though.”

The Inquirer regrets not fully understanding “burner” accounts, but would note that Mr. Ford is often too fond of dog references.

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In a July 17 column on major-league baseball, Bob Ford wrote: “The game is being played much more intelligently -- the analytics bear that out -- but it is also very often unwatchable, and, in an observation that is hard to quantify, just not as much fun. It is like playing Scrabble with someone who knows all the two-letter words. It’s the smart way to play, and probably the straightest line to success, but, man, it can be annoying.”

The Inquirer still remembers that in typesetting “em” and “en” are two lengths of dashes.

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In a July 3 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “There are a couple of ways to look at the Sixers' unsuccessful effort to sign LeBron James to a free-agent contract. The trip to Los Angeles taken by owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, along with coach/interim general manager Brett Brown, was either an admirable swing at a distant fence or an embarrassing bit of cross-country ring-kissing that wasn’t even attended by the object of their quest. They went all the way to Disneyland, but Mickey didn’t have time to see them.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. James did not fully Trust The Process.

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In a Sept. 4 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “In his last press conference over the weekend, just a day before relenting to announce his starting quarterback, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he was upset with the local media for putting words in his mouth. Well, someone had to.”

The Inquirer regrets chuckling at that one.

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In an April 14 column on the NCAA Tournament, Bob Ford wrote: “Villanova settled down, though, and played the kind of defense a team needs to find its way to the end of the NCAA tournament. By the end, the 2018 team could stand side-by-side with the 2016 team in every way. In fact, the current players did stand side-by-side with those guys, all up there together on the platform that rose from the court like an overlook from which they could gaze back and see the road that got them there. Forget asking which team was better. They were both better than everyone else.”

The Inquirer regrets nothing about the 2018 NCAA Tournament outcomes, but does wonder how one gazes back at an overlook.

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In a Sept. 16 column on the Phillies, Bob Ford wrote: “The lone saving grace of the Phillies' late tumble from postseason contention was that the baseball they played while exiting the race wasn’t much uglier than what they played while taking part. In fact, with the exception of the final scores, the difference was almost imperceptible. They couldn’t hit consistently, really couldn’t field, and pitched just well enough so that the outcome was usually in doubt.”

The Inquirer wouldn’t mind seeing Manny Machado in pinstripes next season, but thinks he’s going to pull a LeBron James, too.

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In an April 14 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “In that span of 2,149 days between postseason games, a lot of water has gone under the bridge and Sixers fans were compelled to watch a good deal of roster flotsam drift along with it. With the exception of nearly everyone, who could forget the magic eras of Alexey Shved, Henry Sims, Casper Ware, Jarvis Varnado, Sonny Weems, and JaKarr Sampson?”

The Inquirer regrets watching those games, but harbors a certain affection for Furkan Aldemir.

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In a July 29 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “All those story lines have their place, because there is a lot of time and space to fill before the season. But there is only one story, just as there are many clowns and balloons and floats in the Thanksgiving parade, but there is only one Santa Claus at the end. So far in camp, Santa and his surgically repaired knee haven’t done much, but that was expected.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford does not appreciate a good parade.

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In a Nov. 29 column on the 76ers, Bob Ford wrote: “It’s possible that Fultz will be given another clean bill of health, but since that’s not what the folks hiring the doctors are looking for, it would be a surprise. So, the cycle of medical procedure (if any), rehabilitation and slow return will probably be repeated while the clock ticks on the team. Markelle Fultz, formerly a big piece of the puzzle, is struggling to become a professional, and part of the reason is that, looking at his advisers and his employers, he is surrounded only by amateurs.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford is probably right about this one.

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In a Dec. 16 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: “Get ready for ‘Nicky Foles: Should Have Quit While He Was Ahead.’ It really isn’t his fault, and hopefully that will be remembered, but what is about to happen to last season’s savior might not be pretty.”

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford failed to learn his lesson last season. Nick Foles can do no wrong.

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Well, once again, I feel better. The slate has been wiped clean for the new year, and there will be no repeat of the same mistakes, the same hiding of corrections. As always, trust is our bond.