In last week’s Poly, William von Achen leveled some criticism at an article I wrote roughly a year ago in the January 23, 2002 issue about the coaching of the men’s hockey team. I’d like to take a moment to comment on that.
He’s absolutely right.
At the time, I heard a lot of people wondering how a team with so much talent could possibly be in last place. I perceived a need for someone to comment, and so, like I have many times before, I shot my mouth off without thinking about it enough.
The piece was hastily written, evidenced by the glaring error that should have been fixed—confounding Cornell and Colgate is a mistake I frequently make and nearly always catch. The point of the article was not overly clear, and the manner in which it was made was poor.
Worst of all, I allowed myself to be cajoled into crossing the line from objective criticism to personal attack on Coach Fridgen’s character. There was no call for me to insinuate, as I did, that he had no class, and such statements do not belong in a newspaper.
Furthermore, I have been provided with several examples since then proving me 100 percent wrong on that count.
This has actually been bothering me for a while, and so I must thank Mr. von Achen for providing me with an opening to recant, and apologize to Coach Fridgen, in the same public forum in which the offense was given.
