Bob Ford: Wiping the slate clean for 2009

They have accumulated once 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 in this section throughout 2009 did not appear because of diligent effort of the author.

The Sixth 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, promise, this won't happen again.

In a July 26 column on the Eagles, Bob Ford wrote: Joe Banner knows you probably don't care about his problems, or that it was a tough off-season. What you care about is winning. In that case, Banner has some good news. He likes the way things came out. "I feel this year we have the best roster in the league," Banner said.

The Inquirer regrets this quote was only true until Stewart Bradley messed up his knee.

In a Dec. 17 column on the acquisition by the Phillies of Roy Halladay, Bob Ford wrote: The best players in baseball want to be here. It wasn't that long ago that players would rather face Randy Johnson without a batting helmet than come to Philadelphia. Big-name players with a choice - the top free agents, the stars who could veto trades or direct them - didn't put the Phillies on the short list of desirable teams. . . . Well, that was then. After getting a new ballpark, after getting some money to spend, after making a lot of the right decisions with that money, after having some luck, the Phillies have won three straight division titles and made it to the World Series twice in a row. Suddenly, it's not so bad to be us.

The Inquirer regrets that Mr. Ford has such a keen fondness for the obvious.

In a Dec. 2 column on the Sixers, Bob Ford wrote: You wonder whether Allen Iverson realizes he's little more than a circus freak now. If he rejoins the Sixers, his name will be atop the sideshow, luring in the curious and the bored and the kind of people who slow to gawk at the wrecks along the highway. He is the bearded lady, the fish boy, the bear who chugs beer from the bottle.

The Inquirer has always had a fondness for the bear.

In a Mar. 1 column on the Eagles, Mr. Ford wrote: The easiest column to write today is the one that says the Eagles are heartless skinflints with no appreciation for the 13 years of emotional devotion Brian Dawkins gave to the organization. It would take about half an hour to write, and that's counting a sandwich.