Sometimes in the newspaper business, things happen beyond your control.
For example, I mistakenly reported last week that the men’s basketball season was “over” after they were shunned by the NIT selection committee.
This being the only tournament I knew of other than the NCAA’s, I felt 100 percent confident the Cats were done.
Yet, when I awoke the next day, I found a message in my inbox explaining UVM’s entry into the College Basketball Invitational…
I can’t print what my exact words were, but I won’t lie to you — f-bombs were dropped.
I mean, come on, had you ever heard of the CBI?
On second thought, don’t answer — it’s my job to have heard of wildly irrelevant basketball tournaments — not yours.
On Wednesday, as the men played Green Bay on the road, my dad called, laughingly mocking me and calling me the  “sports idiot” as opposed to my usual title, sports editor.
Know what? He was right.
Well, the “idiot” part was a little strong, but other than that, it was basically accurate.
This episode got me thinking about other notable gaffes in my career as sports editor, which after this issue will be like the Seattle Supersonics — dunzo.
Here are some other notable misfires I have accumulated over the last year and a half:
-In late 2007, I actually went on record as saying I predicted a Kansas-Mizzou National Championship game. Only I wasn’t talking about basketball — I was talking about football.
That one — obviously — did not materialize. I think it’s fair to say I’m not a huge college football fan.
-I picked the Capitals to win the Stanley Cup last year. They were then hastily eliminated in the first round.
My predictions are like putting Ben Affleck in a $100 million blockbuster — an absolute kiss of death.
-I had the Packers going 10-6 last season — they went 6-10. This was a simple case of Sports Prophesying Dyslexia (SPD), and a little bias.
I mistakenly reported a few weeks back that the UVM ski team finished third instead of second. They — rightfully so — weren’t too happy about that.
I can’t remember how many times I have pissed off the ski team, but I swear, it’s not personal.
My point is this: in this journalism game — one that I am learning every day — mistakes are made.
However, one thing I have learned over the last few years is that the media is in shambles right now and it’s our job as young journalists to hit the reset button and start trying something new.
This starts with the very basics, like, oh, I don’t know, reporting the facts. And I’ll say this — we do our best to get it right every time.
But, as I mentioned earlier, mistakes do happen, and for that, I apologize.
Now go ahead, one last time, call me an idiot.
It’s cool. I promise you I can take it.