Who's Sorry Now? ESPN Columnist Edition

I wanted the final Who's Sorry Now? post during Will's tenure to be a memorable one, and this one's a doozy. Jemele Hill's latest column over at the Page Dos includes the phrase "I'm sorry," not once, but three times ... plus dozens of other variations of the term sprinkled throughout. It's a mea culpa for the ages, and one only the hyper-sensitive WWL could provide.

You have to feel kind of sorry for Hill; her mistake — invoking the name of Hitler in a column about rooting for the Boston Celtics — didn't seem to warrant the kind of negative attention it got. Seems a bit incongruous that, in a week that we're all falling over ourselves praising George Carlin and the seven words you can't say on television, that Hill has to write an entire column apologizing for invoking Hitler. And besides, shouldn't the ESPN editors be the ones apologizing? Columnists push the boundaries of good taste all the time; it's their job to be edgy and thought provoking. And when they overreach, as is occasionally bound to happen, it's the editors' job to reel them in. But hey, those ESPN Featured Comments are difficult to maintain; editors can't be everywhere at once. So Hill is made to grovel in order to keep her column, and life goes on as usual in Bristol, where they're still trying to keep their security guards awake.

In the interests of full disclosure, back in the early days of this site, I once invoked Hitler's name in a headline, and Will, wisely, took it out. So we keep a closer watch on such things than ESPN, and we don't even have editors. I suppose I should write an apology column nonetheless.

Elsewhere in the world of eternal shame:

• Sorry for wearing men's shorts at Wimbledon. And for that camera commercial with the dog. — Maria Sharapova

• We know this is going to look ridiculous, so sorry in advance. — Every Major League baseball player.

• Sorry. Your $10.50 will be fully refunded in the next life. — Mike Myers.

• Sorry for digging up Johnny Cash and stealing his clothes. — Imus

• Sorry I couldn't get to that ninth player. Scheduling conflict. — Julie Pritchett