When we goof, we apologize

By
Raymond Hines
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By: Gator Country Staff

Let’s get the tough part out of the way. We reported that Jay-Nard Bostwick was among five Florida players suspended for game one against Toledo. It turns out that the information was correct on the other players, but inaccurate regarding Bostwick and for that, Gator Country apologizes to Mr. Bostwick, his family and Will Muschamp and the Florida coaching staff.

Gator Country has a long history of breaking stories and a policy of checking and double checking the facts before the story is run, a policy that dates back to 2004. In this case, Gator Country received information Thursday night that players would be suspended for game one. By the time the story was run on Friday, multiple sources were contacted and they confirmed the accuracy of the information. The sources that were used were proven and reliable, but again, the information they provided about Bostwick was not accurate.

Again, we apologize for the inaccuracy of our report and for any embarrassment that it has caused Jay-Nard Bostwick and his family. It was never our intention to do anything except report the news factually. When we are wrong, we admit it. In this case, we were certainly wrong about Jay-Nard Bostwick.

Raymond Hines
Raymond Hines
http://alongtheray.com
Back when I was a wee one I had to decide if I wanted to live dangerously and become a computer hacker or start a website devoted to the Gators. I chose the Gators instead of the daily thrill of knowing my next meal might be at Leavenworth. No regrets, however. The Gators have been and will continue to be my addiction. What makes this so much fun is that the more addicted I become to the Florida Gators, the more fun I have doing innovative things to help bring all the Gator news that is news (and some that isn’t) to Gator fans around the world. Andy Warhol said we all have our 15 minutes of fame. Thanks to Gator Country, I’m working on a half hour. Thanks to an understanding daughter that can’t decide if she’s going to be the female version of Einstein, Miss Universe, President of the United States or a princess, I get to spend my days doing what I’ve done since Gus Garcia and I founded Gator Country back in 1996. Has it really been over a decade and a half now?

3 COMMENTS

  2. Do you believe that these ” sources that were used were proven and reliable” are still proven and reliable?

    And since you were wrong on those how can you feel confident on any of your “proven and reliable” sources?

    This is supposed to be a fan website, how about only jumping the gun on positive info. Let espn and all the other websites put the gators down, with their reliable facebook and twitter “proven and reliable” sources.

    • Absolutely. They’ve proven very reliable in the past, however, no one ever gets everything 100% right all the time. It’s impossible. The fact that we got 4 out of 5 suspensions correct underscores this.

      While I do agree that we are a fan site, we are also a news site and it’s our job to report the news as we get them as long as it has to do with the Florida Gators.

      Gator Country is a company driven by authenticity and honesty. When we report facts, no matter how ‘negative’ they may be, we feel the same disappointment all true Gator fans do. But if we only reported positive facts our readers would not the get 100% coverage they trust us to provide.

      Ray