This week, the Boston Herald, one of the more respected newspapers in this industry, admitted a reporting mistake in a story about the New England Patriots cheating by videotaping the St. Louis Rams’ practice before the 2002 Super Bowl.

The Herald went on step further, issuing a nearly unprecedented apology to the Patriots’ organization and the newspaper’s readers.

Good for them, because nobody likes to admit failure, and few apologies are ever uttered, in this business and in others. Now if ESPN and the other news outlets who jumped all over this story, overanalyzing it and exploiting it, would also apologize, that’d be something.

But given the good judgment shown by the Boston Herald, here’s a couple of apologies that would be nice to hear.

From that men’s basketball official of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, who incorrectly called offensive goaltending on Minnesota State’s Chris Whitfield in the final nine seconds of the regional semifinal game against Winona State in 2006. Whitfield’s tip-in would have tied the game, but instead, the Mavericks were forced to foul, and Winona State made a free throw to win 74-71.

There were certainly other things that happened in that game, like the Mavericks blowing a 16-point lead in the second half, and had Whitfield’s basket had rightly been allowed to count, Winona State might still have won, but that official was wrong. Officials never apologize, and while it’s human to make mistakes, it’s also right to apologize when you’re so clearly wrong.

From Clarence Holley, who boldly promised that one day, his football team would play for a national championship, allowing a sportswriter to travel to Alabama to watch the Mavericks play in the biggest game of the season. He meant well, unable to control the joy he had when he was hired here in 2002, but like the University of Minnesota’s Tim Brewster, it’s sometimes better to say nothing.

We know how that turned out for Holley, and in his final season, the Mavericks went 0-11, making that same sportswriter sit through a lot of bad football. For that, he’s already apologized.

From Timberwolves vice president Kevin McHale, who instead of working hard and showing the acumen to acquire top-level talent, traded Kevin Garnett to Boston, which will likely be playing in the Eastern Conference finals next week. McHale’s botched deals have plummeted the franchise into irrelevance, while pushing the Celtics toward a championship.

The Timberwolves may have received good, young talent in the deal, but the team was unwatchable this season, and won’t likely be much better next season. By the time the Timberwolves become competitive again, the league’s landscape may have changed. In fairness, it’s not all McHale’s fault, given that he should no longer be the team’s chief decision-maker, but owner Glen Taylor continues to show unwarranted faith in McHale, which should probably come with another apology.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call (507) 344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.