Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Is it just me or is the Boston Herald going a little overboard with its retraction trilogy? What started as a front-page apology in Wednesday's print and online editions has now stretched into Day 3.

When I checked the newspaper's Web site for its latest mea culpa Thursday evening, I was startled to see the huge headline, "Tomase: How It Went Wrong."

The story is written by Patriots beat writer John Tomase, who offers a detailed explanation on how his rush to break a story contributed to an egregious mistake. Call me cynical, but I'm wondering if the Herald runs this embarrassing apology if Patriots owner Robert Kraft is threatening to sue.

You can bet that the newspaper's attorneys took a long look at Tomase's explanation. At least I hope they did. If the paper truly wanted to appear vigilant in its apology, it would've issued one well before Wednesday. The Herald didn't need to wait for Tuesday's meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh to know it had made a colossal error in judgment.

I thought my colleague Mike Sando made an excellent point in his blog entry from earlier this morning: We care about "scoops" way more than our readers do. Contrary to what some people in our profession might think, most fans aren't charting who breaks the most stories. But when you get one wrong -- in this case horribly so -- it can break the trust you've established with readers.

Every writer on this blog has been in a highly competitive situation, so it's easy to identify with the pressure Tomase was feeling on such a major story. But still, being first isn't worth ruining your reputation.

Does John Tomase deserve a second chance? I think he does. But the Herald's plan to keep him on the Patriots beat seems completely misguided. In fact, I was shocked to see him representing the paper at Sen. Arlen Specter's news conference in Washington on Wednesday.