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I keep telling Dan Farthing that I am sorry for apologizing so often.

But I still feel awful about what happened, so … (sniffle) … sorry, Dan.

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I really am.

Nearly 22 years have elapsed since Farthing, a receiver with the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1991 to 2001, was victimized by the Vanstone Curse.

For a considerable portion of the 1997 CFL season, Farthing was on pace to easily reach the milestone of 1,000 receiving yards.

It was an irresistible storyline — a good thing happening to a great person — so I interviewed Farthing, did some extrapolating, and wrote a column about the inevitability of him reaching 1,000 yards.

He reached 959.

It still bugs me.

“If I am over it,” he told me the other day, “you can be, too.”

Dan is blessed with the ability to focus on matters other than statistics and events of yesteryear. He is, therefore, someone to be envied.

But I can still see him, wide open for what should have been a significant gain, late in the 1997 season.