Mike, this is Jack Edwards.

You can choose to take shortcuts, be sloppy, reckless with inuendo, and mean-spirited, but you crossed the line when you lied about me this afternoon on your rant about how I characterized Brett Connolly. I heard it. I knew I hadn’t said it. So I went to the aircheck, on which I have just wasted half an hour on a game prep day so I could set the record straight.

Let me read you a transcript:

[3:59 to play 1st period]

[Jack] Fifteen minutes into his first Bruins’ game, we know a couple of things about Brett Connolly: He’s not afraid to be confrontational, and he’ll shoot the puck when he’s got the chance.

[Brick] Yeah, that’s his bread and butter. He’s got one of the better shots in the National Hockey League and Bruins fans will be excited about that. You don’t have to tell him twice to shoot it.

[Jack] And on a team that has struggled for offense, that’s why he was brought to Boston for a second round pick in 2015 and a second round pick in 2016, from Tampa Bay.

[3:25 to play 1st period]

[Jack] Three and a half to go in the first… (etc., play by play continues)

So no one ever said that Connolly had one of the best shots in the NHL, as you repeatedly shouted on the air during the 4 o’clock hour. In addition, you – at least a couple of times – attributed the statement that never was made to me.

Most rational people would agree that a characterization of a player’s shot as “one of the best” and “one of the better” is a significant difference. But rather than parse out your explosion over something that never happened, let’s just put this subject at rest with this.

You pose as a figure who challenges everyone, especially recognizable figures in sport and society, to be honest and accountable for making mistakes. I have made plenty and I will certainly make more, stylistically and factually, in the future. I’m not perfect.

But will you hold yourself to the same standard? You ripped me at the top of your voice in the 4 o’clock hour of a holiday afternoon getaway. You were playing yourself in prime time by being a tough guy and slamming me.

But you got it wrong.

Man up.