Some believe in a world where there are only excuses. I happen to believe that facts matter, and it's more reasonable (perhaps "fair" is a better word) to acknowledge the reality of reasons.
It's my job as a beat writer to learn everything I can about what I cover and be fair, based on what I know. Never know better --- or have reason to believe better --- than what I write.
And never, never pander to popular misperceptions. It's nothing more than a ploy to score points with some readers --- or get by with ignorance.
That's how I approach writing for the newspaper and, in my opinion, that's how to approach a blog. It's all publication, just in a different forum.
Now that I have that off my chest, there are few reasons to explain why Auburn's offense struggled so in its season-opening victory over Kansas State on Saturday.
There are reasons to explain some of it.
Kansas State came in with a new 3-4 defense, new coordinator and a lot of new schemes off of its alignments. Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges said Sunday that 30 to 40 percent of what K-State ran Saturday never showed on game film from last season.
Normally, a team with an established coordinator and schemes and/or game film from the current season will toss in about 5 to 10 percent new wrinkles, Borges said.
I've not known Borges to be an excuses guy in the three-plus years that I've covered him. I'm also not a coach, nor was I in film study with him.
I'll give benefit of the doubt here.
That said, it sure seemed to take a long time for Auburn to adjust. It wasn't until Auburn's drive to its go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter that Borges went to quick slant passes with short dropbacks, and it worked.
The way the game played out, perhaps it was smart coaching to hold that changeup until the right time.
Perhaps Auburn wouldn't have needed to rally from behind so late, had the change come earlier.
Still, there were plenty of problems with Auburn's offense Saturday. Again, I'll start with what seem to be good reasons.
An offensive line with four new starters looked like it. A running game without suspended starting tailback Brad Lester looked like it.
Then again, why did the one returning starter on Auburn's line, senior left tackle King Dunlap, seem to have the worst game of the bunch?
Why did a fifth-year senior quarterback in Brandon Cox struggle as much as he did with reads? Why did he make poor pass decisions that resulted in both of his interceptions?
Why, when Auburn's running game struggled so, did Auburn's coaches leave redshirt freshman running back Mario Fannin on the bench? He's supposed to be one of Auburn's up-and-coming talents, a ball carrier with game-breaking ability.
I know the explanation. Fannin seems to be a liability in pass blocking, the same reason why Auburn held Kenny Irons back in 2005.
Irons went on to lead the SEC in rushing that season, despite his delayed insertion into the starting lineup. He showed he had take-it-to-the-house ability, which Fannin is supposed to have.
I wonder what difference it would have made had Irons/Fannin punished aggressive defenses with one long touchdown run. Might Irons have slowed Georgia Tech's defense in the 2005 opener, which Tech won by blitzing Cox into five turnovers? Might Fannin have caused Kansas State's defense to back a safety or two off the line of scrimmage?
All it takes is one hole and one running back with speed and vision, and he's beyond those nine guys in the box, in a foot race with cornerbacks.
Against Kansas State, Auburn's receivers could have helped by beating man coverage deep, and Cox could have helped by getting the ball down field.
Perhaps Auburn's receiving corps still struggles to get open, like it did last year. Outside of Rod Smith, perhaps Auburn has only possession receivers who catch reliably and young game breakers who don't catch reliably.
Games down the road will confirm or refute whether that liability still exists. Games down the road will show whether the offensive line will gell, and whether Cox will regain his 2005 form after he struggled through injuries in 2006.
Through one game, every preseason question mark for Auburn's offense looks like a real liability ... which could be a reason, if the Tigers struggle to sustain and finish drives like they did in 2006.

Barbara and Buddy Sisson of Conyers, Georgia, have been coming to every Auburn game, both home and away, for years, and they choose to set up their tailgate on busy Magnolia Street rather than getting an RV. But that doesn't stop the Sissons from putting up elaborate decorations. One pole of the Sissons' Auburn canopy is the "Tiger snack pole," and they hang from the pole plush mascots of all the teams Auburn defeated last season. If they can't find a particular team's mascot, Barbara Sisson sews it.

Today, Buddy Sisson also dragged the Kansas State mascot behind his remote control car, driven by Aubie (see photo). That's a miniature version of what the Sissons do with their own SUV: they have a hangman's noose on the back and hang Auburn's opponent's mascot there when they drive to games. They said people often tailgate them on the highway to take photos of the back of their car.

But the Sissons' sense of rivalry doesn't run much deeper than decorations. As a group of Kansas State fans wearing purple togas walks past them, Barbara Sisson cries out "welcome to Auburn!" She says they often meet people from other schools at Auburn tailgates and then meet up with them at away games.

"That's what sports were invented for," Barbara Sisson said.

One of the things I've most enjoyed today is seeing the variety of ways people wear their Auburn pride. There are blue and orange Auburn t-shirts, of course, and I saw one that said "Beating Alabama." But I've also seen AU purses, blue and orange wigs, and one pair of tiger-paw earrings. There are also a lot of people walking around with blue and orange pom-poms hanging out of their pockets.

Many of the RVs in the parking lot south of the stadium have been here for at least one night already.

Melissa Scarbrough of Troy arrived in Auburn last night to begin the twentieth season in which she's attended all of Auburn's home games. She plans to attend the game this afternoon, but this morning she was comfortably ensconced in a folding chair outside of her RV, watching other games on a satellite TV she brought with her.

Bruce Pfeiffer and Romez Perez arrived around 5 p.m. yesterday and spent a couple of hours setting up the canopy and Auburn decorations outside their RV. Like Scarbrough, Pfeiffer and Perez attend all of Auburn's home games, but they usually arrive in town on Wednesday.

(Most of the tailgate setups in the RV parking lot look like this one. Put a lot of them together and the orange is striking.)

Abby Roberts, age 2, is one of many kids I've seen dressed in Auburn gear today.

There's enough orange in the RV parking lots here to brighten even this overcast day, but I did meet a handful of Kansas State fans who were tailgating out of a school bus they drove here from Kansas. They arrived here around 1 p.m. yesterday and said they've been surprised by how nice the Auburn fans have been.

I asked them if they had any hope for a Kansas State victory, and they were noncommital.

"I think it's gonna be a good game," said Brett Willoughby.

When I set out for Auburn this morning, the roads were almost empty. But the closer I got to Auburn, the more obvious it became that it was gameday. By the time I turned onto 147, I was part of a small parade of cars and trucks bearing AU flags, stickers, and license plates. As I drove through town, the automobiles became even more distinctly Auburn. I've seen a couple of convertibles painted orange and blue and one RV with "War Eagle" on the side.