Is the "The official told me I could, but hey, it's my fault" line the same thing as the "I'm not going to use injury as an excuse" line?
You come across as being accountable, but plant the seed that it is not your fault. If you dont want to use something as an excuse dont bring it up at all.
QFT Gibbs is an expert at doing this and people fall for it all the time and call him classy. Some people actually think Gibbs did this intentionally to ensure that all the blame for the loss would be pointed in his direction.
