Between 1997 and 2007, incidents between the two sides included Olbermann’s publishing an essay on Salon.com in November 2002, titled “Mea Culpa”, in which he stated: “I couldn’t handle the pressure of working in daily long-form television, and what was worse, I didn’t know I couldn’t handle it.”[28] The essay told of an instance when his former bosses remarked he had “too much backbone,” a claim that is literally true, as Olbermann has six lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five.[28]