FanPost

Merry Christmas!

I just want to use this opportunity to wish everyone Merry Christmas and a *HAPPY* New Year! Coz frankly, it hasn't been too happy around with bitterly screaming at one another.

When the team struggles, everyone is frustrated. The "realists" keep saying how terrible the team is, and the "optimists" can't stand the "negativity." So when the "optimists" try to counter balance by providing an extra dose of sugar, they were viciously attacked for being "unrealistic."

I'd like to borrow from "Good to Great": embrace the genius of AND while shun the tyranny of OR. It is not an either or - you can be a realist AND an optimist. They are not mutually exclusive. We can be realistic about the status of the team, and the obstacles it will have to face to get a post-season berth. But at the same time, we can still be optimistic about the future, b/c we have some good young talent and they should only get better, especially with a coach who has proven capable of developing players.

I've made a lot of enemies criticizing other people's comments, but I never hold any grudges towards anyone. My intention is never to convince others, but rather I'd be happier if I am convinced by others - which would have meant I've learned something new. It saddens me to see that instead of more open and insightful dialogues, we keep degenerating into personal attacks to resolve our differences.

Therefore, with the holiday spirit, I hope we can bring back the joy and fun here. I am a realist (it's pretty shitty lately here in this site), but I am also an optimist (it will get better b/c in the end, we are all Purdue fans and want the same thing, both for the team and for this site).

Items in the FanPosts are entirely at the discretion of those that post them. They do not represent the views of Hammer & Rails, SBNation, or Purdue University in any way.