Purdue fans, huddle up.

After our loss to IU, I made it a point to try to stay off the site for at least 24 hours, just to let myself cool down. That loss sucked, there's no two ways about it. Though I refrained from joining the fray of comments, I did read everything people were saying to one another, and I felt compelled to give an opinion on "fan-dom".

There's been a lot of "optimistic" fans bashing "pessimistic" fans, and likewise "pessimistic" fans bashing "optimistic" fans. Look, we all have differing viewpoints in life, none of us have had the same upbringing, none of us see things the same way. The beauty of this blog community we've developed IS our diverse viewpoints. I got into it the other day over one of my hate week posts with a guy twice my age. Where else is that going to happen?

My point is this people. We're all fans. We're all BOILERMAKER fans. The term "fair weather fan" is being thrown around a lot, and I don't believe that term applies to anyone reading this. A fair weather fan doesn't take the time to sign up for an SB Nation account, and then wait the 24 hours to voice their opinion. A fair weather fan doesn't take the time to log on after a frustrating loss to blow off steam. A fair weather fan says "Oh well", and throws on an IU or ND or you name it flavor of the week team jersey. Purdue fans don't do that though. It's because Purdue fans are passionate about their team that they get so frustrated when they see that team fall short of their potential. Sure we have visitors whose primary membership is somewhere else, but I'm talking to you, the H&R community, who signed up just to be heard on this site.

So what if some people get mad and think the sky is falling? So what if others think we're gonna run the table each year until proven otherwise? We're all Purdue fans first, and we're all cheering for the same team. Regardless of our outlook on the remainder of the season, I'm sure everyone will be glued to TV, radio, or present in Mackey for each of our remaining games, cheering on the Boilers. Isn't that all that matters? All this talk of shaming people for the way the carry themselves as a fan is useless. All it does is start a big pissing contest and before you know it we have a big "argument thread" that's as long as the gamethread from the game that got people upset to begin with.

Finally, you may think I'm just some peace-nick trying to smooth everything out and make everyone gather round and sing kumbaya, and that's fine. (Though I think if you look at my fan posts last week, you'll see I'm anything but a peacemaker)

I urge you to remember what oldboiler and a few others have told us this season. Up and coming recruits read these blogs and these message boards. I for one don't want to put out an image of a divided fan base that spends more time bickering than cheering for the team. We all know that nothing could be further from truth.

We say that "Loyalty Lives Here", so let's be loyal to our fellow fans. Boiler Up.