There are some people who post extremely regularly on this board that are constantly negativists. They doubtless view themselves as the only realists. They however know no more of what they're talking about as regards the future than we optimists do. Also, I find the optimists' views more interesting to read than the negativists. The negativists speak largely of the past, often the past of different coaching regimes and systems, which are almost irrelevant to our discussions. The optimists include some starry-eyed happy folks, but also the majority of the posters who take a longer view and try to analyze what actually is happening from a strengths and weaknesses point-of-view. Whenever I'm reading a post composed largely of anger, cynicism, or hysteria, I have my doubts as to whether it's adding anything to my understanding of Notre Dame football. AND, I have a suspicion that there are one or two jerks on the board who post their cynical crap just to get a rise out of others. There are a few posters who have begun to offer me little or no insight about anything, and I've begun to just skip over their "contributions". I suggest that if they're bothering anybody that you do too. [until they actually have something to say]. And to reassert my unwavering faith: I believe that this team has a good coaching staff, an array of pretty good players struggling with a lot of new detailed learning, and a fair amount of positive play to show for it. The trend of all this is up.