Everybody feel better?

Nothing makes people feel better in 2012 than being right...and doing it in the forum of Twitter is the ultimate conquest, it seems.

J knows this, but some of you don't- I don't live on Twitter...don't even have an active FB account and generally think these forms of media are colossal wastes of time...on a day-to-day basis.

But during big news times, I'm on Twitter in pretty large chunks as information is disseminated quickly this way.  But, just as it is on a normal day, the news is not always correct...even if it comes from mainstream media source (*gasp* that shocks some of you, I'm sure).

So this morning, I woke up early to exercise, but decided to check Twitter first to see if there were any storm updates.  I ended up wasting 1.5 hours on the Twittermachine instead.

There were plenty of updates on Sandy- the seas were higher off of the coast of NY and NJ than they had ever been recorded...flooding and power outages are rampant in the Northeast...and a noteworthy sidebar: the Army decided to stand guard in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier through this historical storm.  I loved reading and seeing this.

After seeing links posted by a few weather people on the east coast, I reposted the photo...turns out, the photo that many members of the media are using is from September.  But, since I decided to sleep and am far from a Twitter maven, I missed the news that this ancient photo had gone viral.  My bad.

I actually do appreciate the way some of you guys handled this on Twitter- pointing it out is probably the best possible thing to do- so thanks to most of you who were trying to save me from myself.

But tact still matters to me...and while it's tough to have any tact in 140 characters or less, it still is possible (as a few of you exemplified).  Perhaps it's because I'm in my late-30s...but I still read abrupt comments as rude...I'm old, I'm told, and that's what old people do.  And as J reminded me this weekend, my mentality is probably at least a decade (or more) older than my actual age.

My point is, I'm extremely sorry for breaking a Twitter rule and posting this photo 15 hours after it was found to be from an entire month ago.  15 hours in 2012 Twitter time is like two years to many of you who live and die by this medium...and I have sinned against the gods of the interwebnet...namely many of you.  Mea culpa.

All that said, the guys that stayed and guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are still badasses...and my lack of vetting a photo shows how much of a hack I really am, I guess.

As I've always said, I'm not a member of the real media...so mistakes like this aren't normal for me*.

I should have posted this instead.





*zing

Glad I was born in 1975

I've had a few conversations this morning- some via Twitter, some on the phone and others via e-mail. Some have been constructive and positive (thanks for those), some have been laced with name-calling and curse words. Neato.

I started this site with two of my pals six years ago so we would have a place to vent about Purdue sports instead of sending out long e-mail threads on Monday mornings.  It's been a pretty therapeutic part of my life as I tend to get too angry when Purdue loses...so blowing off steam has helped me to fester for less time. But, the last few months, not just the last few hours, haven't been that way.

Comments on Twitter and on the site alike have shown me some things from fellow Purdue fans that have made this site feel more like a just a laborious activity than a labor of love.  It's really my naiveté that's the problem- I've always thought of Purdue fans as a cut above the rest of the world...but it turns out (SHOCKER!) that a school of 40K+ has quite a few knuckleheads and dumbasses leaving her doors each year.

But that's not why I'm writing today. I'm writing because I'm a very flawed person...and make a ton of mistakes in my daily life. Most of them can easily be looked past and gotten over.  I apologize to my kids and wife when screw up...and they're a forgiving group, thankfully, so life marches on as time does...even with my shortcomings. But some people don't forgive or forget quite as easily.

Earlier today, Boiledsports, which has really been Jandboilerdowd.com for the last six years, published something that isn't in line with the way we think and do things. We removed it, but the record of the article will live on via classy folks at Northwestern sites and elsewhere.  In other words, the digital copy is out there, and it will be...forever. I haven't talked to Nikki about her post.  I don't know if she regrets putting it up...and don't really care either way.  She's entitled to her opinion...and it's really not

But, having a pervasive internet and constant documentation of life has taken away much of the wiggle room that everyday life used to have built in.  Sure, much of this is by the choice of the person making the mistake...but perspective changes with time and experience...but internet mistakes are forever.

Color me Boilerdowd

When I was in high school and college, my fashion choices were questionable. I wore colored jeans and Nike Deion Sanders shoes...at the same time. I once shaved lines...into my eyebrows. I had brightly-colored leather and suede jackets.  Nasty, egregious stuff.  Sure, there's record of these mistakes...but they're locked away in old photo albums and VHS tapes...many under lock and key at my parents' home. You can't merely hit a few keystrokes and call them up to your computermaphone and show them to your chums...Thank God.

Busted!!

But that's not the case for everyone.  I don't know how to do it, but I'm sure there's a way to find old Twitter posts from accounts that are closed. And if you make an embarrassing video, even if you erase it, it's still floating around in the ethos just waiting for the wrong prying hands and eyes to grab it and use it in any way possible.

I haven't ever recorded myself sans pantalones...but I know some of you out there have...and I'm sure your friends have found the proof. What seemed like a good idea for just you and that special someone, wasn't so special or private as the dynamics of the relationship changed...and you and your pride have paid for that.

I guess what I'm driving at, is that, at least in this case, I'm glad to be a bit older than some of you reading this.  Like you, I screwed up a lot during my time in high school and college...but back then, my buddies would have had to grab the camcorder to document it...and the only way everyone would have seen it was if we had a viewing party.  A good friend of mine once questioned the sexual preference of a girl that turned him down during our Sophomore year in HS...and his reactionary stupidity spread quickly through school.  But there was no Twitter or FB to immortalize his stupidity...and it's a good thing.  He apologized to the girl, she forgave him and the thing just went away. Now, he's actually a pretty thoughtful and well-respected adult...he just wasn't that way when he was 15. Nor was I.

Sure, when I'm reminded by limited follicles, extra weight around the middle and the fact that it hurts to play basketball, I'm not too stoked about being a 36 year old...But all-in-all, I'm pretty damned thankful that I was born in 1975. And really, more importantly, I'm thankful to have been a teenager in the 90s (even if I may or may not have worn overalls during that era).

Cautionary Tales from Twitter and Message Boards

I think everyone has said something they regret.  If you're like me, your friends and family don't let the transgressions die very quickly.  BUT, even when you spout off, unless your mistake was video taped, the accounts of your stupidity can be ruled as conjecture or exaggeration.

That is not the case when you type something stupid...and there's something much worse and tougher to explain away about the permanency of the written word.  Following Purdue's win over Michigan, some IU fans began showing themselves for what they are.

I have some good friends who are IU fans.  And it seems that each time I start thinking that the IU fanbase isn't so bad, as I look through the prism of my friends, I'm reminded that those people are the exception, not the rule.

J and I like a good discussion or debate.  But, we try to keep things from getting personal as much as possible during these exchanges.  That doesn't seem to be the case for the IU fans we interact with via Twitter.

Twitter tough guy

We have been called "A*swipes, f*gs and f*cks"...and maybe hardest to swallow, members of the traditional media...and that was in a mere hour on Saturday night.  The thing that some of these people might not get is a ton of people see what's being said, and words do matter.  The other thing that they might not get is that when they spew this excrement in the name of IU, they hurt their school's or the fanbase's reputation.  Many Purdue fans might argue that the Hoosier fanbase has already done enough damage to itself...but on behalf of my friends Mark, Nick, Matt and others, I'll ask you guys to stop; but not for me, but for yourselves.

Internet stupidity isn't limited to just IU fans though.

On the Knucklehead board, on Twitter and even on this site, Purdue fans have said their share of regrettable things...and most can be found with just a few minutes of research. Here are some of them that revolve around The Forces of Good, from just the last few months:

"Matt Painter should be fired." "Terone Johnson stinks." "Ryne Smith wouldn't start in the MAC." "Robbie Hummel will never be able to play at a high level again." "Anthony Johnson can't shoot." "DJ Byrd is a wasted scholarship." "Travis Carroll is a D-II player."

Some guys don't pan out or ever reach their full potential...there's no doubt about that.  But judging a well-respected coach by just a ten-game stretch is pretty ignorant.  Furthermore, saying a player isn't worth his scholarship after less than half of a career is silliness.  Also, if a guy is playing 25+minutes a game, wouldn't it be fair to reason that he's probably not the bum that you think he is?  No matter, I guess.

Opinions are good...and differing, diverse, well-thought opinions make discussions and life at large interesting.  But conversely, flippant and impassioned opinions that are typed when you're angry, drunk, drunk and angry or permanently stupid, might come back to haunt you...and they don't die quickly.

So whether you think we're overly-biased, gold glasses-wearing Purdue shills, or overly-negative pseudo Boiler Backers who don't understand what being a Purdue fan is about (we've been accused of both in the last two weeks), please heed our request to be as tactful as possible- not for us, but for your own reputation. Even in this thoughtless, no-accountability electronic counter culture, you might have to deal with the fallout of your foolish keystrokes in three dimensions, for weeks or years to come. It's up to you.

As you were, a*swipes.