Understandably, we Y fans have become defensive towards our fellow active LDS who endlessly express their desire for BYU to fail (they are mostly UofU and USU fans, although a few Weber State and even UNLV fans express it, as well). Our defensiveness morphs into vitriol not just towards the active LDS who want BYU to fail, but also towards their fellow UofU/USU/WSU/UNLV fans who are not active LDS, like yourself, who nobody in their right mind would expect or predict to show any support for BYU.

It is in BYU's best interest, and thus our best interest, to act at least neutral, if not with friendly respect, towards those who aren't active LDS when we're discussing BYU sports. The vitriol, ironically, should stay inside the active LDS community, where it belongs!

Unfortunately, it's often difficult to know who's active LDS and who isn't, especially on an anonymous sports message board, like cougarboard.com. Here it's assumed that nearly all posters are active LDS, and thus the vitriol flies fast and furious until identities are uncovered, but by then, assumptions have led to offense where offense shouldn't have been intended.