Thank you and Merry Christmas from Purple Row

Colorado Rockies fans might not be as strong in numbers as some of the other fanbases across Major League Baseball, but you'd better believe they're every bit as passionate.

That passion, as well as a wide array of interests and a collective IQ -- regarding baseball and otherwise -- seemingly much higher than the average group of people is what initially brought me to Purple Row eight years ago. Despite the team getting worse and worse, and despite near-constant bickering among commenters on the site for the better part of the team's recent run of struggles, none of those characteristics listed above are one iota different than they were when I first discovered this wonderful plot of Internet land.

None of the writers on this site, myself included, get paid much of anything to do what we do. That statement isn't made to try to make anyone feel guilty about arguing with us or telling us we're wrong or suggesting we get better. Rather, it is made to remind the staff -- again, myself included -- why we do what we do. Spoiler: we do it for you. The readers. Those passionate Rockies fans with a wide array of interests and a collective IQ higher than the average group of people.

As long as you keep coming back and engaging in thoughtful discourse with us, we'll keep doing what we do: providing you the best coverage of the Rockies you'll find anywhere. Along the way, we hope to make you laugh and maybe make you cry. Either way, we guarantee to make you think, because that's what brings out the best in all of us -- and it's what allows our community to flourish with intelligent conversation and all of the fun things that come along with it.

So, thank you. Thank you for reading this year and every year, and thank you for enduring changes -- both on the site and elsewhere (read: the Rockies' front office). Also, thank you for helping to make us want to be better at this whole thing.

Mostly, thank you for being you.

Merry Christmas to you and your families. May this holiday season bring you only the best of times.