DieHard,
You are painting with too broad a brush.
Not everyone is freaking out. You'll see a lot of cool heads remaining at the GopherHole. Usually, they are long-time posters. The problem is that they (we?) tend to write several paragraphs that attempt to be an objective look at our team and the season they've had. The knee-jerk overreactors, on the otherhand, write dozens of one-line uninformed quips that are aimed more at provocation than at participation in a rational discussion.
My observation is that most of the folks out there who have a roller-coaster of reactions to wins like Michigan State and losses like Iowa State haven't been fans for more than 5 years. They are likely also the children of baby boomers who were coddled their entire lives and told that they were the best at everything. They expect immediate gratification.
I look at a football program like a stock portfolio. Each individual stock will have its ups and downs and there will be some you'll want to dump and others you'll want to acquire. The big picture, however, is about trending and peer-comparison. As far as trending goes, I think we are operating at about the same level as we have been for this entire decade. I'd like to see more improvement, but am willing to be a little more patient. As far as peer comparrisons; statistically, our peers have been Northwestern and Michigan State for most of the past 10 years. We beat both and performed at about the same overall level this year. I'd like our peers to be Iowa and Wisconsin, but thereagain, I am willing to be a little patient.
I do agree, though, it is hard to look at this board with all those who can't hack the ups and downs of a football season and can't be rational about their need for immediate gratification.