My Dad always told me to learn from other's mistakes -- often. As with most of my father's sage advice, I usually didn't heed his information until it was too late. I'd have to find out for myself why it was unwise to run with scissors, play with matches, pull the cat's hair, or run in the street. Of course, every now and then, when he was especially mad at me, he'd tell me playing in the street was just fine. As life wore on, I learned to heed my Dad's advice, and learned lessons while watching my friends wreck their cars and blow up their microwaves.

Those words sound so simple by themselves: "Learn from other's mistakes." We'd all like to think that's what we do, but every now and then we get a chance to see someone else's past errors rear their ugly heads in our own lives. This past week was a case in point. Last year, UVa showed us exactly what NOT to do with the press. Feeling slighted by Ronald Curry's change of heart, they mounted a write-in campaign to nominate Curry as the 'Sports-Jerk-of-the-year.' They were successful, and Curry received the dubious award. However, their plan backfired as the Tank McNamara strip chose to ridicule the fans and their obsession with a teenager who changed his mind.

Earlier this year, we were provided a warning from the media, when a writer for the Chicago Tribune replied to angry e-mails that he was just glad that we were reading his articles. He didn't really care what our opinions on his pieces were. Readership is readership, and unless you have some influence on his advertisers, you hold absolutely no influence over him. The saddest part of all is that when you fire off hate mail to these writers, you are actually encouraging them. The only true weapon you have against their ignorance is ignore-ance. If you just leave them alone, they'll go on to the next hot topic, poking at it with barbed comments until it erupts, and another irate reader responds with another heated rebuttal. And then the fun starts all over again.

As fans, we should be more concerned with our own actions. The image others have of our university is a direct reflection of their own interactions. Believe it or not, an inflammatory article will not sway someone's opinion of our school -- unless we react in such a way to reinforce the unwarranted statements. When I was a Tech student, I was a proud member of the Corps of Cadets. Once, during my freshmen year, I went over to a friend's dorm on the other side of campus. Her roommate was shocked that she had brought a cadet into their room. She had heard all kinds of bad things about the Corps. She had even met one of the cadets herself, and he had made a boob of himself. So, she assumed, that was true of all cadets. She asked me a lot of questions about our lifestyle, and I was amazed at how far from the truth some of the rumors were. She was willing to accept those far-flung comments though simply because one of the Corps' members acted like a jerk the one time she met him.

There's a big lesson in all that. The comments of one PSU journalist shouldn't cause any of us to change our opinion of their school, or the rest of their student body. You should just feel sorry for him, and go about your own business. With their recent loss, they feel pretty hurt right now, and any spiteful comments you might make at their expense will only serve as supporting evidence to his drivel. Take the high road, and either make supportive comments, or say nothing at all. Don't be the one boob who implants an adverse opinion of Virginia Tech.

West Virginia played with passion against us in a thrilling game this past weekend. Nehlen commented afterwards that his team "bled their hearts out in this game. I've got a lot of sick kids in the locker room right now." As gut-wrenching as this loss was, one of their star players (I believe it was Shawn Foreman) still went to the broadcasting booth after the game to offer congratulations to Bill Roth and Mike Burnop. Now THAT is a class act! THAT is something I will remember for a long time, and it will alter my impression of the West Virginia favorably. My impression was favorable to begin with, but now it is even more so.

Don't worry when some sportswriter pokes fun at the Hokies. Let our record and our class speak for itself. Concern yourself instead with acting like a classy fan. Applaud at the right time. Don't cheer when bad things happen to the opponents -- on the field and off. Don't jeer the opposing team or rub it in when they lose. Be like West Virginia was this weekend. Be a Class Act. Be a Hokie!