Headline: Fans Rebel! Leave in Droves! Rickey.org is Burning! Burning!

I've been wanting to put my foot down for a while, thought about engaging the super-fans, taking on points one by one, getting passionate, backtrack a bit, then fire up again, etc. Ultimately, what I've done most of the time now is I've just let things be. Because at the end of the day, it's pointless.

If there's anything I've learned after 4 years of passionate American Idol blogging is that I will not be able to satisfy everybody's needs no matter how hard I try.

Have I done anything particularly different this year compared to other years? Nothing really. Just the comics and the added pressure to be funny about it. I don't see why I should be changing what I do because of one person or group.

I understand that there is a lot of emotional investment on this show or a particular contestant, but at the end of the day, I think you should ask yourselves: What is at stake here really? Is it the office pool? Do you have money invested in one contestant? Is it your health? Do you have heart problems? If this particular contestant won, will you get cured?

As much as I come across as an over-zealous fan to some of you (or whatever it is that I am to you), at the end of the day, American Idol is just a TV show. Don't sell your house and leave your kids with your relatives just yet in order to get an autograph.

American Idol is an amazing TV show, that's why I continue to be passionate about it. But if David Archuleta became more important to me than my health or paying rent, then I think that would be a good time for me to assess what I value in life and see my therapist more frequently (LOL). It's close, but I trust that I am grounded enough in who I am not to allow myself to go over the edge (I hope!)

I have been blessed over the years to have met a lot of good people via this blog -- transcending disputes over who sang "My Funny Valentine" better, who's hotter, etc. -- and just reach common ground. The entertainment media and even some Idol contestants past, present and future have also noticed what we do here. These are all unexpected results of me being true to myself in what I write and post on this blog. I am simply amazed at what has happened in my life because of this blog. And I am always grateful to all of you who have continued to visit me, sometimes everyday, for years. This lonely voice in the Internet, and still people come. Thanks.

Let me get into specifics on why the David Archuleta threads have deteriorated so badly over the past 24 hours:

1. The David Archuleta threads on Rickey.org over the past weeks have earned a reputation all over the Internet as a place where "40-year-old mothers talk about a 17-year-old boy's runner's legs in leather pants" -- and I decided to finally do something about the purple elephant in the corner.

2. I contacted a couple of the Archey Angels privately to help me tone the down the posts because we are not doing ourselves any favors by letting things get out of hand, even if we are not writing specifically about the runner's legs. I don't believe anyone who has posted a comment on the threads is a sexual predator, but some people who read Rickey.org -- and they are legion -- will, and ultimately will just use what they assume to be true against you. I told them that we need to be pro-active and make sure that we don't give those who hate us ammunition to hurt us.

3. Ironically, contacting some of the fans turned out to be a mistake, as opinions about me from the core group of users turned on a dime overnight.

4. I posted Naomi Judd's comments about Jeff Archuleta last night. On any other day, it would just be news, but today, fed by the assumptions that Rickey was abandoning David Archuleta from people chatting via e-mail and other places, it was seen by some as evidence of that fact.

5. Since the super-fans have left -- and have sworn on their mother never to visit Rickey.org again -- the fans now feel that the threads are no longer a "safe-haven" since it is now peppered with some dissenting opinion. The guardians at the gate have left -- who will protect us now?

So that's what happened. Pretty much Rickey vs. the Soul Patrol 2.0 -- and I think just about this same time actually two years ago.

I know some of you non-Archuleta fans are laughing hysterically at how all of this went down. Some of you are also crying at how things are no longer what they were. But, that's life. I didn't ask any of you to choose to come to the blog, you chose me. And if you choose to not come anymore, there's really nothing I can do about it.

The biggest irony of course is that everybody else on Rickey.org believe the I am still a David Archuleta fan -- except David Archuleta's most ardent fans. LOL. Evidence once again that you really can't satisfy everyone.

So the best thing to do now is rebuild. I still believe the David Archuleta threads will continue to be healthy and fun even without the old Über-fans. Why? Because Rickey rocks and you know it.

Peace!