@UpRootCha1 was straight and to the point.

"@MatthewBerryTMR I miss the love/hate column. Was so awesome over the years. (Three heart-eye emojis)."

@UpRootCha1 is not alone in their sentiments.

@BragantheRules tweeted: "Bring back Love/Hate please. These aren't doing it."

@rex_johns said, "I miss the Love/Hate column! Bring it back!"

And so on. I have gotten many positive and supportive tweets over the past four weeks about my new 50 Facts column format and certainly, people are still reading it, for which I am eternally grateful. But I would also be lying if I said that every week, after every column post, I don't get replies like these as well.

In tweets, texts, comments on my posts in the Fantasy Life app and in conversations with friends, I have heard the same refrain for a month now. "I get why you did it, but man, I really miss Love/Hate."

The challenge, of course, is that all of the same issues that caused me to retire the column in the first place still exist. Due to some boring internal things and some extenuating circumstances, the truth is my schedule is actually even more hectic and compressed than I originally anticipated.

So why am I writing about this? Isn't the solution to just ignore the comments, put out the new column and go about my life? Numbers are still good, ESPN is happy with me, and as I just said, I'm busier than ever.

All of which makes sense and would work perfectly fine except for one small issue: I miss it, too.

Make no mistake: I really enjoy the 50 Facts column. I love the process of the research, of figuring out which stats I want to use, of fitting the puzzle pieces together, as it were, to put them in the right order to build my case.

But it's not Love/Hate. Love/Hate was a part of my life for 20 years. If you choose to do something for 20 years and don't miss it, something's wrong.

But still ... is there any way to do this?

After talking to a bunch of people -- an informal focus group, if you will -- I zeroed in on what I think people like about the column. Everyone takes something different, of course, but I believe for the most part one of the big things people like about the column is the intro. Well, I can do that. I've already been doing that all along with 50 Facts. The other big thing they like are many names -- just knowing which players I "love" or "hate."

Could I do that? And maybe give a stat or two about each guy, but not go into the in-depth analysis like I used to? Because after the intro, that's the part that takes the most time. The long paragraph about each player.

So when I would make predictions, especially in written form, each of them was like a mini-thesis. Even if I got it wrong, I felt, I wanted you to see at least a decent chunk of all the thought process behind it and the research that went into creating that prediction.

Every week, from 1999 until this past August, that's what I did. As my role changed and I got the opportunity to do more and more at ESPN, I never stopped that process. Five thousand-plus words, every week, rain or shine. Some columns better than others, of course, but all of them with blood, sweat, tears, thought, worrying, writing and rewriting until the early morning the following day. One of my favorite authors, the late, great Douglas Adams, used to say, "Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until your forehead bleeds."

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And that work habit carried over to other areas of the company as well. It was a hard lesson I learned as I started doing more and more television. I would spit out all these stats -- too many to process for someone watching -- but it was an ego thing. I had done the work and, well, I wanted to prove it. Which I did in my mind, but to the viewer at home it probably just sounded like a ton of numbers all mashed together.

As I reflected on all of this and the lessons I've learned from TV -- that sometimes less is more -- I wondered if maybe that was the solution. Look, I've done the work. I do it all day, every day, 24/7. I live, eat, breathe and sleep fantasy football. But condensing a page of all that research -- about every single player -- into one robust paragraph takes forever.

As I talked with my editors, the question was raised: What if I just ask the audience to trust that I have done the work? They have watched, read and listened to me for almost 20 years professionally, the last 11 on ESPN. If they don't trust me by now, they're never gonna.

So how about if we made rules, we thought? Rules that we explained to the audience. Bring back the old format -- players you love, others receiving votes and players you hate, sorted by position. Still do the intros, but make them a bit shorter. Try to do more players, but with shorter analysis; no more than three sentences on a player. Skip the explanation of the premise we did every week and add in the ESPN point total projection to each player, so that readers know a "LOVE" means I think they meet or exceed the projected points and a "HATE" means they fall short. That simple. Bingo, bango and be done with it.

Basically, a "good parts" version of Love/Hate for you, less writing for me. We'll call it Love/Hate 2.0. Or, as I prefer: Love/Hate 2: Electric Boogaloo.

I thought that would work. It's still going to mean a long night at the office, but it seems more doable, and it gives the people what they've told me they want. So, then, the only reason not to do it was, honestly, ego.

I mean, come on. Six weeks ago, I wrote a 14,000-word teary-eyed goodbye to Love/Hate. And now I'm coming back? Who am I, Mike Francesa? If I do this, am I saying 50 Facts is New Coke? Remember when Michael Jordan tried baseball and then had to go crawling back to hoops? That's what it'll look like, right?

Kinda, yeah.

But then I thought, "Well, that's dumb." To not do the column just because of ego? Look, it's embarrassing and stupid and I'm sure I look silly to some. But that seems like a dumb reason not to do it. And I did give myself an out in the retirement column, saying I reserved the right to bail on the whole thing and come back. So make fun of me all you want on this. I know it's coming and I get it. Quick, someone make a meme of a computer hanging over a phone line a la Marshawn's shoes.

But I'm giving the people what they want. I miss Love/Hate and want it back, even if it's in a shorter, "to-go" version. And hey, from Marshawn Lynch to Magic Johnson to Michael Phelps to The Eagles to George Foreman to Letterman ... to guys like Nick Saban and John Calipari, who coached in the pros for a nanosecond only to scurry back to college ... to The Who to Mario Lemieux to, yes, Mike Francesa, the Coca-Cola corporation, the GOAT Michael Jordan and a zillion others I am sure I am forgetting ... I'm in pretty good company with my waffling.

Did you know George Washington unretired TWICE? Once to lead the Continental Army against the British and another time to become, you know, the PRESIDENT. So yeah, just like G-Dubs, I'm back, baby.