[sweetjazz]

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And especially avoid those post-flop jousting hands where chips are spewn (we're all guilty of these).

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One reason why better players steal and defend blinds more than would seem correct is that they play well enough postflop to spew less often when behind and take in a lot of chips when it is the other player who is willing to spew.

Discretion is advised in stealing and defending blinds, but stealing blinds is beneficial because:
(1) you might win the blinds without a flop; or
(2) you might win with a continuation bet on the flop; or
(3) you might flop the best hand or a strong draw; and
(4) you increase the action you get on your real hands
When defending the blinds, you are looking at (3) and (4) (but you're getting a better price on your money...but unfortuntaly you also have lousy position).

The players who steal and defend blinds too infrequently are easy to play against (once you recognize this trait of theirs). Players who steal and defend a lot (perhaps even a bit too much) are hard to play against, even when you know what they are doing. Even players who steal and defend too much can be tough to play against if they are good postflop (though most who fall into this category are easy to beat because they are clueless after the flop).

Stealing and defending blinds liberally is important, though it is also important to show some discretion, especially once you have a loose action player image.

In short, I think the real problem is that:

In general, people who defend their blinds and attempt to steal blinds liberally often play their hands very badly postflop.

Stealing and defending your blinds a lot can be a winning strategy, but you need to know when you have the fold equity to bluff, how to get value out of your winning hands, and how to exploit your opponent's tendencies.