I'd really like to start playing vs. other silvers

Too bad I gotta slog through the hordes of alts and random plats/diamonds I meet in normals.

"Get good, then you won't complain anymore"

Great, and how do you expect me to do that when nearly every game is a stomp in one side's favor? To learn from a mistake, you first need to be aware that you've made a mistake. But the fast-paced nature of this game precludes all possibility of that unless you own high grade recording software, or you get miracle opponents who are nice enough to give you advice without it sounding like trash talk. Getting stomped all game causes you to learn nothing. It just leads to frustration, resentment, and hostility towards your team or your opponents. Let me ask you guys this: how many times in your games (ranked or normals) do you see the opposing team say "gg" in chat first after it's over? None, for my part. It's always the winning team who says "gg" first, and the losing team barely says it at all. One would think if it were really a good game, there would be no harm in admitting a loss. After all they happen to all of us, right? But nope; all you get is people sitting there wondering what went wrong, and usually blaming their team. The fact of the matter is: a true "good game" is a FAIR game. And if even a single diamond player is on a team vs. a bunch of silvers, you can bet your ass that that player is going to get fed and likely carry. Where's the fairness in that?

"Their mmr will go back to where it belongs soon enough, and so will yours; eventually you'll start getting games vs. players of your level"

This excuse is bullshit, and it's very simple as to why. What you're basically saying is to just wait it out, endure the streak of losses until you're matched with people like you again. It's a lazy excuse, a defeatist excuse, used to phrase in polite terms "tough luck bub, just be patient, there's nothing you can do". Imagine if doctors used that excuse with their patients, or if police officers used it with victims of horrible crimes. Oh wait................they do. AND EVERYONE HATES IT WHEN THEY SAY THAT.

"But I like playing against people better than me, it makes me feel better when I do win"

Good for you. That doesn't mean the rest of us should be forced to deal with it. All I'm asking for is the option, for those who are tried of uneven match ups, to keep the scales balanced as much as possible. I realize this won't solve the smurf problem, but at the very least it will ensure that random matchmaking doesn't intentionally stick you with/against people far beyond your skill level. A simple checkbox before queuing up in normals (blind, draft, and teambuilder) will do the trick: "Match me only with people in my division". Those who want a fair game, at the reasonable expense of longer queue times, can use it, while people who don't aren't required to and can queue as normal.

There is literally no downside to making this an option, and it should be quite easy to implement as well. Please Riot, for the sake of casual players everywhere, allow us this feature so that our free time can be spent in relative ease again.

TL;DR matchmaking sucks