ok so I know our tires are directional, but does it really matter? I rotate mine as normal and don't notice too much difference. Can anything be damaged by this? Do I just get less grip?
He's right. Unidirectional tread is designed to funnel water off the road and give your tires good grip when they are spinning the right way. Put them on backwards and you loose all benefit of the tread design. switch them from front wheels to back wheels only, never side to side.
Yeah, if you don't kill yourself you will be buying new tires in about 500 miles because you will probably bust a belt or have a crazy amount of irregular wear.