#9windiana

Football was the program I went to Indiana to watch.

I was a transfer student starting college elsewhere, somewhere smaller, in 2018. Getting to IU was always my goal, and I was getting there one way or another. In the moment, I’d watch the games and highlights in my previous school’s cafeteria.

When I finally got to Bloomington I was introduced to a new concept courtesy of this very blog and your favorite t-shirt brand: #9windiana.

This blog has sort of operated in a Dread Pirate Roberts fashion since then, passing from person to person. That season was the last for that iteration of the staff, which had really done much of the work to build the place up into something that I eventually inherited a few years later.

But back to 2019.

Indiana was on the rise after a few seasons of just falling short of bowl eligibility. A favorable schedule, excellent quarterback prospect and a new play caller on the offensive side of the ball gave the fanbase hope of finally cracking that barrier not only to bowl eligibility, but to something more.

I made every effort to be in the stadium whenever I could. Getting front row seats in the student section against Ohio State, staying through the fourth quarter for uncompetitive wins over Eastern Illinois and UConn, an ill-fated trip to East Lansing, the one passing yard game and a night of pouring rain against Michigan.

I met some lifelong friends thanks to and in the middle of all that #9windiana fervor. We all had the shirts and everything.

Indiana fell short of those nine wins (hey there smokey) but that was really just the beginning.

The way the community has rallied around the program, specifically online, has struck me. Even during the down years, the fanbase was there, anguishing for a winner after an existence defined by losses and letdown.

Fans have been waiting for this moment, some for decades, and have met the moment by keeping the spirits up when things look grim (which hasn’t been often) and even fully committing to the bit of a fictious restaurant.

And now, finally, #9windiana is here. But it’s not over, there’s even more to come.

Beat ya to Shaloobys for celebratory drinks.