The #iufb4gameday movement was a blast. Thank you for that.

I.

A rock into the ocean. Tree falling in the forest.

Stupid things can be inspirational. This week is testament to that fact.

When you're running a blog like ours, you've generally got an idea of what might play with your audience. What ideas will take off. What ones will go silently into the night with a comment or two from loyal readers. But it's all a crapshoot. You never really know what's going to launch -- and what won't. It's 100% driven by you all, our readers.

The next time someone wants to take "credit" for starting this idea or movement, please laugh at them gratuitously. Credit is not a concept that exists, or is worthwhile discussing, on the internet. It's ignorant of the fact that one person cannot create something that goes "viral" with the touch of Jafar. Things, ideas, campaigns grow online due to a confluence of factors -- not any one single influence. It's also ignorant of one other thing: literally no one cares.

We did not do this. He did not do this. You did this. You did this, fam.

Thank you, for almost making this a reality.

II.

This week has been cathartic.

There are many times you wonder why you do this, why you spend so much time with eyes glued to Twitter. Why you spend so many hours of downtime workshopping post ideas, why you can't watch a game without feeling the need to jump up in front of the television and Vine every little stupid noteworthy play that happens. Your real-life friends and family will often think you are weird. (They aren't wrong!) Seriously, try and explain Crimson Quarry to someone that isn't familiar with what exactly we do. Good luck. So, it's like Inside The Hall, or Peegs, or something, right? Or like the Onion, but for sports. It's wasted breath. Better yet: explain on a date or to a girl's parents that you are a sports blogger. No matter how friendly the response you will be convinced that they think you are a weirdo. So if you're a work colleague, or friend, or fellow law student, this is why I oft react as if you are scratching a chalk board when you say, "Hey, I read your article."

Until this week.

Against sometimes my better judgment, I sign my name to everything I write. I'm convinced it's going to stand in the way of me getting a job one day, somehow -- if it hasn't already. But you guys made enough noise and attracted enough attention to this place that we brought in a whole new group of eyeballs that weren't previously here. A new group of people that can hopefully find out that sports should be fun and don't need so much dang sanctimony and doom-and-gloom all the time.

For me, it means that when the time comes to get a real legal job a year from now, I might just be able to explain this whole thing I do a little easier. Or maybe someone stumbles across this site and finds my self-edited and often typo-filled writing to be compelling -- and thinks I could do it full-time. I don't know.

All I know is this very stupid thing has somehow positively affected my real life.

Thank you for somehow, unintentionally, doing that.

III.

I've oft written about how a program built from scratch needs a boost, a break, some outside factor to get there. For Indiana football, maybe this is it. Maybe Indiana can be the internet's team.

I sat and watched for three quarters Saturday a program that looked like it has turned the corner. Wake Forest is far from a world-beater, and the performance was far from flawless. But as I've said previously, they did the things good teams do well. Win in the trenches. Control the ball. Sure, there's some work to be done when it comes to finishing games -- but that's all part of the process of becoming good. The game wasn't as close as the final score -- and Indiana easily handled another power conference opponent on the road. That, in and of itself, is something to be happy about.

But creating a true football program -- while on-field results are a huge part of it -- requires fan support. More than anything, this week should show the Indiana administration that somewhere below the surface, there is a massive reserve of passionate Indiana football fans waiting to come out of the layers of the earth. Think about this: the producer of the nation's most watch college football show called Indiana fans relentless. The movement made it to Finebaum. Some of you were even stupidly. tweeting very mean things at Lee Fitting. These are terms and things normally reserved for Alabama and Florida State fans.

The #iufb4gameday movement was cool, and it's only suspended, not dead. But it should be the start of something -- not the end. It's a massive start of a week leading up to what is still the biggest game in the modern history of Indiana football. It should be the start of a special season that ends in a bowl game -- maybe even one that approaches the New Year's holiday, who knows. And if this program takes off and begins to do that year in and year out, we might look back on this whole thing as the time fans really got behind Indiana football.

Thank you, for making all this happen.

Thank you, for making me believe in what we do here at CQ.

Thank you, for making me believe in Indiana football.

5-0. Why not?