It was a sweet deal. But it came with a catch. The various Cub Scout troops of Monroe County got free tickets to Indiana University football games. And the seats were good ones. We’re talking entire blocks in “the Knothole” behind the Memorial Stadium end zones, just a few feet from the field where you could catch extra points and field goals—often wayward ones, when the home team was doing the kicking.
But in exchange for the tickets, the troops—in a different kind of scout’s honor—had to make a solemn, good-faith promise to stay at the games at least through halftime. Demanding kids remain in the stands for an entire college football game? That was too big an ask. But stay two quarters, stick around for the marching band, and most critically, be there when “official attendance” was tabulated. Then, you were dismissed.
