Tales From South Stadium: Attendance Streaks, Family, and Nebraska Football

Scott Cyboron once held an Ironman streak of consecutive home Nebraska football contests attended. The section 16C representative felt as if the Nebraska/Colorado matchup had a unique feeling to the rivalry, and brought back a newfound energy into Memorial Stadium.

Scott Cyboron (middle) held an Ironman streak at Memorial Stadium for many years, but since breaking his streak continues to enjoy the atmosphere of Nebraska Football with his family and friends in South Stadium. / Austin Jacobsen, Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI

This article is part of a season-long series by Austin Jacobsen, with his experiences on home game days in Lincoln and Nebraska football.

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Scott Cyboron earned his season tickets the hard way - sitting and waiting by the phone.

In the spring of 1997, with Nebraska on the cusp of their last national championship, Cyboron was given a letter in the mail addressed from the University of Nebraska. Inside the envelope? Instructions to become a member of an exclusive club - the season ticket holders for Husker Football.

"I was told they would call sometime on a Saturday," Cyboron said. "I had to work. I waited with the phone on speaker to earn them."

From that moment moving forward, it has been all about family, football, and community - and all of it comes from the vast grandstands of the Huskers' South Stadium. Cyboron has been a resident of Section 16C since the fall of 1997, when the Huskers began their final trek to a national title.

In nearly three decades of Nebraska football in-house fandom, Cyboron has survived difficult driving conditions, night games, and some of the Big Red's most torturous seasons to continue his allegiance. On Saturday, seated in his traditional location, I was present for another rendition of one of his regular fall weekend customs.

Scott Cyboron with his two daughters, attending a game at Memorial Stadium in September of 2009. / Scott Cyboron, Cyboron Family

Each Saturday - and the occasional Friday - Cyboron will trek from the Sandhills to Nebraska's capital city. His routine used to include arriving to Lincoln and eating at Fazoli's with his family prior to ensuring they were inside of Memorial Stadium an hour ahead of kickoff. These days, with his children no longer in high school, he grants himself the time to arrive only thirty minutes before game time.

Scott, the owner of a local sports store in Broken Bow, Neb., once held a proud home-game streak of nearly 25 years of attending in-person Husker home games. The first contest was the 1986 Nebraska victory over No. 11 Florida State. From that September day to 2022, Nebraska football was engrained into the fall rituals of the Cyboron family - with one exception.

"We had to take the kids to Disney World during fall break," Cyboron said. "So we missed the Texas A&M game in 2007."

The Aggies won handily, 36-14, that October afternoon - maybe a good day for a vacation from the Nebraska team that ended 5-7 and fired Bill Callahan at season's end. Adding the lone asterisk to his streak, Cyboron attended 245 home contests running from '86 until 2022.

The appearance streak included high-profile matchups, blowouts, inclement weather, poor driving conditions, and everything else in between. Cyboron would have to nag his future sister-in-law, a student at UNL, for tickets in East Stadium once he graduated in 1992 to keep his then six-year mark ongoing. There were always challenges each season to see if the tradition would continue. The closest call came after a family event.

"My wife's grandmother passed away on the Friday before a game day," Cyboron said. "I had sold my tickets. (We) were in North Platte when Amy says, 'You're not doing anything, just go.' I bought a ticket on Saturday and went to the game."

For the streak to come to an end however? A country concert.

"We were given Luke Combs concert suite tickets," Cyboron said.

Granted, Nebraska was 3-4 at the time and had just fired coach Scott Frost. The decision to re-activate a new record began immediately after.

Cyboron (right) has sat with his family and friends in the same section of South Stadium since 1997. / Scott Cyboron, Cyboron Family.

It was not always as difficult as driving from Broken Bow each Saturday morning. Cyboron and his wife, Amy, began their season-ticket holding while living in Kansas City, before re-locating to Omaha with their growing family. Luckily, Cyboron was ready.

"I had another letter come from the university (in 1998) saying they had individual seats available, and I need to call in right away. They weren't together, but close enough to make it work," Cyboron said.

Once Cyboron nabbed the additional pair, the new family additions made Saturdays much easier. Scott and his wife have four kids; the eldest son, a Doane graduate who has been to the most games with Scott (second to Amy). Their oldest daughter is a UNL graduate that attended Saturday's CU contest with her brother and father. The youngest son is a current freshman at UNL, and the youngest daughter currently attends the University of Tennessee. Scott added that because the family grew up with football in their routine, she goes to "as many UT games as she can," and takes time off of work to do so.

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Scott Cyboron (left) and his son at a Nebraska Football contest. / Scott Cyboron, Cyboron Family

Faith, football, family. The traditional catchphrase amongst sports fanatics often rings true for Nebraska football fans. For the Cyboron's, all three words mean the same thing.

Nebraska Football is not a religion, but to the South Stadium guests it might as well be. The same visitors one would regularly see at church on Sunday you could find on Saturday in Lincoln. Scott adds that they have been around the same people "for years." That community feeling has bonded the Cyboron's to their section and to the Huskers.

"(We've) had the tickets for so long, we've seen families grow up and change," Amy said on a Sunday phone call. "These have always been family events."

The couple shares their stories of how they have watched their section adapt and change over the decades of stadium-watching. They pour into stories of college-aged boys who first arrived from tailgates and parties to growing up and bringing their kids along with them to see the Big Red, and how a family in the section lost loved ones - a grandfather dealing with the death of a grandson - but continued to heal through the community of Husker football.

"You don't feel like you have those types of 'businesses' or 'business people' around," Cyboron said of their South Stadium companions. "Maybe they are, but we don't see ourselves as that."

Amy Cyboron (center) shares a photo with her daughters in South Stadium as part of a ongoing game day tradition for the family at Memorial Stadium. / Cyboron Family

The Cyborons have opened up their tickets to extended family, friends, and others to ensure their spots are secured each home game day in Memorial Stadium. The seats were adjusted slightly in 2023, when Cyboron's nephew, who worked at the UNL Ticket Office, moved the spots back to reunite the distant pair of fans that were originally separated by several rows. While Scott admits that he loves his current spot, "being a little lower would be pretty awesome."

The concern for more change arrived in September of 2023, as then-Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts announced significant changes to Memorial Stadium coming in a $450 million renovation. The Cyborons added that they continue to stay anxious

"We were and are worried. The possibility of losing your tickets or my cost going up significantly to stay in South Stadium is our worry," Cyboron said. "We feel good for a couple years at least."

While the couple admits that individual seats, better access to the bathroom, and other amenities would be a great addition, they "don't care" about restaurants, bars, or other features that have been proposed.

Amy and Scott Cyboron (left center, right center) have been able to see different parts of Memorial Stadium through the years, but continue to maintain their tickets in South Stadium. / Cyboron Family

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During halftime of Nebraska's victory over rival Colorado, Cyboron gazes around the stadium and soaks in the atmosphere. He has already put in a full day's work; making the over three-hour drive to Lincoln, arriving to the stadium a half-hour ahead of kickoff, sharing high-fives and strategic opinions with his neighbors, and even assisting an elderly fan to their seat. As the HuskerVision scoreboard boasts a 28-0 advantage, Scott adds what most of the 'Sea of Red' witnessed.

"It hasn't felt like this since the '90s."

- Scott Cyboron

Scott comments that his favorite memories are "the classics": a Nebraska last-second field goal to beat the Buffaloes in 2000, 'Black 41 Flash Reverse' to beat Oklahoma in 2001. He adds that the new fourth quarter light show is a plus, but says that Saturday's win over CU might be a new favorite memory.

"We play with more passion and physicality - more emotion than years past," Cyboron said. "We are beating opponents at half, the stadium is rocking, and everyone is playing with emotions."

While night games at Memorial Stadium make drives home more challenging, Scott still keeps his faith that his seats will stay occupied. He hopes that when the day comes, his kids or grandkids will be able to carry on in the same spot. His wife summarizes their fandom - and the importance of their game day tickets - perfectly.

"Being able to go to the games, going with family. That's what's been important," Amy said. "We're not lake people, we're not boat people. We're a football family."

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