Best seat in the house

As the first half begins, the fans aren't answering Wilma Dugan's cheers or getting their fingers in the air during IU free throws.\nMany are staring and snickering. Bewildered.\nThe fans of Section LL in the East Balcony of Assembly Hall haven't caught on yet.\nBut that doesn't silence the 76-year-old usher and cheerleader. \n"Fuddy-duddies!" she mutters.\nShe knows they'll come around.\nWhile some consider the Assembly Hall balcony view subpar, Dugan, who has worked there for 20 of her 23 years as an usher, swears there is no better seat in the house.\nFor students lucky enough to land in her section, that's not far from the truth.\nDugan, whose primary job is to help ticket-holders to their seats, views her job as much more. She gets her section fired-up with chants, cheers and color commentary. And with what Shirley Garvin, a fellow usher, calls "grandmotherly spark."\nThe reaction of fans, as they warm up to her routine, is priceless.\nDugan greets each fan and, when necessary, gives them the friendly run-around. She draws close as she talks to a few fans worried their seat is too close to the edge of the balcony.\n"Are you scared?" she teases, before leading them to an open seat closer to the aisle.\nDuring the game, Dugan paces her 7-foot-wide aisle like a coach on the sidelines. Her feet never stop tapping, even on the rare occasion she sits on the edge of a seat to rest.\nShe rides the refs worse than The General, but the players also bear the brunt of her wrath.\n"Put him on the bench," she screams after Jeff Newton misses a free throw. Later, after A.J. Moye commits an offensive foul, she scolds, "A.J., you know better than that."\nAs a friend of former coach Bob Knight, Dugan was expected to keep her section especially well-behaved. So once, when students began a profane chant, Knight gestured at her to quiet them down.\nInstead, she led them in a deafening "applesauce" cheer. It's been a tradition ever since.\nAnother tradition is Dugan's repertoire of chants and cheers she begins when the band catches a breath.\nIn one of those rare moments of silence late in the second half, Dugan waves her arms to summon the Section LL fans for a cheer. Then she screams:\nTwo bits -- Four bits -- Six bits -- A dollar.\nWhole rows of fans turn around, smiling.\nAll for IU, stand up and hollar!\nAnd this time, they do.