The Texas Interscholastic League was started in 1914 with six hundred members, mainly for the purpose of regulating football. The TIL helped bring the sport to a fever pitch. By 1930, the organization had grown to six thousand members. Until the Depression, most football fans could have cared less what it cost to follow their teams around the state. They came in automobiles, trains, and wagons, and were usually filled to the neck with outlaw whiskey. The oil patch mentality engendered a gambling spirit. Bookies worked the stands and took bets from anyone with the money to back it up. By the
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