Reminder - Hockey Ticket Preregistration

Today is the first day to preregister for undergraduate season tickets.

[bigred2.athletics.cornell.edu]

Edit: And grad, too, I guess.

I was going to note something about this on the Hocky (sic) Ticket thread, but this seems like a better place now.

The ticket distribution system this year seems like a giant compromise where every different idea got a little piece of the pie. If I'm not mistaken it includes (at least) the following elements:
- Online Preregistration
- Lottery numbers
- some priority for seniors (without regard for prior ticket purchases)
- A lottery drawing held at a meaningless football game
- An arbitrary campout for lottery winners
- Payment by bursar only
- General admission in ONE section (F), but not the others.

If you want GA, don't fool around with it. Either do it or don't. Don't make 200 seats GA unless you are only going to sell those at the gate or some such thing.

If you want to combine the camping with the lottery, at least wait until AFTER the campout to draw the winning numbers, so there is some chance of improving your chances through desertion. The whole "you've won a lottery now wait around for a few hours" thing is just stupid.

Hell, if you're so willing to marginalize up to a quarter (or maybe more) fans from All-Access, why not just do a straight lottery and cut down on the stupidity of trying to please everyone. Or better yet, outsource the ticket distribution to CSTV...

I still think (hope?) the GA section is a test section to see the feasibility of managing such a system on game day.

Tub(a)
I still think (hope?) the GA section is a test section to see the feasibility of managing such a system on game day.

If they wanted to test it, they could just make the exhibition game GA all together on the student side.

Chris '03

Tub(a)
I still think (hope?) the GA section is a test section to see the feasibility of managing such a system on game day.

If they wanted to test it, they could just make the exhibition game GA all together on the student side.

Didn't we do GA in 1993 or 1994?

nyc94

Chris '03

Tub(a)
I still think (hope?) the GA section is a test section to see the feasibility of managing such a system on game day.

If they wanted to test it, they could just make the exhibition game GA all together on the student side.

Didn't we do GA in 1993 or 1994?

Yes. Pretty sure it was two seasons, maybe 94 and 95.

Tub(a)
I still think (hope?) the GA section is a test section to see the feasibility of managing such a system on game day.

I'm not convinced that enforcing GA would help get everyone there on time. As a tuba, you well know that sometimes the back row is the best.

Section A Banshee
As a tuba, you well know that sometimes the back row is the best.

The rail enables conservation of pep.

Preregister!....but don't tell your non-hockeyfan friends about it. If all goes well, the only people who will have remembered to enter the lottery will be the deserving ones.

Just thought I would let you guys know that as of 4:45pm today less than 100 people had picked up their ILNs

Up to around 175 by 2pm today. I assume there'll be a big rush the last couple days.

How long does the pre-reg last?

It's behind where I expected it to be by now.

French Rage
How long does the pre-reg last?

Online registration ends Tues. 9/26, with number distribution ending 9/27

I was just picking up my line number and it'd reached 226 at 4pm. I asked how many people had registered online and the girl said that it was around 1400. It seemed low to me considering there's been 3 days already but I thought you'd like to know.

Thanks a lot for posting the line numbers and times. It makes us OCD hockey fans feel better.

So, question: A bunch of my friends got early numbers, but some couldn't make it that day. Is our best shot for getting seats together to get numbers towards the end? I figure if one of the last numbers is chosen, it will wrap back around to us.

-Alex Barash '07

RazzBaronZ
Thanks a lot for posting the line numbers and times. It makes us OCD hockey fans feel better.

So, question: A bunch of my friends got early numbers, but some couldn't make it that day. Is our best shot for getting seats together to get numbers towards the end? I figure if one of the last numbers is chosen, it will wrap back around to us.

-Alex Barash '07

yes

As of 3pm today (thurs, 9/21):

Senior line number = ~140

Senior/Undergrad line number = ~355

Lower than what I expected, but then again there could be a late rush.
Does anyone else feel that there has been a lot less hype about tickets around campus this year? Perhaps it's a combination of the price increase and a lower profile lottery (as compared with a real line). Or maybe it's my imagination.

On a different note: Lynah construction crews seems to have expanded their numbers. Perhaps trying to put the jets on to get finished in time.

I agree, I haven't heard anything really. I'm glad that the Sun didn't announce it, it seems as though they are at least making sure only people that remember get the chance to buy tickets.

Cactus12
Perhaps it's a combination of the price increase and a lower profile lottery (as compared with a real line). Or maybe it's my imagination.

I think those two points coupled with the prevailing thought that 2006-2007 will be a rebuilding season may have reduced the hype and eliminated some of the more marginal fans. Though like you said, its probably too early to tell. Also let's hope the Sun doesn't blab about tickets in any of the next three editions.

Line numbers are different than having registered right? In that more people have probly done the latter than have picked up the former?

Correct. It may be assumed that many more will register than will actually pick up numbers.

Picked up my number at 2:00 on Friday. 226 senior/ 581 overall. This is much lower than what I had expected.

It might be wishful thinking but maybe the fact that there's no race to get into a line or competition might weed out facetimers on its own. This year, there's nothing special about getting tickets other than being lucky so it's less flashy and "cool". It's just about wanting to see hockey. I'm sure the price also has a lot to do with it. Or, of course, people might just be procrastinating until Monday and Tuesday and the number might go sky high. At least for now I feel much better about my chances than I did when the system was announced.

I hate to be the guy to look at the downside here... but if the numbers stay this low, does that mean very few season tickets are going to get sold, and does that in turn mean that Lynah may be empty for many games? The lack of commitment a season ticket bestows may be especially hurtful if (knock on wood) this does end up being a rebuilding year. It would really suck if Lynah lost what it's got going.

ftyuv
I hate to be the guy to look at the downside here... but if the numbers stay this low, does that mean very few season tickets are going to get sold, and does that in turn mean that Lynah may be empty for many games? The lack of commitment a season ticket bestows may be especially hurtful if (knock on wood) this does end up being a rebuilding year. It would really suck if Lynah lost what it's got going.

On the upside, maybe it will convince Athletics to reverse the 20% ticket price increase they slapped on us this year.

Part of the low interest may be word of mouth from idiots. I took an elective last fall that had almost all freshmen in it, and about half of them (4 or 5) had season tickets. By November they were all howling about how much the team "sucked" because they weren't living up to their #2 preseason ranking. These were generic popular kids that probably had tons of contacts in their dorms and wherever else, so it's likely word would have spread.

Not to worry, I was told on Thursday that over 1400 people have registered. They know about it, but appear to think there is something strategic about getting late numbers.

[Q]calgARI'07

They know about it, but appear to think there is something strategic about getting late numbers.[/Q]

Not necessarily... I think a good amount of people will preregister and never pick up line numbers. (Perhaps they didn't realize the price or the fact that they would have to wait on line or whatever else)

Just an update:

I just got line numbers.

I'm a grad student and my friends and I got line numbers 187 through 190. I asked and was told that 936 undergrads have gotten line numbers so far, but I don't know if that included the senior tickets or not.

The 936 undergrads would probably include seniors because seniors receive a general line number, too, if I'm not mistaken.

I'd be shocked if they didn't reach 1600 line numbers, but I certainly wouldn't complain if there wasn't a waiting list.

Is 1600 the magic number for total number of student tickets available --> grads+sr+rest of undergrads?

Yes, theres 1400 undergrads and 200 grads, of the 1400 undegrads 150 are strictly for seniors.

As of 3pm today there had been 884 undegrads ilns picked up, of which 340 were seniors. So with 150 seniors ilns that meant that by 3pm only 734 of 1250 undegrads had been picked up.

# must be higher now. also tomorrow is the last day to register online.

I went at 12:30pm today and got number 756. This is a little odd because my friend got number 763 on Friday afternoon. Also, the two people after me got 753 and 754 (What happened to 755?).

Any of you have any idea about what this might mean?

Someone screwed up

canuck89
(What happened to 755?).

Hank Aaron called to claim it before Barry Bonds could steal it from him.

When is the last day to pick up the tickets at the athletic office?

That's good.

As of close to 5, senior line numbers were up to 450's and general were well into the 1300's.

calgARI '07
As of close to 5, senior line numbers were up to 450's and general were well into the 1300's.

This either says that the line (and the facetimers it attracted) was the problem, or that the level of publicity was (people have said that the Sun didn't really publicize it this year).

My feeling it its maybe more of the latter - and that if Cornell just announced and easy line procedure in, say, May, and may no more of big deal out of it, and the Sun agreed to refrain from mentioning it in the fall, then it'd work out much more like this. But then again maybe that's just what I'd like to believe.

There's also the issue of people having another person grab a second number for them, sufficiently far away from their first number that they're nearly guaranteed to have one number chosen.

This didn't even cross my mind until I heard about someone who did this.

ebilmes
There's also the issue of people having another person grab a second number for them, sufficiently far away from their first number that they're nearly guaranteed to have one number chosen.

This didn't even cross my mind until I heard about someone who did this.

I thought of this strategy a couple weeks ago, but decided it would be very disingenuous. Whoever does this is not a hardcore fan, they are an asshole. Still though, Athletics' system should have had some way to get around this.

I think one way to reduce this is make everyone with a line number actually wait in line (no holding four) and also display their Cornell ID (matching the line number). It would take a really good friend to wait all night for tickets and then give them away... it'll happen, but to less of an extent.

DeltaOne81

calgARI '07
As of close to 5, senior line numbers were up to 450's and general were well into the 1300's.

This either says that the line (and the facetimers it attracted) was the problem, or that the level of publicity was (people have said that the Sun didn't really publicize it this year).

My feeling it its maybe more of the latter - and that if Cornell just announced and easy line procedure in, say, May, and may no more of big deal out of it, and the Sun agreed to refrain from mentioning it in the fall, then it'd work out much more like this. But then again maybe that's just what I'd like to believe.

For example, the President telling kids who know squat about the team to wait in line didn't help. It seems like this definitely got rid of people who didn't care enough to actually find out what the line deal this year was, instead of having the information constantly bombarding them.

How bad (good) is it ... Final Preregistration Numbers?

Undergrads (1250 available) =?
Seniors (150 available) =?
Grads (200 available) =?

there are in fact 1400 line nos. availible for undergrads because the seniors get to have 2 numbers and then 150 of them are taken out of the pool.

ebilmes
There's also the issue of people having another person grab a second number for them, sufficiently far away from their first number that they're nearly guaranteed to have one number chosen.

This didn't even cross my mind until I heard about someone who did this.

I thought of this too. However, I think when you sign up online you agree to have your bursar charged if your ticket is picked. So it would take a really good friend to have him (or usually parents) front the money. And even if you could find one person to help, you couldn't find 5 or 6 for a group of friends.

Molgestron

ebilmes
There's also the issue of people having another person grab a second number for them, sufficiently far away from their first number that they're nearly guaranteed to have one number chosen.

This didn't even cross my mind until I heard about someone who did this.

I thought of this too. However, I think when you sign up online you agree to have your bursar charged if your ticket is picked. So it would take a really good friend to have him (or usually parents) front the money. And even if you could find one person to help, you couldn't find 5 or 6 for a group of friends.

Na, you only get charged if you get through all the line checks, etc.

Anyone know what the last few numbers were?

canuck89
Anyone know what the last few numbers were?

My friend, at 4:45 today, got 325 in the grad line.

Anyone have info about undergrad numbers?

Not sure what the last number was, but I do know it was around 1450 at noon yesterday.

undergrad numbers were at 1540 at 3pm yesterday.

So, based on posts here, the highest numbers reported were

Senior 350
Grad 325
Undergrad 1540

I'm sure the final numbers for all three are somewhat higher....

I picked up my senior number at 12:05 on Wednesday, and got 485. My regular number was 1428, but we already have higher reported.

I looked at the athletics website but didn't see what the winning numer is for the Cornell mega millions hockey lottery. Anyone know how it panned out today for the students, seniors and grads?

-WillR

The game didn't start until 7:00 tonight, so they may not have picked the numbers yet.

just heard the number is 1457

What about the senior numbers?

I heard it was 1476

senior line?

I've heard like 170's for seniors but not sure

#'s posted on the athletics site

[q]Below are the numbers that will get a chance to spend time on the line.[/q]

Hilarious.

I got screwed out of BOTH senior and undergraduate numbers!!!!! SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!

Anyone want to sell their tickets to a committed senior who attended all the home games and a lot of the away games last year???

GAAAAAAAAAAAH! ARE YOU SERIOUS?

1-1051, 1476-1674
WHAT ARE THE GODDAMN ODDS THAT I WOULD BE BETWEEN 1051 and 1476?


sorry. I'm going to go drink now. anybody with tickets, you know where to send'em.

BMac
GAAAAAAAAAAAH! ARE YOU SERIOUS?

1-1051, 1476-1674
WHAT ARE THE GODDAMN ODDS THAT I WOULD BE BETWEEN 1051 and 1476?


sorry. I'm going to go drink now. anybody with tickets, you know where to send'em.

25.33%

So 75% of the people that signed up for a number got tickets? Is that right? That seems really high.

so how do they decide who picks first? number 1? or was that random too...

mikee293
so how do they decide who picks first? number 1? or was that random too...

They start with the seniors, starting with the chosen number, then do the rest of the undergrad pool, starting with 1476. So if you're getting your ticket from the undergrad pool, your actual line position is [150 + (line#-1475)] if you're 1674 or lower, and [150 + 199 + line#] if you're number 1 and up.

In case anyone was wondering, the drawing method was not perfectly fair. The total number of entries in the undergrad line was 1674. They chose the starting number digit by digit. This would have been fair if there were 1999 entries. However, when there should have been a greater chance of starting the line with a number below 1000 than above, their system gave both numbers a 50% chance (they were basically pulling numbers from a hat, it seemed). So, the starting number was higher than it should have been in a random system. The result of all this is that the line numbers in the low 1000's were at a disadvantage to "win", while those with numbers in the low 0---'s were at a bit of an advantage. If anyone knows how to calculate the exact degree of the effects of the drawing system on selection probabilities, that would be interesting.

So, there's no incentive to get to the line early? Seat selection will go in numerical order?

And here I was hoping that athletics would be cool and start from 1 so I could take advantage of my #46 senior line number. I'm happy that I got one (yay for 4 years of tickets), but a few of my friends missed out so that really sucks overall.

In terms of order, where are grads going? Or do they have a separate section?

The capitalist over here is laughing.

If they would only price the tickets so supply=demand, then the most dedicated fans would find a way to pay for them and there would be a lot fewer facetimers.

This is a perfect illustration of how rationing happens, and how it leads to unfair outcomes. When you can be assured of getting something you really want by paying more for it, you have the choice to do so by sacrificing something else of lesser value. When that thing is rationed, you have no choice: you are subject to a capricious roll of the dice.

Welcome to real life: you can't repeal the law of supply and demand.

Cheers,
Kyle

Wow. I didn't realize that was the method they used. Yeah, you're totally correct in your assesment, though, I doubt athletics would even understand if they read your post, haha.

imafrshmn
In case anyone was wondering, the drawing method was not perfectly fair. The total number of entries in the undergrad line was 1674. They chose the starting number digit by digit. This would have been fair if there were 1999 entries. However, when there should have been a greater chance of starting the line with a number below 1000 than above, their system gave both numbers a 50% chance (they were basically pulling numbers from a hat, it seemed). So, the starting number was higher than it should have been in a random system. The result of all this is that the line numbers in the low 1000's were at a disadvantage to "win", while those with numbers in the low 0---'s were at a bit of an advantage. If anyone knows how to calculate the exact degree of the effects of the drawing system on selection probabilities, that would be interesting.

Did they do the actual drawing at the game, or were the slips of paper just what they had written down after drawing the number earlier? If they had drawn them earlier, then perhaps they did it the mathematically precise way?

ebilmes

imafrshmn
In case anyone was wondering, the drawing method was not perfectly fair. The total number of entries in the undergrad line was 1674. They chose the starting number digit by digit. This would have been fair if there were 1999 entries. However, when there should have been a greater chance of starting the line with a number below 1000 than above, their system gave both numbers a 50% chance (they were basically pulling numbers from a hat, it seemed). So, the starting number was higher than it should have been in a random system. The result of all this is that the line numbers in the low 1000's were at a disadvantage to "win", while those with numbers in the low 0---'s were at a bit of an advantage. If anyone knows how to calculate the exact degree of the effects of the drawing system on selection probabilities, that would be interesting.

Did they do the actual drawing at the game, or were the slips of paper just what they had written down after drawing the number earlier? If they had drawn them earlier, then perhaps they did it the mathematically precise way?

The drawing was done live from the press booth during halftime.

To answer my own question from earlier...

"Graduate/professional seats are in sections B, D and G; undergraduate seats are in sections A, B, D, E, and F."

However... does this mean if I have one grad number in section B and an undergrad number in section B, we can get seats together? Or are grads blocked off even further? I know that in the past you can just jump around in a section, but with the renovations, is that going to be possible?

krose
The capitalist over here is laughing.

If they would only price the tickets so supply=demand, then the most dedicated fans would find a way to pay for them and there would be a lot fewer facetimers.

You are conflating "most dedicated" with "most access to their parents' wallets." A description of how Cornell can maximize intake is not the same as how to measure dedication to the team. A billionaire dilettante is not more dedicated than a junior who wastes his work-study income on something silly like, say, books. Or food.

ugarte

krose
The capitalist over here is laughing.

If they would only price the tickets so supply=demand, then the most dedicated fans would find a way to pay for them and there would be a lot fewer facetimers.

You are conflating "most dedicated" with "most access to their parents' wallets." A description of how Cornell can maximize intake is not the same as how to measure dedication to the team. A billionaire dilettante is not more dedicated than a junior who wastes his work-study income on something silly like, say, books. Or food.

Agreed. Its not that the most dedicated fans would find a way to go, its those that have the most access to money.

I knew an incredibly dedicated Cornell hockey fan during my years on the hill, and she was working two jobs in order to pay for her education. I don't think her 'dedication' was measured by the cash she had in her wallet.

Yes, it would be *a* solution to the problem, but it is not one that would find the most dedicated fans, it would combine that factor with the amount of cash in your wallet. Yes, the free market always has a efficient solution to every problem, but don't pretend that it has anything to do with social standards or moral results.

ugarte
You are conflating "most dedicated" with "most access to their parents' wallets." A description of how Cornell can maximize intake is not the same as how to measure dedication to the team. A billionaire dilettante is not more dedicated than a junior who wastes his work-study income on something silly like, say, books. Or food.

Even at Cornell, there simply aren't that many of them. Of course some rich kids would get their parents to foot a (say) $500 bill for hockey tickets. But many of them would say, "Are you nuts? I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks for frivolous stuff." OTOH, any student at Cornell has the ability to get $500 over the course of a single year for hockey tickets: it's simply a matter of how dedicated that person is and how much he or she is willing to sacrifice for that.

Only politically well-connected people can skew a random lottery to favor their own line number, or get tickets through an alternate channel that the plebes don't have access to. Money is much more egalitarian than power or influence, even though some people do have access to more of it than do others.

So, which would you have preferred as an undergrad, Charles? A lottery with a 25% chance of locking you out, or an extra few hours per week of work to make enough money to guarantee yourself seats? Of course I think we'd all prefer a week-long line with only one bathroom break per day and gruel as the only meal available; but since the administration simply isn't going to do that, tell us what bad effects you are happy with among the feasible solutions.

BTW, as I've stated here before, I was one of those undergrads without much money, but I made the sacrifice to pay for hockey tickets at $125, yet I would have at $500 or $1000, too: it was important enough to me to justify the extra work.

Cheers,
Kyle

DeltaOne81
Yes, the free market always has a efficient solution to every problem, but don't pretend that it has anything to do with social standards or moral results.

Can you describe to me what the single, universal standard for equitable distribution of hockey tickets (without the week-long line or general admission per game) would be? That's an easier question than "What do you think universal 'social standards' should be, and who should choose them?", which I'd also like to ask.

The market is amoral. That doesn't mean immoral, just amoral: it makes no moral judgments one way or the other.

Cheers,
Kyle

But what if someone's already working a lot for work study, books, etc, and in addition wants to take a heavy course load? I don't think you should force them into a situation where they have to chose which they're more dedicated to, hockey or school work. Yes, a purely capitalist system could in the strictest sense benefit those who are most dedicated, but it would do so at the expense of those who are very highly dedicated but also have a sense of priority.

Also, I think your argument "this isn't ideal, but they're not doing the ideal so why not this instead" is faulty. They're not doing your system, either. What we're [probably wasting our time by] discussing is what we think they should do, knowing that it's not what they have done.

DeltaOne81

ugarte

krose
The capitalist over here is laughing.

If they would only price the tickets so supply=demand, then the most dedicated fans would find a way to pay for them and there would be a lot fewer facetimers.

You are conflating "most dedicated" with "most access to their parents' wallets." A description of how Cornell can maximize intake is not the same as how to measure dedication to the team. A billionaire dilettante is not more dedicated than a junior who wastes his work-study income on something silly like, say, books. Or food.

Agreed. Its not that the most dedicated fans would find a way to go, its those that have the most access to money.

I knew an incredibly dedicated Cornell hockey fan during my years on the hill, and she was working two jobs in order to pay for her education. I don't think her 'dedication' was measured by the cash she had in her wallet.

Yes, it would be *a* solution to the problem, but it is not one that would find the most dedicated fans, it would combine that factor with the amount of cash in your wallet. Yes, the free market always has a efficient solution to every problem, but don't pretend that it has anything to do with social standards or moral results.

Seriously. The last thing we need a system that gaurantees the rink is filled with a bunch of spoiled Long Island facetimers who spend all their time on their cell phones and who get the money from daddy after he skims some money from his law firm or car dealership.

ftyuv
Also, I think your argument "this isn't ideal, but they're not doing the ideal so why not this instead" is faulty. They're not doing your system, either.

Right, but my system nets them more money, which makes them at least somewhat likely to adopt it.

Kyle

French Rage
Seriously. The last thing we need a system that gaurantees the rink is filled with a bunch of spoiled Long Island facetimers who spend all their time on their cell phones and who get the money from daddy after he skims some money from his law firm or car dealership.

So instead, you have a system where some of the most dedicated fans are guaranteed to be locked out, and the rink is still loaded with facetimers. Congratulations: you win.

Kyle

krose

French Rage
Seriously. The last thing we need a system that gaurantees the rink is filled with a bunch of spoiled Long Island facetimers who spend all their time on their cell phones and who get the money from daddy after he skims some money from his law firm or car dealership.

So instead, you have a system where some of the most dedicated fans are guaranteed to be locked out, and the rink is still loaded with facetimers. Congratulations: you win.

Kyle

Nah, both suck. The best is to let people line up when they want. Which, of course, will never happen, and thus is pointless to mention.

las224
To answer my own question from earlier...

"Graduate/professional seats are in sections B, D and G; undergraduate seats are in sections A, B, D, E, and F."

However... does this mean if I have one grad number in section B and an undergrad number in section B, we can get seats together? Or are grads blocked off even further? I know that in the past you can just jump around in a section, but with the renovations, is that going to be possible?

I believe they have, in previous years, had a two seat strip along the B/C aisle, so you should be able to get grad tickets and undergrad tickets next to each other with a little luck and strategy. I don't know if they are using that system this year.

There are plenty of real hockey fans on Long Island too. (Just for the sake of clarity).



NYR in 07!

$500?!! You think that any student could pay that much for hockey tickets? Granted it was 10 years ago, but I worked 70 hours/week over Christmas break and during each summer as well as around 30 hours/week during school just so I could make my car, insurance, and rent payments and still be able to buy some groceries. I could barely afford $100 tickets at the time. I know I was certainly not in the majority of Cornell students with this situation, but considering I am on elynah now more than 10 years after I graduated I think it is safe to say I am a good fan.

My point isn't that the tickets aren't worth that much. I just agree that it takes a lot more than money to define true fans. Unfortunately, I also agree that things that will bring out better fans like longer lines or even a quiz for ticket number priority will probably never happen.

Instead of constantly complaining about "facetimers", which I don't think there are as many as some of you claim, why don't you guys try to think of ways to get them into the sport and the team without sounding too much like you are preaching to them or forcing them to think like you do?

Cactus12
There are plenty of real hockey fans on Long Island too. (Just for the sake of clarity).

Sorority girls too.

xoxo, the token sorority girl

cth95
My point isn't that the tickets aren't worth that much. I just agree that it takes a lot more than money to define true fans. Unfortunately, I also agree that things that will bring out better fans like longer lines or even a quiz for ticket number priority will probably never happen.

Instead of constantly complaining about "facetimers", which I don't think there are as many as some of you claim, why don't you guys try to think of ways to get them into the sport and the team without sounding too much like you are preaching to them or forcing them to think like you do?

Agreed. Consider that, with the exception of Ari, Dpperk (even though he's a turncoat ), and a handful of others, most of us were not hardcore Cornell hockey fans right away. You have to give people the chance to become dedicated hockey fans, and it may not be an immediate transition.

Even if you're screwed out of tickets, you will find a way to attend games. Think creatively - get a job with the ticket office, join the pep band, work on the rink staff, be a Sun reporter - or just get tickets from other people. You have the desire to do this. They don't yet know that they should

krose
Can you describe to me what the single, universal standard for equitable distribution of hockey tickets (without the week-long line or general admission per game) would be? That's an easier question than "What do you think universal 'social standards' should be, and who should choose them?", which I'd also like to ask.

The market is amoral. That doesn't mean immoral, just amoral: it makes no moral judgments one way or the other.

Cheers,
Kyle

The only pure approach would be a as-long-as-it-wants-to-be line. As we both know, athletics and the rest of Cornell seem to be pretty set on that not happening.

Yes, the market is amoral. Which means that immoral things can often happen. So can moral ones. Its whatever flies.

But I don't buy your apparent argument that because there's no perfect system, means we should jump to a price-based or even auction-style one. Frankly I'd prefer the current system over a pure-market one any day.

The current system has issues, its not perfect. But it ain't bad. There's a level of dedication needed - primarily in the need to know about the system in the first place and jump through all the hoops. Easy hoops sure, but hoops nonetheless. There's also enough randomness to make cheating impossible. Another major issue of past lines.


Just because there's no single ideal standard doesn't mean that I want to jump directly to the almightly dollar. I'd rather have the current system any day over one that bases it on your financial standing. Heck, I'd rather see them give them out to random students without a drawing than just do it based solely on price.

I'm currently studying in the Statler, and couldn't help overhearing the conversation of some idiots sitting near me:

"Yo, did you guys know that the hockey line is over homecoming weekend?"
"Fuck that, I have friends coming up that weekend. I'm not standing in line."
"Yeah, I thought the whole point of the random drawing was to make it easy for everyone to get tickets so we don't have to stand in line?"

So then some equally idiotic girl walked over to them...

"Wait, hockey tickets happened already? But I really really really wanted them. I love the hockey team. And it already happened?"

God, I hate facetimers. So... what happens when half the kids who got tickets realize they have to stand in line, and that it's over homecoming weekend, and therefore don't show? Who gets those tickets? I know there's this mysterious "waitlist," but so far athletics hasn't really discussed how that's being handled or how to sign up for it.

DeltaOne81
Frankly I'd prefer the current system over a pure-market one any day.

Says the former student. I bet you'd feel differently if you were still in the student market for limited tickets, and came up short in the lottery.

Just because there's no single ideal standard doesn't mean that I want to jump directly to the almightly dollar. I'd rather have the current system any day over one that bases it on your financial standing. Heck, I'd rather see them give them out to random students without a drawing than just do it based solely on price.

At least you're honest about the impact (rationing) of price controls. Many here are so economically illiterate as not even to understand the most basic drawbacks of attempting to distribute tickets fairly without pricing them appropriately.

Please note that price is not limited to dollars! I think most of us can agree that the right way to distribute tickets is either to have general admission per game or to have a ticket line that forms whenever the first student decides to show up. (The cost here is that of time instead of money.) That said, given the choice between the current system (random chance I'd get tickets) and a supply/demand system (100% chance I'd get tickets), I know which one I'd choose.

Cheers,
Kyle

Presumably the least work for Athletics would be to declare the wait list to start with number 1052 of the preregistration list.

Its in the info for the new process the waitlist basically starts with the numbers right after the cutoff so 1052 is 1st in the waitlist and so forth. The same applies for the senior and grad #s

Liz '05

Cactus12
There are plenty of real hockey fans on Long Island too. (Just for the sake of clarity).

Sorority girls too.

Plenty of sorority girls on Long Island? I think we already knew that.

xoxo, the token sorority girl

Liz '05

Agreed. Consider that, with the exception of Ari, Dopperk (even though he's a turncoat ),and a handful of others, most of us were not hardcore Cornell hockey fans right away.

I'm not sure whether to be honored, insulted, or both... prolly honored because I am a born hockey fan and insulted because you spelled my name wrong... yeah that works... carry on.

krose

DeltaOne81
Frankly I'd prefer the current system over a pure-market one any day.
Says the former student. I bet you'd feel differently if you were still in the student market for limited tickets, and came up short in the lottery.

I got screwed out of tickets twice (I think) in the line already (senior and grad years) because I followed the posted rules. And my gf couldn't get them the following year when she was still at Cornell. And from that I've learned that you can almost *always* get tickets, and usually around face price. Be it outside of the ticket office half an hour before games, on this board, away team alottment, friends, mailing lits, single games sales, or whereever, you can almost always get tickets - with the possible exception of the Harvard game.

Oh, and lets not forget the wait list. That's how I got tickets my freshman year when there was... wait for it... a lottery!

I guess that makes me feel not too bad about people who randomly didn't get them, because if they want to, they can be at the majority of the games anyway.

At least you're honest about the impact (rationing) of price controls. Many here are so economically illiterate as not even to understand the most basic drawbacks of attempting to distribute tickets fairly without pricing them appropriately.

Please note that price is not limited to dollars! I think most of us can agree that the right way to distribute tickets is either to have general admission per game or to have a ticket line that forms whenever the first student decides to show up.

Sure, I think time is the correct price as well. And I think money is exactly, completely the wrong one. I understand the tradeoffs, and personally completely reject money as being the appropriate angle.

But, even if they stumbled ass-backwards into it, I think this curret year's situation worked. They made it enough of a hassle, and uncool enough (not enough of an 'event') to put it below the radar screens/desire of those who wouldn't really care to be there.

And for those who would and didn't get tickets. Trust me, you'll be at most of the games anyway if you want to be. Legally. And you won't have to pay an arm and a leg to do.

As I said, I think athletics stumbled backwards into it, but I also think - short of GA or an unlimited line, they found something that turned out to be a darn good compromise.