Ticket Numbers and Camp Out

The ticket number discussion was getting a bit stale.

I have some questions. What number did they reach on Friday before they closed? The last person to answer said "about 1600."...Which makes me think of another question:

Tradition aside, what's the point of a campout if there's no waitlist? Would they still require it? Think of how much money they'd save if they DIDN'T have a campout this year...

I know it sucks to turn the whole ticket-getting procedure into simple luck, but why have the campout if there's no waitlist? They could still have the lottery, and people could still show up on Sunday the 30th according to an order designated by that lotto.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Snide remarks?

The overnight line check procedure is designed to weed out the facetimers, with designed being the operative word.

Townie
The overnight line check procedure is designed to weed out the facetimers, with designed being the operative word.

No, no, no, the overnight line check procedure is designed to promote facetiming.

Yeah, but why "weed out" anyone when you haven't sold all the tickets!?

Look - I'm all for tradition. I think we should go back to a first-come first serve line, where you get to Barton mid-September with sleeping bags and a tent.

But, seriously - what have everyone spend the night in the Ramen room? They have to pay for supervision, for security, for insurance, for facilities...

I mean, we can meet the players on our own time. They don't need to show up to give a speech.

And, still, does anyone know how far they got in the numbers?

Because now everyone can experience the hip cool experience of camping out for tickets, despite the fact that as you say the camping out is now superfluous, whereas it used to be necessary for people getting there as early as they could in a well-thought out ticket distribution system.

But now it makes you cool because it makes you look super-committed, plus you get a hip T-shirt that you can wear the next day at Trillium (under your North Face fleect of course).

It is all well and good to be a smartass - which is as likely as anything else to be my epitaph - but even if the tickets aren't going to sell out, camping out will get you better seats. I'd spend a night in Ramin to sit in B instead of G.

First undergrad general pool number is 356. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the other ones. The earlybirds like myself (98) got screwed. Why can't we have general admission?

All line numbers are posted online:
Graduate Students/Professionals (Yellow colored sheets): All numbers in the range of 108-307.

Seniors (Salmon colored sheets): All numbers in the range of 63-212. Once a senior’s line number in this block is eligible for tickets, their underclassmen line number is automatically invalidated.

Underclassmen (White colored sheets): All numbers 356-1598 (except those held by seniors who have eligible line numbers from the senior block).

Fuck athletics. Why couldn't they just pick the early people? (47)

Bastards. Sometimes I hate this school.

I believe some people in Athletics really get a kick out of the whole process: seeing a couple thousand people coordinate a trek to Bartels with their friends to pick up numbers, staging a dramatic lottery-like "random" number drawing, selling extra Sports Passes, selling food and Lynah t-shirts to people camped out, watching facetimers pose for Facebook-bound pictures with their friends as they do their time "in the line" before barely using their tickets, seeing Schafer trot out his revamped "we're gonna have an exciting year" hockey team, all without anyone missing classes.

The system is better than the stampede, but it lacks the most valuable aspect of the old system. There is no way to ensure that the most dedicated fans get the best seats, or even seats at all.

Though I lucked out this year (457), general admission is the solution. Anything else is hurting the fans and the team.

Any word if they are actually going to make the graduate students wait this year?

Hey guys hows it going? I just had a few questions for you. Does anyone remember what undergrad number was selected last year for the start of the line(I'm thinking 1267, but I can't remember)? And does anyone know if the number of people who registered this year is greater than the number from last year? I'm only asking because last year I was about 40 from the start of the undergrad line (aka I was almost dead last) and still managed to get tickets in section E. My registered number this season is in the low 1500's and was hoping that it would be possible to again get tickets in E? Just curious on what you guys think. Thanks

They started with 1476 out of 1674 numbers last year. No idea what the highest number handed out was this year, but I'd imagine it'd be in the high 1600s again.

I have a feeling that everyone with a number will have an opportunity to buy tickets again this year. Lots of people got numbers on speculation and won't go through with the line. It's more difficult to "sell" numbers this year because the ticket office wrote your name and ID on the line number form.

jimbo328
Hey guys hows it going? I just had a few questions for you. Does anyone remember what undergrad number was selected last year for the start of the line(I'm thinking 1267, but I can't remember)? And does anyone know if the number of people who registered this year is greater than the number from last year? I'm only asking because last year I was about 40 from the start of the undergrad line (aka I was almost dead last) and still managed to get tickets in section E. My registered number this season is in the low 1500's and was hoping that it would be possible to again get tickets in E? Just curious on what you guys think. Thanks

The line checks started with all the graduate students and then a handfull of undergrad groups of 100 at a time from 7-8:30.

The pep band came around 8:45 and the team followed around 9:30. They attempted to show a "highlight real" from last year, but the laptop only ran about 3 minutes of what should have been a longer set of clips before windows hibernated.

The graduate students began selecting seats about 10 PM. Selection was not over until after 11:45 PM. At least 22 of the 200 graduate student line numbers were invalidated during the line checks, so some people should come off the waiting list.

Happy waiting to the undergrads.

Seniors bolted straight for B. Last year, a lot of seniors took seats in A along the glass and in the E/F corner, which left seats in B for those of us stuck a few hundred numbers back, but the class of 2008 was fixated on sitting in B. I'm hoping this means that B will fill up a little earlier before the game and that fans will know what's going on.

ebilmes
Seniors bolted straight for B. Last year, a lot of seniors took seats in A along the glass and in the E/F corner, which left seats in B for those of us stuck a few hundred numbers back, but the class of 2008 was fixated on sitting in B. I'm hoping this means that B will fill up a little earlier before the game and that fans will know what's going on.

Probably the fact that so many people blindly went for B means that they don't quite "know what's going on". They have the line moving along very fast tonight, getting through about 300 people per hour.

Yeah I was pretty surprised at the way people picked seats this year... I guess everyone has a different preference for how they'd like to see a hockey game. Overall the "line" was identical to last year, band and team came in last night for a while and mingled with the fans.

Sorry to everyone who didn't get the seat they wanted...ebilmes and I were talking right before selection...wouldn't general admission be so nice and fix so many problems?

amerks127
Sorry to everyone who didn't get the seat they wanted...ebilmes and I were talking right before selection...wouldn't general admission be so nice and fix so many problems?

yes!!!

amerks127
wouldn't general admission be so nice and fix so many problems?

I heard there is desire from the ticket office to try general admission for at least one game, because they feel it will encourage the best fans to show up early for the best seats. However, it will not happen this year.

imafrshmn

ebilmes
Seniors bolted straight for B. Last year, a lot of seniors took seats in A along the glass and in the E/F corner, which left seats in B for those of us stuck a few hundred numbers back, but the class of 2008 was fixated on sitting in B. I'm hoping this means that B will fill up a little earlier before the game and that fans will know what's going on.

Probably the fact that so many people blindly went for B means that they don't quite "know what's going on". They have the line moving along very fast tonight, getting through about 300 people per hour.

Is that a shot at the great section B?

There really isn't much of a monetary gain for the ticket office if students show up early/on time, so I doubt they really care too much about it.

ebilmes
I believe some people in Athletics really get a kick out of the whole process

Athletics staff hate this event..it's nothing but downside and a large PIA for them. In fact, the most depressing aspect is it's one of the few (only?) events where school spirit is alive, yet is has been destroyed by any/all of the following:

- Students who cheat/bust the line/have no respect for fellow students;
- Parents who whine about their children camping out for days;
- Academicians who dislike Athletics in general and complain about students missing classes (I wonder how much proof they have to support that?);
- Nervous CU risk managers who worry about potential law suits.

There was a time when the event was enjoyable, when "young people" seemed to have a greater respect for each other, when parents weren't so damn paranoid and over-protective of their kids, and big-dollar settlements in lawsuits weren't so commonplace. I don't think it's fair or appropriate to blame Athletics. They're responding to their environment, and there's just no incentive for bureaucrats to take any risk.

LaJollaRed
Yeah, but why "weed out" anyone when you haven't sold all the tickets!?

...because they don't know all tickets won't be sold for sure until after the sale...and all prospective ticketholders want to know every aspect of the procedure well in advance or else they complain to Susan Murphy and Mike Schafer.

evilnaturedrobot
There really isn't much of a monetary gain for the ticket office if students show up early/on time, so I doubt they really care too much about it.

Selling tickets for every game rather than having one big sale would probably cost Athletics more money. But ignoring any logistical or incremental financial considerations, it might change the perception that hockey tickets are scarce, which increases their value and makes them more desireable. Of course, if they don't sell-out when the team is championship-caliber, that perception might change anyway.