The Athletic Department and Cornell Hockey

[Beeeej]

[quote nr53]I've never really understood how they can revoke someone's season tickets. It's not that you have to scan the ticket or provide ID when coming in to the rink. I do remember that students put down their ID numbers when buying tickets but it would be really simple to swap with a friend and say that you sold yours at the beginning of the season and then bought random games from friends. Completely unenforceable in my opinion and therefore not a threat I ever took seriously.[/quote]

Of course you're entitled to treat things as seriously or unseriously as you like, but it's not at all unenforceable.  They can ban you personally from the rink whether you're carrying legitimately purchased tickets for a specific seat or not.  They could also invalidate all tickets for the seat you purchased under your ID whether it's you who's carrying them or not.

Use your imagination - I promise you, they will, too.

[KeithK]

[quote Josh '99][quote KeithK]The fact is that they can ell out the rink even "treating their best customers worse".  It's been this way for years.  Basketball and football have had attendance problems so policing them this closely would probably impact the revenue stream.[/quote]But there are two separate parts to this.  Keeping the price high "because they can" makes sense - they make more money that way.  Treating people badly "because they can" doesn't make sense - what's the incentive to treat people badly?[/quote]
It's not that they are treating you badly because they can.  The powers that be (presumably) believe that cracking down on obscene language, etc. is a good thing in and of itself.  They don't consider throwing you out for swearing to be "treating you badly" because it's part of creating the kind of "family friendly" rink environment that they want.  If the rink was half-empty because of the crackdown they'd have an economic reason to consider stopping it (or at least toning it down).  But since they still sell the tickets...

For the record, I think the policies are ridiculously extreme.  I simply can understand their motivations.

[ugarte]

[quote Beeeej][quote nr53]I've never really understood how they can revoke someone's season tickets. It's not that you have to scan the ticket or provide ID when coming in to the rink. I do remember that students put down their ID numbers when buying tickets but it would be really simple to swap with a friend and say that you sold yours at the beginning of the season and then bought random games from friends. Completely unenforceable in my opinion and therefore not a threat I ever took seriously.[/quote]

Of course you're entitled to treat things as seriously or unseriously as you like, but it's not at all unenforceable.  They can ban you personally from the rink whether you're carrying legitimately purchased tickets for a specific seat or not.  They could also invalidate all tickets for the seat you purchased under your ID whether it's you who's carrying them or not.

Use your imagination - I promise you, they will, too.[/quote]
Whatever complicated procedures they put it place, it can be as simple as being spotted by the usher who 86'd you the first time or circulating your ID photo to the rink staff.

[evilnaturedrobot]

I seem to recall the ticket office requiring ejected students to return their tickets (so that the ticket office could resell them, despite refusing to refund the origional owner's money) on threat of judicial action.

[mttgrmm]

[quote evilnaturedrobot]I seem to recall the ticket office requiring ejected students to return their tickets (so that the ticket office could resell them, despite refusing to refund the origional owner's money) on threat of judicial action.[/quote]

when i got tossed my last year up there (06-07), they demanded I return the tickets before the next weekend's games, but i was bursar-credited the value of the remaining tickets. there were only like 2 games left, so i got back the $25 or so that those tickets were worth.

of course, i just bought individual tickets from wherever and went to the games anyway.... i just avoided my former section.

[Rita]

[quote evilnaturedrobot][quote redhair34][quote evilnaturedrobot] Pulling an entire season's worth of tickets for swearing at a college sporting event?[/quote]

I know this is the stated penalty, but do people have knowledge of them actually adhering to it?  Or is it just a bunch of hot air?[/quote]

When the swearing crackdown first took effect (05-06?)  there were more than a few threads started by angry ticketholders that had their tickets revoked (I believe they were also JA'd..)[/quote]

Actually, I think the first "crackdown" was in the 1996-1997 season. The ushers on the C-D aisle regularly made their way down the aisle on opponents penalties to get those saying "Asshole" (and other phrases that would not be heard on the Cartoon Network).

[hockeychick470]

The D/E rink guard last year who wore the red hat with the white pom thing on it was averaging kicking out about 4 people per game for language. He would come into the section and stand behind people and if he thought you were saying "asshole" or "fuck" he would kick you out. At one point I was chewing gum and he tried to kick me out.  I knew one of the guys he kicked out and they made him return his tickets.  

side note: The rink guard who is there this year told us that he requested to be transfered to the other side because he was "having problems over here"  At the end of last season, some people stole his hat (which I was neither involved in or supported)... I'm thinking that was the problem.

[oceanst41]

[quote hockeychick470]The D/E rink guard last year who wore the red hat with the white pom thing on it was averaging kicking out about 4 people per game for language. He would come into the section and stand behind people and if he thought you were saying "asshole" or "fuck" he would kick you out. At one point I was chewing gum and he tried to kick me out.  I knew one of the guys he kicked out and they made him return his tickets.  

side note: The rink guard who is there this year told us that he requested to be transfered to the other side because he was "having problems over here"  At the end of last season, some people stole his hat (which I was neither involved in or supported)... I'm thinking that was the problem.[/quote]

That's too bad. I remember him from my first year with season tickets, when I was in D. The only trouble I ever had with him and his partner was during the Harvard game that year when he tried to kick only one of the four people who threw fish. We talked to him after the game and from that point on in the season (it was the Nov. game that year) we had a nice relationship with him.

That being said, it is hard to believe that tickets are up $100 since I graduated two years ago.

[canuck89]

It's quite simple.  Violators are escorted out by both a rink usher and the nearest police officer.  You are then asked for your ID, which if you don't have (or claim not to have) is a violation of campus code of conduct.  At this point, an individual either shows their ID or is referred to the JA for failure to comply with a university official.  For most of us who have future applications for jobs, school, etc, we show the ID card and forfeit the remaining tickets.  It sucks.  Especially when you purposefully refuse to swear because you're staring right back at the usher looking at you.  Oh well... there's no fighting the system.