Students camp out for tickets only to end up with poor seats / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, November 13, 2007

November 13, 2007

KU-MU tickets

Students wait for tickets to the KU-MU game Enlarge video

KU football tickets on demand

It's not unusual to see KU students lined up for tickets for an athletic event outside Allen Fieldhouse, but this line of fans was not waiting for tickets to the next basketball game. Enlarge video

Talib named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

In last Saturday's sweep in Stillwater, Junior QB Aqib Talib recorded a career-high 9 tackles. Enlarge video

Reesing guides Hawks to victory

With the Jayhawks trailing in the second quarter, Todd Reesing's completion to Marcus Henry not only moved the chains but kept the momentum for the Jayhawks. Enlarge video

Photo by Thad Allender

Kansas University student football fans wait Monday in front of Allen Fieldhouse for tickets to the KU-Missouri game Nov. 24. Ryan Leiker passed the time by tossing a football to friends as he rested in the grass. Hundreds of KU students camped out all night to pick up tickets they had purchased for the game.

It's not uncommon for lines of students to stretch around Allen Fieldhouse before a game.

But on Monday, for perhaps the first time anyone can remember, the line of Kansas University students waiting for football tickets was perhaps 50 times longer than the line of people waiting for tickets to men's basketball games.

Yet in some circles, Monday's student ticket distribution is being called the Great Ticket Fiasco of 2007.

"It wasn't bad until the actual ticket process started happening," sophomore George Ressler said. "People were freaking out. It was very chaotic."

More than 100 people camped out for at least eight hours in order to get the best tickets possible to this year's KU-MU game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., only to discover that the best tickets possible were in the upper deck because a quirk in the rules allowed a group of people to redeem 100 or more tickets at a time.

Monday morning, associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said there were enough Arrowhead seats for every student who purchased student season tickets.

And while virtually every student was thankful to be in the game, most were also disappointed that hours of camping or their attendance at every game this season earned them a spot in Arrowhead's upper deck.

"We should be down lower. I'm kind of upset about the upper deck," Ressler said. "I feel like we should be closer to our team."

Lindsey Hanbliff, a sophomore from Smithville, Mo., said her friends arrived at Allen Fieldhouse at 4:30 a.m. Monday. They got their tickets sometime around noon and found themselves in the upper deck.

In a letter to season ticket holders, athletic director Lew Perkins said few season ticket holders were in the lower level because a number of seats had to be set aside for students. Students were being given upper deck seats within less than an hour of seats being handed out.

Marchiony said there were about 1,000 student tickets in the lower bowl, with the rest allotted to areas in the upper deck. Marchiony said about 6,000 tickets were distributed Monday, with more than 1,000 still available for pickup. Any student tickets not picked up by Nov. 19 will be made available for other students to purchase.

The first 1,000 students who picked up their tickets Monday also were given for free the new KU-MU rivalry shirts, which KU leaders hope will replace the infamous "Muck Fizzou" T-shirts. These shirts, produced by a consortium of student groups, say "Tigers are an endangered species, Extinction starts today." KU also unveiled a nongame specific shirt that says "Wave the Wheat, Bring the Heat."

Many students had suggestions for how to streamline the process if KU plays at Arrowhead in the future: move basketball ticket distribution to another location and use all ticket office windows for football. While both men's basketball and football had two windows open to process student requests, the line for basketball tickets was about two dozen, while the football line stretched nearly to Murphy Hall throughout the day.

Students also suggested that students be allowed to bring a limited number of IDs with them to the window. Many complained that the first three or four groups snapped up virtually all of the lower level seating, despite having only one or two people camping at the fieldhouse throughout the night. Marchiony said the athletic department tried to accommodate the students with the process and would make changes only if students requested them.

"The pick-up is handled exactly the way students want us to handle it," he said. "There were a lot of people out there, but there were a lot fewer people than there could have been."

Cameron Killen, a freshman from Omaha, Neb., was one who did spend a lot of time in line, choosing football tickets over class.

"There was some skipping going on today," he said of his attendance in Monday's classes. "Our group got here about 8 and we weren't going to leave."

He said as of noon he'd been waiting four hours and still had about 200 people in line in front of him.

For those who couldn't get tickets to see the KU-MU game at Arrowhead, tickets still remain for the Senior Day game against Iowa State. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Discussion

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13 November 2007
at 6:35 a.m.

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imastinker (Anonymous) says…

wow! I don't know what to say.
13 November 2007
at 6:56 a.m.

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nobody1793 (Anonymous) says…

If this game were in Lawrence, it would have been a lock for ESPN Gameday. I could have flipped off Lee Corso in person. What a shame.
13 November 2007
at 7:37 a.m.

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deskboy04 (Anonymous) says…

The LJW seems to like to run articles about ticket problems for the “big game”. Are people being forced to buy these tickets? If they are bad seats, why don't you stay home and watch it on television? These stories about the ticket problems are annoying.
13 November 2007
at 7:41 a.m.

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thomgreen (Anonymous) says…

Upper deck? How many seats are available to students here in Lawrence? I know this is a pie in the sky idea, but aren't college football games, first and foremost, for the students? This was a great financial boon for the athletic departments involved but a horrible idea for the students and the local businesses in Lawrence.
13 November 2007
at 7:51 a.m.

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deskboy04 (Anonymous) says…

Some poor students have to sit in the upper deck? Some people from Goddard have to sit in the end zone? When will the tryanny end?
13 November 2007
at 8:31 a.m.

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mom_of_three (Anonymous) says…

Since this is a college football game, you would think the college students would get better seats. They do make the most noise.
Just reiterates the fact that it's all about the money.
13 November 2007
at 8:38 a.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

“Tigers are an endangered species, Extinction starts today.” KU also unveiled a nongame specific shirt that says “Wave the Wheat, Bring the Heat.”

Oh, dear lord. That is how they want to replace Muck Fizzou (which they don't own anyways). That looks like a failure.

Sticking the students up high? Congrats, Lew! You found yet another way to reduce our competitive advantage for a home game.

13 November 2007
at 8:38 a.m.

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deskboy04 (Anonymous) says…

It's about money? Are you serious?
13 November 2007
at 8:47 a.m.

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compmd (Anonymous) says…

“Tigers are an endangered species, Extinction starts today.”

So instead of “Muck Fizzou,” which at face value has no meaning, the university outright endorses killing, using the term for the permanent eradication of a species in their tagline. Bravo. Simply magnificent.
13 November 2007
at 8:52 a.m.

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ontheotherhand (Anonymous) says…

TOB—I agree with you. Those are not cool replacement shirts. Sounds like some whiney granny waving her finger and going “That team is baaad and we are going to give them a spanking!” Leave the real digs to the pros.

Too bad Mangino didn't feel the need to put his foot down and demand that the KU students get all of the lower-level seats behind the Missouri team so they would be heckled the entire game. Maybe we should call this game the I-70 High Stakes Donor Match Up. :)
13 November 2007
at 8:56 a.m.

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Alfred_W (Anonymous) says…

That new tshirt sounds like a product of Queer Eye for the Rivalry Guy. Seriously, that's the best they could come up with?
13 November 2007
at 8:57 a.m.

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Andini (Anonymous) says…

“Nobody likes to play football. Nobody.” - Ben H. Barteldes,

Classic.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/oct…
13 November 2007
at 8:57 a.m.

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OonlyBonly (Anonymous) says…

The students do the work. The “suits” get the goodies!
Thanks Lew.
13 November 2007
at 8:59 a.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

Andini - Hehehe. That was a fun day.
13 November 2007
at 9:18 a.m.

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davidnta (Anonymous) says…

Wouldn't you be pissed if you camped out all night and didn't know the only seats you would get were bad ones? Someone should have told campers ahead of time that the seats that they will be able to get are only upper deck seats. That way, they would have been warned ahead of time so they can decide whether or not camping out is worth it or not.

13 November 2007
at 9:22 a.m.

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lonelyboy (Anonymous) says…

complain about the game being at Arrowhead.
13 November 2007
at 9:33 a.m.

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Easy_Does_It (Anonymous) says…

The second shocker will be when they get to the parking lot and need $20? bucks to park. I still believe if Lew would just make the cheerleaders sell lap dances during the games there would be no reason to pimp out the football players.
13 November 2007
at 9:40 a.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

$22.
13 November 2007
at 9:41 a.m.

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T_Time (Anonymous) says…

I guess I should really be pi$$ed. I'm in the upper deck and I paid $85 a piece for my tickets.
Honestly, I'm happy to have a ticket. Don't let not having the ticket of your choice ruin the experience. Systems are not perfect. For the Big XII champ game OU-ksu. I had first row club seats, 30 yd line.
13 November 2007
at 9:46 a.m.

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T_Time (Anonymous) says…

Easy does it. why will that be a shocker? It cost $25 in front yards with no place to tailgate when in Lawrence. Yes you can back up a few blocks and pay a merchant $20 for a spot. No different at Arrowhead.
13 November 2007
at 10:18 a.m.

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blue73harley (Anonymous) says…

T_O_B - was that $22 for parking or a lap dance?
13 November 2007
at 10:36 a.m.

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mom_of_three (Anonymous) says…

If the students aren't sitting on the lower level, then who is? People with jobs, money, season ticket holders for the Chiefs, and not necessarily KU season ticket holders as we have read. It's about money, which is why we are playing there in the first place.
Look how our students are seated at Memorial stadium - front and center. It should be the same at Arrowhead. After all, it's supposed to be OUR home game.
The students should be front and center.
13 November 2007
at 10:51 a.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

Blue = It's a twofer deal. Park your car, have a cheerlead's bum parked on your lap.

13 November 2007
at 11:59 a.m.

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deskboy04 (Anonymous) says…

Why did you buy the tickets? Stay home and watch the game in high definition. You can fix hot dogs and nachos for a fraction of the price. You can choose who you sit next to. Parking is free. Going to the game is a choice. If you make the choice, don't complain.
13 November 2007
at 12:43 p.m.

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Easy_Does_It (Anonymous) says…

T time - I think most students live close enought to walk, Students are the topic of the article.
13 November 2007
at 12:55 p.m.

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justthefacts (Anonymous) says…

If KU loses this game (God forbid) I think the folks who decided to hold it away instead of at home need to get a lot of the blame!!! Here we are on the verge of doing the unthinkable, and we give up home game advantage. Why? For more money. And that is never a good reason for doing most things in life.
13 November 2007
at 1:10 p.m.

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oscarfactor (Anonymous) says…

Stop whining.

Solution:

Television. Beer. Ribs. Chicken Wings. Family. No line at clean bathroom.
13 November 2007
at 3:29 p.m.

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jocknavals (Anonymous) says…

penny wise and pound foolish i think the phrase is…make a few extra bucks selling your soul to the $evil, then lose a few billion cause you miss a bcs bowl cause you gave up home field advantage in the biggest game since jan, 69.
13 November 2007
at 4:47 p.m.

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ralphralph (Anonymous) says…

This would have been the biggest football event in Lawrence in … forever!
Boo to Lew!
13 November 2007
at 4:58 p.m.

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Haiku_Cuckoo (Anonymous) says…

Home field advantage won't be a factor, as Arrowhead isn't home field for Mizzou either. The game hasn't even happened yet and people are already making excuses for a KU loss. How sad. If KU loses (which they won't), only a fool would blame it on the fans in the stands.
13 November 2007
at 6:29 p.m.

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Hawk6643 (Anonymous) says…

There was a sheet passed out when the students picked up their tickets yesterday. Everyone who wants a ticket to the Big 12 Championship can get one as long as they request it, and they are free. However, there are only 3,000 tickets to whichever bowl game we go to, and they are $50.

13 November 2007
at 7:54 p.m.

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Rationalanimal (Anonymous) says…

Life is unfair…get used to disappointment.
13 November 2007
at 9 p.m.

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deskboy04 (Anonymous) says…

Cheer on Mangino's troops wherever you watch the game from!
14 November 2007
at 4:25 a.m.

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sandycove (Anonymous) says…

“Muck Fizzou” is without question vulgar and tasteless, but it does have a certain charm, in that it is both creative and appropriate.

In the absence of a superior alternative, I say let's worry less about what it says about us and focus on how it illuminates our proper disrespect of Missouri.

I believe I'll order a t-shirt right now. Do they have them in 3X ?
14 November 2007
at 4:41 a.m.

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labmonkey (Anonymous) says…

Stop whining. There is not a bad seat at Arrowhead…it is a very well designed stadium. Yes, the game should be in Lawrence, but there is nothing anyone can do about it now. The only real tragedy is the money local merchants will lose out on.

Skipping class for football tickets….I bet mommy and daddy are proud of the money they spent for your education.