Several opinion articles have been written in recent weeks concerning the men's basketball season ticket distribution process. I think the current process is awful. I am a graduate student and this is my sixth year at Virginia Tech. I have held season tickets for the last four years -- since my sophomore year. On Tuesday, I checked the lottery to find out that this year I would not have a chance to buy season tickets. I may still randomly win tickets in the individual game lotteries, but I suspect there will be many games I will not have tickets for. I will have to attempt to show my support for the team by sitting on the couch, cheering in front of the TV.
It would be easy to complain simply because I did not win the lottery, but my biggest complaint is that there never should have been a lottery to begin with. There are better ways to allocate scarce tickets. The lottery is an unbiased method of distribution and that is why it should not be used. The distribution process should be biased toward the students who care the most about attending the games. I do not know how to directly measure how much I or anyone else cares. However, there is an indirect method that provides a good approximation to how much someone cares -- first-come, first-serve.
The ticket office should start selling season tickets on a Saturday morning in October. Allow a line to form in advance. Allow each person to buy two season tickets, one for themselves and one for a friend. Time is something that is universally limited for all college students. We each only have 24 hours in every day. I argue that how long a student is willing to wait in line is a good indication of how much the student wants a season ticket.
One argument against my idea is that perhaps the logistics are too much for the athletics department to handle. However, if money to support my suggested method is an issue, the ticket office could charge an extra $10 a ticket. I would expect that the money raised could be used to pay ticket office employees to setup queue lines and to keep the peace among students as the line begins to form hours or days in advance.
In the end, collegiate athletics should be primarily for the student athletes and the student body. Is overcoming a little logistical difficulty too much to ask? The lottery is inherently ineffective at distributing the tickets to those students who care the most about going to the games. I believe a first-come, first-serve distribution method would better serve the students and the basketball team by letting the most die-hard fans through the doors of Cassell.
Matthew Kurzen
graduate student, aerospace engineering
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This is the exact same thing that is done at Duke... which is an equally ridiculous system. The last thing we need is our own version of Krzyzewskiville outside Cassell. If you want to give preference, eliminate all season tickets. Then keep track of who actually signs up for tickets to the early games and actually comes to them. (I guarantee you with the current system, there will be plenty of empty seats then). Those who come to those games deserve tickets first for the big games more than the people who don't and only want big game tickets.
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When I was a freshman in 2003, VT did the individual football ticket distribution by lining up outside Cassell; I fully remember the tents being set up all down that sidewalk. I once had to wait 9 hours to get a ticket. Then, the RA's figured out a method; we used to have hall meetings to determine who wanted to stand in line with everyone's hokie passports and get the tickets--I mean, the system could use some modification, but most definitely allows the dedicated fans to get tickets. I also recall that the selling of student tickets was not an issue at all. 2 birds with one stone maybe?
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Since the Era of Jim Weaver bega, VT athletics has been absolutely nothing about the students, faculty, or faithful fans - it's only been about the bottom line. DISGRACEFUL!
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With your system, students could line up starting on Friday and miss some of their classes. What about students who have late classes or labs on friday? What about family emergencies? I have come to the conclusion that no matter what the Athletic Dept. does, somebody is going to complain about it. If you had gotten a ticket, I'm willing to bet you would not be writing this letter. Christine - yes it is about the bottom line. How else would they afford to keep Frank Beamer, Seth Greenberg, a host of trainers and doctors, and countless other support staff. All of collegiate sports is like this now.
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