Okay, so it wasn't really that bad, but it certainly wasn't what I'd call fun, my Air Canada Centre (ACC) wristband experience. The policy goes something like this:
1) almost anytime on Friday you pick up a wristband--after showing proper photo id, of course
2) Saturday you show up before 8:20am and get roughly into order according to your wristband number
3) a number is drawn randomly and people buy Leafs tickets (maximum of eight, four maximum per game) starting from that randomly drawn number, going down, and then wrapping back around
4) 12pm the ticketmaster opens to phone lines and internet users
So how was my experience? Well, I went at 9:30am to get a wristband because I thought it would be less busy than lunchtime, and I was working so I didn't want to waste too much time waiting in line. Naturally, the line was huge when I got there and I ended up waiting for an hour and a half. That wasn't too great, but it gets better.
Saturday comes and I dutifully line up, near the front since I'm number 126. All of us near the front are desperately hoping that either a very low or very high number is called. The time comes and we see an official looking guy walking past us, and we figure that he's probably going to tell the number in approximately the area where the person with the nunber should be. Since he's already walked past us, we all urge him to go back, keep going, further. BUT, only some metres back, he stops. Dang it! We hear someone yell, "I'm the last one!" Poor guy, he had number 324, and the number was 325.
So, starting from the front, all the people up to number 325 are led to the back of the line. We know that we haven't got a chance at any of the good games now, but we still have hopes of at least getting something. As long as we get in before 12pm, it'll be worth it, we'll still be ahead of the people buying online or through the phone.
At first the lines keeps moving up--it should be fast, since the first people are all getting their first choices, no problem. After less than half and hour, though, we're barely moving. We're stuck in a tunnel, breathing in car fumes, and the darkness mirrors the hopelessness of our situation. Yet, although we are in the last two hundred of a thousand ticket buyers, people are still hopeful. They know that they won't be able to get their top ten choices, but they will be satisfied with something, anything. We don't expect miracles (like getting a Saturday game, or a game with any sort of team considered "good"), but we don't think of that, and simply make it our goal to get out of the tunnel--at least then the wait will be more pleasant.
It takes about an hour, but we do get out of the tunnel. An official comes back from time to time and tells us which games are sold out--sold out meaning that there are no available pairs of seats in the purple (cheapest) section. We talk and look at our watches frequently. When only an hour is left before 12, I look at my all the people ahead of us, and think that someone should take a picture of us, at the end of the line, and entitle it "Exercise in Futility." There is NO WAY that we will get in to buy tickets before 12, and yet we continue to wait. Certainly many have and will leave, but there are even more who continue to wait, knowing the hopelessness of the situation.
For me, I stay where I am only because I want to continue talking with people. A sort of camaraderie, built from commiseration, has developed, and I know I'll probably never get a chance to talk to these people ever again. Then too, my friend, and my ride, is further up in the line, so I am waiting for him to get tickets.
As the clock counts down towards 12, we talk about the system, and ways it could be improved. We have waited for almost three hours, outside, on our feet, and in a short time, people who have just rolled out of bed will be able to log onto a computer, or pick up a phone and purchase tickets before us! Not only that, but all the people in the one hundreds probably waited for at least an hour, as I did, just to pick up a wristband!
Suggestions fly. If they would post which seats/games have been sold out, people wouldn't waste time asking about games that aren't available, speeding up the process. They should draw and post the number before people arrive, so that people can actually start lining up from that number onward, rather than wasting time moving people to the end of the line. Or they could give out random wristband numbers to begin with, so that people could decide whether or not it'd even be worth the effort for them to come down to wait on the Saturday. If the system was computerized, it'd be fairly easy to check and make sure that people aren't coming back more than once, trying to get a better wristband number. At the very least, they could ensure that all the wristband holders get tickets before opening sales up to phones and the internet. It's a kick in the backside, going through all the trouble of picking up a wristband and waiting in line, only to find that people who couldn't be bothered, who slept late, can still get their tickets before you.
The worst thing is that we know that the people selling the tickets really don't care. Our money, our obvious dedication doesn't mean anything. Even if we get fed up and decide not to bother buying tickets to games, the tickets will still get sold. Why would they bother to improve the system when people will continue to buy tickets regardless? In Toronto we've practically got the words "take advantage of me" written all over us. No matter how frustrated we get with the system, no matter how much prices increase, there will always be a demand for Leafs tickets. Even me, I'm not giving up, I'm just making better plans for next year, plans to ensure that either I or a friend will be at least within the first two hundred served.
Actually, to change the focus slightly, I've been wondering if I'm being given a sign that I'm not meant to wathc live hockey games. I mean, originally I planned to go to get my wristband around lunchtime. Then I thought that it'd be busy then, so I went first thing in the morning. As it turns out, not only was the wait at lunch three times shorter, if I had gone at noon, as I'd planned, I would've been within the three hundred or four hundred range, so I would've gotten my tickets no problem!! So yeah, that's definitely either a sign, or Murphy's evil law at work.
Feel the excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs, before the NHL season has even officially started--and without even seeing a single puck, stick, skate or player, for that matter! Coaching Matters (written and produced by Kevin Leonard, and directed by Bruce Dow) opens at the Jane Mallet Theatre, in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, on September 26th and runs until October 19th. A crowd pleaser at the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival in 2001, it shows what goes on in the coach's room during a playoff final series.
I got to see the preview today, and it was great! There weren't any flashy costumes, or fancy moving sets--just seven guys in suits, a desk, a few chairs, some boards and plexiglass--but there were moments of drama, tension, and comedy...lots of comedy. The quality of the production will allow you to leave the theatre feeling that the ticket price was money well spent, but probably the only, and best, reason why you should see this play is out of love for the game of hockey. For certain, the acting was real, and the repartee witty, but beneath the clever dialogue, the judicious use of locker room language and humour, at the very heart, at the absolute core of the play, was an intense love for hockey.
That's why I watched the play, and that's why I loved it. ^_^ It brought back the excitement of watching the 2002 Stanley Cup finals, and gave me a feeling of eager anticipation for the 2003 playoffs! Now I'm no theatre critic, but I give Coaching Matters my wholehearted approval! Go. Watch. Now!!
(For more information on the play, check out the website at www.scorestat.net. For ticket prices and information, or to order tickets online, visit www.stlc.com.
Ever since the summer I've been wanting to get this book called "Why is the Stanley Cup in Mario Lemieux's Swimming Pool?" (it's got stories about how players celebrate with the Cup), but I didn't buy it because it's a thirty dollar book, and I have a hard time spending much more than $20 on a book.
So I was planning on putting it on my Amazon wishlist, to buy later, but then I went to Chapters today (while waiting for the theatre to open so I could watch "Spirited Away") and I found it for...$4.99!! Is that cool or what? I even got a 10% discount since I'm a Chapter's club member!! It's funny, but I actually pumped my fist in the air (just a little) when I was leaving the store, because I was so happy to have found the book! =D
Oh, and I bought the latest Hockey News today (the last I'll have to buy, as my subscription will kick in for the next issue), so it's been a good day for buying hockey reading material!!
I enjoyed the Avalon comic long before I was interested in hockey, but now that I am, I've found even more to love about it! Check out Tuesday's comic, followed by today's comic, and you'll see what I mean! ^_^
I know this is a long time in advance to be asking, but is anyone interested in going to the 2004 NHL All-Star Game with me? I'd love to go this year, but I haven't the cash, and I sincerely doubt that my parents would be willing to sponsor this trip for me. ^^:; Roadtrips.com offers packages starting from $1045 US, but those prices are based on double or triple occupancy, so...
Anyway, if you're interested, let me know! I figured I should put out feelers way ahead of time, considering that if I have to save the money, anyone who would go with me would probably have to do the same.
Thanks goodness a family friend gave us his (original) Photoshop 6 disc, because if I had to save for both Photoshop and the trip, it'd be a long time before I would be able to afford either! As it is, saving enough for next year is already going to be tight, considering that most of my savings have to go towards my school fees. Really, going in two years would be better, but I figure that Joe Sakic isn't going to be around forever, so I'd better go soon! Hopefully he'll be on the All-Star Team again next year, otherwise I'm really going to regret not having enough money to go this year...
See, this is why I love The Hockey News: because I learn something new everytime I read it! I don't just mean learning opinions on teams and players, or even NHL/hockey news, I mean finding out about things like the NHL's Canadian assistance plan.
I had been wondering why teams weren't all going for Iginlaand Theodore, and then I read about the assistance plan and everything in THN. ^_^ Who knew that "Canadian teams need only a U.S.-based offer sheet in Canadian dollars while a league fund picks up the difference"? I sure didn't!
You can tell how much I love THN because I'm actually paying for my subscription myself, instead of conning my parents into paying for it for me (a still viable option, even though I decided against it).
Anyway, some other things that I learned recently about hockey are: Ron Francis is Canadian; there are two Stanley Cups, one that travels and one that stays in the Hockey Hall of Fame. This new knowledge was a result of my trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Saturday.
I finally got to see the Olympic loonie--the bird has practically been rubbed off from all the visitors touching it! Anna (my past and present suitemate) and I took pictures with Lord Stanley's Cup, and we saw and read about all the other trophies too. It was actually from reading the blurb on Francis on the Lady Byng trophy display case that I found out that he hails from Sault-Ste. Marie. Guess this means that Irbe is now the only non-Canadian player among my favourites.
At any rate, the HHOF wasn't too bad. It wasn't extremely interesting either, but it was kind of cool seeing all the international hockey jerseys, the Wayne Gretsky "shrine," and the various hockey statues displayed around the building. It was also fun watching people playing the shoot-out and goalie games. And of course, the Spirit of Hockey store. I dunno, maybe it's because I get a discount, or maybe it's just my spendthrifty nature, but there's something extremely satisfying about buying stuff there. Not only that, but I get to make sure that "my" Sakic and Yzerman limited edition framed prints are still there! Now that I'm not going to be down there Mon. to Fri., I don't know what I'm going to do! Will I go into HHOF withdrawal?
Whelp, guess that's enough mindless babbling from me for now! OH, except, isn't it funny that Shayne Corson and Darcy Tucker have their own clothing line? I found it so amusing, I even added the site to my hockey links on the left nav bar! Maybe when I have money to waste on clothing (isn't it funny how auto'd hockey photos aren't a waste of money, but clothing is?), I'll get some of their Kewl apparel. =Þ
