When newspapers write about what scalpers are getting for tickets, we usually are way off. We get fooled, perhaps by ticket sellers trying to drive up the price, and embellish the numbers. I suspect it’s like the alleged street value of confiscated drugs.
But what follows is s no embellishment.
Walking to Verizon Center for the Duke-West Virginia and Xavier-Purdue games Saturday afternoon, I saw a lot of people looking for tickets but almost nobody selling.
I found one seller near the media entrance, approached him and asked what he was getting. He thought I was a cop so he walked away. The cheapest ticket I found was $300, which I thought was outrageous.
Then I encountered a dispirited West Virginia fan with his son. They were sitting on a hill, totally sad. The cheapest tickets they found were $100 more. They couldn’t justify paying $800 to watch the game.
Well Tom, you know prices like that rule me out of the picture! I'm alway looking at $10-20 after tip-off, but that doesn't sound like I should be making an attempt here in town next weekend.
Posted by: Don Chantemerle | March 24, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Will CBS be holding any prize drawings for free tickets to the "Edward R. Murrow Classic" in Charlotte Thursday?
Oh, begging your pardon, I meant to say the Washington State-North Carolina NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" matchup in Charlotte.
See--or perhaps we should phrase it, "See It Now"--North Carolina native Edward R. Murrow graduated from Washington State College at Pullman in 1930. Murrow was born in Guilford County, N.C., on April 25, 1908, 100 years ago next month. But his family moved to Washington state when he was six years old, well before the first ACC basketball tournaments were held in Raleigh or Greensboro.
And Tom, since according to Wikipedia, Ed Murrow played on a championship basketball team from Skagit County, Wash., do you think any of your sports-writing colleagues from Spokane or Seattle covering the Cougars-Tar Heels game in Charlotte may have brought along some old clips of the young Murrow at courtside in Skagit County?
At any rate, Murrow didn't have any problem spending too much time "reading his newspaper press" because in 1935 he began his illustrious television broadcasting career with CBS.
Still, can't you imagine Edward R. Murrow at press row in the Queen City: "Well, Coach Williams has some urgent news for his team but we won't know what it is until we have our one-on-one interview with him."
Yes, folks, this is some plane trip for Washington State's basketball team all the way from Pullman to Charlotte to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels. It ranks right up there with the Oregon State football team's train trip from Corvallis to Durham for the 1942 Rose Bowl against the Duke Blue Devils.
You'd think these PAC-10 and ACC teams could just meet halfway in Kansas or Missouri every now and then.
Posted by: David McKnight | March 27, 2008 at 05:04 AM