It's 7:45 a.m. on a Sunday and I am already annoyed that I am awake so early on a weekend. But I know it's for a worthy cause because I will get one of the most coveted items in all of Spokane: a ticket to a GU men's basketball game.
I roll up to the Martin Centre armed with a lawn chair and some friends at approximately 8 a.m. First off, I don't even get to wait inside because it is a "fire hazard" to have so many kids inside, but it doesn't matter because at the end of the day I will get my prize. I finally end up getting my ticket at 12:30 p.m.: Success. Half of my journey to the Kennel is over.
I notice early in the week that students have already started to camp out for the game. I admire their appreciation for the sport, but I don't have the will or the tent to do that. Game day arrives and since the weather is pretty bad, we don't line up until about 5:15 p.m. After waiting in the rain for about two hours, we are finally let into the Kennel. I was near the back of the line, but not at the very end.
Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's is always one of the biggest games of the year; everyone is scrambling to get a good seat. I don't even care where I sit, I figured I would be getting a back row seat and I was fine with that. However, to my disappointment, I run to the student section only to find that it is completely full and there are no more seats and there is actually nowhere for me to sit. How can this be? I stood in line for a collective seven hours to get a seat to this game; you can imagine my anger and frustration. The ushers told us to just stand in the aisle, but I did not want to just stand around for an hour and a half before the game started so I left.
I do not think Gonzaga should overbook the student section for several reasons. First off, if I stand in line for seven hours to get a ticket, I expect a seat and I don't think that is too much to ask for.
I understand that the school always wants to have the student section full, but they can achieve that in ways other than overbooking the student section. If the school simply made a rule where if a student gets a ticket to a game and they don't show up, they should not be allowed to get tickets to games for the rest of the year, I can assure you, students would not skip games.
I also find it ironic that it is a fire hazard to have so many students in the Martin Centre waiting for tickets, but it is not a fire hazard to have the aisles full of students who do not have seats because their ticket does not actually correspond to a seat.
I'm not asking for Gonzaga to try and stop students from cutting in line or not allow people to save seats, because I know that is not possible and I will be the first to admit someone has saved a seat for me before. All I am asking is that if I take the time out of my day to get a ticket to a men's basketball game, there is a seat waiting for me, even if it's in the back row.
Gonzaga should not overbook the student section at men's games. I can never get back those seven hours I wasted waiting in line.
Joseph Suttner is a junior at Gonzaga.
is a member of the 
1 comments
Glad to see your commentary. I, and about six other students, had the same experience as you during the December 5th, 2009 Wake Forest game. At least you were given the option to sit in the aisle, we were told to find a seat or leave. When I informed the ushers I am a student they did try to find me a seat, but were unsuccessful. One usher told me this is a continuing problem during every game. Like you I decided to just leave instead of running around the stadium trying to stand and watch the game, but being consistently told I either had to find a seat or leave.
I am finishing my graduate degree and don't have time to stand in line for six hours during ticket distribution and than arrive at the game to find I can't stay because I did not sleep in front of the Athletic Center overnight to get in line five hours before the start of the game.
Thanks for the commentary.
Conrad Magee
Graduate Student
Organizational Leadership