When I received an e-mail from the Wisconsin Athletic Ticket Office on July 7 telling me that I was not selected as a football ticket holder for this season, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
My initial reaction was to re-read the entire e-mail, which I actually did get right the first time. Was this some kind of joke? How could I, a senior who has purchased season tickets every year, not be selected as a ticket holder while several underclassmen, who are not familiar with the university's traditions, were?
Aside from calling several other senior fans who were also denied, I placed a very angry phone call to the ticket office. Not to my surprise, the lady I talked to had no real answer for me other than, the freshmen believe they should have a chance at season tickets, too.""
I agree. Freshmen should have a chance at the tickets, but only after all of the upperclassmen have been taken care of first. Does seniority mean anything anymore?
The ticket office lady explained that the e-mail notifications that were sent out last year caused a lot of problems because some students did not receive information about when to apply for the tickets.
Whose fault is that? Should the upperclassmen be penalized for the ticket office's mistake? The truth is, if you are a dedicated fan, you would not need an e-mail to remind you to register because that special day will be already highlighted on your calendar.
The athletic ticket office said it would like to reward dedicated fans; I do not think, however, the policy they used this year did anything to help that situation.
Since money seems to always be a factor these days, reward the upperclassmen who have spent tens of thousands of dollars at the university already. Reward the upperclassmen who know what Wisconsin Badgers football is all about. Reward the upperclassmen who have been a part of UW tradition for years.
After hearing my complaints, the lady on the phone asked me one question. ""How would you have done the football ticket distribution differently?""
I took a deep breath and rattled off my thoughts.
To identify and track true Badgers fans, have the students swipe their WisCards at each game, along with their student tickets. This way, the athletic department will be able to track who is actually coming to the games, who is selling their tickets (based on which tickets and which WisCards do not match up) and determine what time ticket holders are entering the gate.
Second, a red card system that will reward students who attend the less popular sporting events could be put into effect. Fans should be able to gain ""fan"" points toward the more popular sports by showing their support for other UW teams. Here again, WisCard swiping would be the answer.
All in all, students with the most points as well as seniors should have the rights to hold tickets for the major Badgers sports. Maybe if UW would have spent more time exploring various options for student ticket distribution and tried harder to reward its loyal fans, this problem never would have occured.
The bottom line is, seniors should never take the back seat to underclassmen in situations like this. I just figured this university, which prides itself on tradition, would never leave this many upperclassmen empty-handed.
Is it so wrong to have people wait their turn? I guess so. Lucky for me, I have a friend who sold me her tickets for face value at $143. I know of other fans purchasing their tickets for more than $500.
This really is a lose-lose situation for the ticket office and the true fans who needed to work out deals with the middlemen.
If you can think of other fair ways to distribute student season tickets in the future, e-mail Crystal at crowns@wisc.edu.
