Picture thousands of young people, all scrambling for a few golden tickets that will give them admission to the most fabulous spectacle in town, only to be shut out when the tickets are given to the kids who deserve them the least. You’re probably thinking of the wrong round orange objects—we’re talking basketballs, not Oompa-Loompa’s, and the most fabulous spectacle in this town doesn’t reside in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but rather the Verizon Center.
Georgetown University’s Athletic Department and Hoya Blue, the official student spirit organization, have temporarily stopped selling 2006-2007 men’s basketball season tickets to students. The demand for guaranteed seats greatly exceeds that of recent years, meaning that many loyal fans have been left without golden tickets. This was understandably unanticipated, but rather than throw up its hands in despair, the Athletic Department ought to expand the student section.
There were about 1,200 season ticket holders last season, a number already surpassed in presale tickets, which stand as a testament to Coach John Thompson III and his staff, the players, the Athletic Department and Hoya Blue for all of their roles in turning the program around. Before last season, the student section (formerly located behind only one basket) was often unfilled.
Thus far, the Athletic Department has fumbled its marketing of season tickets by favoring freshmen. Instead of mailing order forms to every student, the Athletic Department sent them to freshmen only. It left all other student sales to Hoya Blue, which sold during New Student Orientation and “Late Night at Leavey,” an event teeming with frosh. Though Hoya Blue did give some returning students (members of its website) ample time to pre-order season tickets online, the fact that season passes have been easy to obtain in the past has left many returning Hilltoppers nonchalant and thus ticketless.
The Athletic Department and Hoya Blue have stated that students will still have the opportunity to buy tickets, though it seems not all can buy season-long ones. Because no student should be denied a seat, officials should expand the student area by opening up other sections, either in the lower bowl or the upper deck.. There is space for all 6,000 Hoyas. The Verizon Center holds 20,600 seats; the Hoyas drew an average of 10,352 fans last season.
More students will mean less room for followers of visiting teams, giving JT III’s boys a better home court advantage. It’s pathetic when our favorite chant, “Jeff Green’s Mom,” can’t be heard over West Virginia’s “Let’s Go-oooo Mountaineers.”
The first tip-off in the Verizon Center is still several months away. Everyone should get to see Roy Hibbert in action, even if he’s the only player we can see from the nosebleed seats. There is plenty of time to figure out a more equitable way to sell season passes to students. Perhaps loyal and deserving upperclassmen, who have stuck it out through less-than-stellar seasons, especially seniors who endured the nadir of Esherick’s tenure as head coach, should get the first crack. After all, even Charlie found his way into the chocolate factory.
