Pens v Lightning Oh, and I'm Calling Shenanigans on Ticketmaster!!!

Shenanigans!! I am SO calling shenanigans on Ticketmaster, I tell you! What follows is an actual account of my experience with the corporation that has a stranglehold on tickets to most any kind of entertainment that you want to see.


First, a little background story. I purchased 3 Winter Classic tickets through the monopolistic broker in September 2007. As many of you will recall, Pens fans had many problems getting the website to load in order to purchase tickets. It was only later that I learned through Pens message boards that a pattern was emerging - buyers looking to purchase a pair of tickets were locked out, while those fans (myself included) searching for 3 tickets were much more successful. I know it sounds a bit wacky, and because of that, I didn't really think much of it.


Fast forward 17 months or so to this 10am morning. I signed into Ticketmaster at 9:45am and located the event via the Pens' website. I started refreshing the Ticketmaster page at 9:59am, at a rate of about once every 20 seconds. Once the sale went live, I did a search for 2 tickets for game one, any price. The search came up empty. So I immediately went to the Find Your Tickets page for game two and did a duplicate search. Again, no dice.

I began to get a sick feeling in my stomach while I repeated the search on game one. Nothing. Back to game two. I got a hit! The two tickets were in section D, which would have been fine with me. I clicked the Continue button to move on to the payment process, and then I couldn't believe my effing eyes - "We're sorry. Ticketmaster cannot complete your request. Hit the Back button and try again." I was hesitant to hit the Back button (you know what's coming, right?), but I didn't really have another choice. As expected, the Back button took me right back to the Find Your Tickets page. I seriously almost started a riot.


I searched for a pair of tickets on each game two more times before remembering what I had read in the message boards. I figured I wouldn't have any trouble finding someone to go with us, so I searched game one for 3 tickets and BOOM! ANOTHER HIT! I didn't really let myself get too excited, but lo and behold, I was able to make my way through the entire payment process without any further difficulty. An added bonus - they're better seats! (Although, that also meant that they were more costly...) The tickets sold "quickly" according to the Pens' website, and I can tell you that the events I have just described all happened in a span of about 7 minutes. But somehow by the grace of the hockey gods and my Irish luck, woodstock, a friend, and I will be taking in game one from section C6, row L. :D

Rest assured I will record the opening video shown on the ice for you again this season. And just for the occasion, here is the one I recorded last year:



WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

A reminder to anyone attending this week's home closer: The Pens will be collecting money for the Pittsburgh Fallen Heroes Fund at Thursday's game to will benefit the families of the three officers that were slain over the weekend. So take an extra $20 to the game and donate. Skip the nachos if you have to - any little bit will help. These officers gave all to protect us; we need to honor their sacrifice by giving a few bucks to help out the ones they've left behind.

They give so much, surely we can spare a couple dollars for their loved ones in return.

Now BRING IT, Bolts!!!

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roll Call

I'm either really dedicated to the Pens or really stupid - I just spent $599.80 and only got FOUR tickets to upcoming Pens games. But I think it was totally worth it because I'm going to get some WICKED pictures from these games!!!

I got 2 tickets to the March 17, 2009, game versus the Atlanta Thrashers - which thrills me to pieces because 1.) it will be our 8^th wedding anniversary, and 2.) WE'LL GET TO SEE ARMY AND CRUSHER!!! :) :) :) :) :) We'll be sitting in section IGLO1E. I tried to find a picture of the view we'll be enjoying, but the Mellon Arena site isn't cooperating. It's only bringing up the view from F2 no matter where you click on the chart. I was able to play around and find some other images, but I wasn't able to figure out the name of the file for IGLO1E. But suffice it to say, the view is going to be awesome. Check out where we'll be on this map:


Then I got tickets to the April 9, 2009, game versus the New York Islanders. It is the last home game of the regular season, which means it is also Fan Appreciation Night! It will be the 3^rd consecutive year we've been lucky enough to attend Fan Appreciation Night. Maybe this year I'll win the jersey off Siddo's back. Maybe, just maybe, the third time really will be the charm... ;) Here's what our view for this game will be (the file name for this image was easy to figure out):


Now I want to know how you guys did. Let us know in The Friends' Zone what tickets you were able to score.

Special Delivery 2

The Penguins delivered some of the season ticket holders' tickets again this year. Can you imagine opening your door and seeing this? UNREAL.

I'd have to take down my "Beware of Dog" sign. Watch this clip from last year's deliveries (near the end) to find out why.

The Saint, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, Maxime Talbot, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Jeff Taffe and head coach Michel Therrien all helped deliver tickets to 35 lucky, randomly chosen STHs. From the Pens' website:

It marked the second year in a row that Penguins players had delivered season tickets. The ticket-holders were selected randomly from the Penguins’ season ticket base.

“We think it’s a great thing that our players and coaches reach out to our season ticket holders in this way,” said David Morehouse, the team president. “The success that we’ve had in recent years has been built on the foundation of our season ticket holders, and this is a tremendous opportunity to say thank you.”

If you check out some of the other pics on the Pens' website, you'll see that someone made Jordan Staal a birthday cake! Here are a few more shots of Siddo. Check out the new haircut:





Hmmm... I wonder if any of the STHs told Sid that his team wouldn't get the Cup this year... :P Many thanks to Friend of The Show Lauren H. for the heads up about this. :)

"Hockeytown" My FOOT

T-MINUS 10 HOURS...

Last night, I was showing my husband how to use Ticketmaster so if there's a Game 6, he can try for tickets at home while I try for a pair at work. Just for kicks, he suggested we try to "score" a pair of tickets to tonight's Game 1 at the Joe Louis Arena. Here are the results:


Now, have a look at where section 126 is. These would be sweet freaking seats - especially for a Stanley Cup Final game!!!


For a brief moment, we actually entertained the idea of making the 6½ hour drive to Detroit, but reality set in when we realized that we didn't have anyone to care for our three dogs. [*sigh*]

I got tips about this next story from Friends of The Show Bill in NS, Angele C., and Cathy F. From the Nova Scotia News Chronical Herald:

A young Sidney Crosby stares up at the camera, wearing a Wings jersey, his hockey stick in hand, a front tooth missing.

Wait a second. What is the Pittsburgh Penguins captain from Cole Harbour doing wearing the uniform of the team he hopes to defeat to win the Stanley Cup?

I saw this and almost passed out. He looks MUCH better in black and gold. ;)

"It’s pretty ironic, eh? I never thought of it before, but he was a Cole Harbour Wing," Kelly Rambeau, principal at one of the hockey star’s former elementary schools, said Friday.

Evidently, the Saint's old school thought the red and white color scheme was in need of an update:

Crosby’s elementary alma mater even changed the name of its sports teams to the Penguins shortly after he was drafted into the NHL in 2005. Their colours are black and gold.

"It might just be coincidence," Rambeau said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

A sign in front of the famous athlete’s former school says: "Go Pens Go. Bring home the Cup, Sid."

Included in the article is this photo of a library book Sid the Kid checked out when he was in Grade 5.

Cathy also sent in a link to an article about a 9 year old Michigan resident who loves both Sid and the Red Wings. From MonroeNews.com:

He can't root against the Wings.

And he can't root against Crosby.

He'd love to see Crosby get a hat trick and the Wings win 4-3.

[*GASP!!*] Since he's only 9, we'll forgive him for that. Make sure you check out the rest of that article. It details how the boy wrote to Sid and what Sid's response was.

I'm going on record now predicting Pens for the Stanley Cup WIN in 6. Start leaving your predictions in the comments below.


Thanks go out to Bill, Angele, and Cathy for the links!!!

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME (No Matter HOW Bored You Are Until Saturday...)

[*SIGH*] No Stanley Cup Finals Tickets for snoop. Those suckers must have sold out in literally 30 seconds - which isn't unreasonable if you consider that only 1,000 tickets for each game were made available today. I must admit I'm really disappointed, but I also know that I can't complain too much - I've already been to Round 1 Game 1, and at the beginning of the year, I was fortunate enough to score a seat in the Ralph Wilson Stadium for the history-making Winter Classic. Even so, here's hoping for a Game 6. ;)

So now that all we can do is wait, WAIT, WAIT until the 8:00pm Eastern drop of the puck on Saturday, I've got something for you to pass the time. A coworker of mine showed me a site called WillItBlend.com. As I was looking through some of the videos, I found this gem. To quote the caption on the site, "Hockey pucks in a blender. Words can't do it justice, so just watch:"


Now, even if you wanted to try this at home (which, again, YOU SHOULD NOT!), you'd need that blender to do it - and it costs $400!!! Seriously, though, who would have ever thought you could blend a hockey puck?!

snoop is Going to Game 1!!!

I GOT MY TICKETS!!!!!!!!!

My husband, his best friend, and I will be reuniting the Central PA Winter Classic tour for one more stop this year!!! :) I just got 3 tickets to Playoff Game 1. We'll be sitting in section E31, and here's what our view will be like:


Strictly on a personal note, anyone that knows my husband better tell him to nominate me for wife of the year!!! (Hahaha, just kidding!) If you got tickets, leave a comment and tell us what game and what section you'll be in!


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!