Camping Out for Tickets
Students spent all night in line for tickets to the TCU and Utah basketball games.
Timothy Knox was the first in line. The sophomore business management major from San Francisco showed up at 8:30 Sunday night to be sure he received tickets for next Saturday鈥檚 Aztec men鈥檚 game against TCU.
鈥淚 have to get the tickets before they get sold out,鈥 Knox said. 鈥淟ast week, I got here at 8 a.m. and the line was all the way down the side of the ARC and I barely got my tickets, so today I had to get here early to make sure I get tickets.鈥
Waiting in the rain
By midnight, there were 25 students lined up near the ticket windows outside Viejas Arena awaiting the student ticket distribution set to begin at 7:30 Monday morning. With a light drizzle falling throughout the evening, most were prepared with blankets, sleeping bags and backpacks filled with gear.
鈥淚 have an umbrella and four jackets,鈥 Knox said, 鈥渁nd I have some celery, peanut butter and raisins to make some ants on a log along with some water.鈥
Christian Brown sat snacking on a piece of pepperoni pizza delivered to the group by someone identified only as 鈥淪cott.鈥 Passing the time by watching a television comedy on his laptop, the political science major from Tehachapi, Calif., said he wasn鈥檛 very concerned about spending the night in the cold, damp weather.
鈥淲e鈥檙e idiots鈥 Brown said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the best way to put it. I love the cold. I like rain. I鈥檓 just not very bright.鈥
Brown said he missed out on a ticket to last week鈥檚 Wyoming game and wanted to make sure he got a ticket for the TCU contest. Tickets to the Feb. 8 game against Utah will also be handed out in the same distribution.
A good crowd
Elite Security staffer Carlos Cabazuela said the ticket line was the earliest he had seen, but that the students seemed pleasant and orderly.
鈥淪o far, it鈥檚 a pretty good crowd,鈥 he observed. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e nice and polite, so it hasn鈥檛 been too bad.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just making sure everybody stays in their place and there鈥檚 no cutting in line and everybody who鈥檚 here is going to be here and in line to get their tickets. They can鈥檛 invite their friends over right before the ticket windows open and everybody cuts in line. That鈥檚 not going to happen. We鈥檙e here to make sure everything remains in order.鈥
Cabazuela said the students were being allowed through the gates into Viejas Arena one at a time to use the restroom. Knox explained there is a sort of honor system among the group for those heeding nature鈥檚 call.
鈥淓verybody knows you鈥檙e here,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l save your spot.鈥
Making morning classes
After staying up all night to be the first in line for tickets at 7:30 a.m., Knox said he will try to head home to his place near campus for some sleep before his 9 a.m. comparative literature class. His friend, Alisha Madison, said she is less certain about making her morning class.
鈥淚 have a 9 a.m. history class,鈥 said the sophomore business management major from Valley Center, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檓 going to go.鈥
At least she鈥檒l have tickets to the game.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been to a sold-out game yet,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd I think that鈥檚 going to be pretty cool.鈥