I’ve been a loyal Badger basketball fan up to this point. I was one of those people who would pay a three-digit figure for one Big Ten Conference game ticket. I was patient when the athletic department needed to conduct a second lottery for season tickets and was heartbroken when I did not receive the opportunity to buy a season ticket.
I was told the lottery was weighed so that a better chance of getting tickets would go to upperclassmen and students who bought tickets last year, but with just one of those advantages going for me, I still have been unable to secure season tickets and am forced yet again to search scalpers and dealers for just the chance to see the Badgers play ball.
When I found out recently that the people who were lucky enough to receive season tickets would receive those tickets for free, I almost blew my top off.
Now I will have to buy a game ticket from someone who didn’t pay a cent for that ticket to begin with.
On top of receiving that free ticket, those people also receive an advantage over me to receive tickets next year. Giving those tickets away for free, with collaboration of Paciolan Inc., was a huge slap in the face for the hundreds of students who are in my position. I understand that those tickets were given away in good faith, but I feel that this act was wrong because it would only please some students, and it is the duty of the athletic department to work to please all involved parties in this situation if possible.
I stress “if possible” because it would be impossible to please everyone, but when actions end up displeasing hundreds of students like me, who were already displeased to begin with for the loss of the second lottery (whether or not they won the first), someone has to step back and say, “What gives?”
Now the question I pose to the athletic department is how can they take responsibility for the consequences of their actions? At the rate they are going, they are just digging a deeper and deeper hole into my Badger heart and a good many Badger hearts out there. Certainly nothing can be taken back, but things can still be done to repair the damage. The lottery should be, in my opinion, scrapped entirely due to lack of trust with the system, and a new system should be implemented that is fair for all and tries to please as many students as possible. Perhaps the weighted lottery should be replaced by a simple raffle or first-come first-serve basis.
I am very disappointed with the athletic department’s actions and am demanding change and reparations for the basketball games my fellow students and I have missed these past years due to a flawed system predisposing a discriminatory marketplace.
Joseph P. Monahan, III
