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Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Reds fans fuming over ticket-sales system


Reader's views: Reds must prove they're fan friendly

Like me, many of you tried to get Opening Day tickets and failed. Unfortunately, there are only so many tickets to be sold. But when the tickets are sold to out-of-state buyers and then those buyers turn around and sell the tickets on eBay.com for ridiculous and outrageous prices, that's where we all should draw the line.

If the Reds organization wants support from this community, it should limit the amount of tickets sold to out-of-state buyers and let the real fans have a chance to get tickets at reasonable prices. The Reds always say they are a fan-friendly team. Prove it.

Scott Curtis, Middletown

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Boys won't get Opening Day chance

How is it possible that I know of at least 22 people trying to get Opening Day tickets through all three channels we were forced to take, and not one of them came away with tickets?

I go to every Opening Day, but obviously not this one. My goal was to take my three sons to their first Opening Day.

They would've cherished those ticket stubs forever, knowing they were part of history. It was explained that in order to give everyone a fair chance to receive tickets, ordering should be done through the phone lines. The fans who deserve the tickets are the ones willing to brave the elements. Look to eBay to find out who got all the tickets.

Yes, I can pay the $500-plus they are asking. That's an awful lot of money to pay for a sub-par team that, if we are lucky, will finish with an even record. We also must wonder how well some of the order-takers made out. How easy it would have been to hook themselves Thank you, Carl Lindner, and thank you, our fine leaders, for not stepping up to the plate on this one.

Ed McCoy, Finneytown

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Look to eBay.com to find our tickets

Dear Carl Lindner, John Allen and Rob Butcher, just a note to thank you for giving, according to Butcher "Everybody in the world a chance to get Reds Opening Day tickets."

Not everybody in the world are taxpayers in Hamilton County which helped pay for the stadium, or like myself, just a diehard Reds fan with four boys. You can find everybody in the world at eBay.com under tickets.

Mark Justice, Mason

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Kids now see origin of cyber scalpers

Opening Day ticket sales is an ignorant idea. I sat Saturday for one hour trying to purchase tickets online. I even made it to the official virtual waiting room, only to be disconnected.

A friend who was on his son's computer about 25 minutes after sales started requested one ticket best available and got the message "The quantity you requested is not available." I want to know who got the tickets and where do they live? How come I get the feeling that somebody bought their tickets online in North Dakota and then sold them on eBay at a profit without ever leaving their house.

My wife and I looked forward to standing in line and trying to get Opening Day tickets. Our kids thought it was pretty neat, all the people talking about the upcoming season, and just watching the different people standing together with one goal in mind (Opening Day tickets). Well one thing about the first year of the new park. It won't be hard to remember when my kids first learned about cyber scalpers.

Jim Schmidt, Delhi Township

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Online ticket sales not good for fans

The Reds updated online ticket system for online sales is a joke. I was at the virtual ticket window a number of times during the opening day sales only to have the website time out. Needless to say, I wasn't able to buy Opening Day tickets. From that experience, I doubt I'll buy any others. I'm sure there will be plenty of scalpers that still got the tickets.

Scott Evans, Fort Thomas