Wristband No. 275

After arriving at the Pete’s ticket window last Friday sometime after 3 p.m., I gave the lady… After arriving at the Pete’s ticket window last Friday sometime after 3 p.m., I gave the lady on the other side my school ID and my press pass. I waited while she made sure that the odd looking character on the card was actually the guy standing in front of her.

At first I was a little surprised to find that 274 people had already been there to pick up a wristband, but after leaving the window, I was feeling pretty confident in my chances.

Unfortunately, wristband number 275 was not as lucky as I might have hoped it would be, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be writing this column.

Perhaps that since such a large number of people are not too happy about the way the lottery turned out, the administration might want to try to come up with another idea.

Perhaps something that would allow the die-hard Pitt fans to get basketball tickets, which was originally their ultimate goal.

So I thought I might try to come up with some ideas to help. Here are 10 ways to give out basketball season tickets that would have been better, and more fun, than the lottery.

No. 1: First come, first serve

This would have been better for obvious reasons, mainly because that was the way it had always been done before this year. Plus, it would have helped to ensure that only the most dedicated Pitt fans would be the ones purchasing tickets.

Instead there are students who don’t even like basketball selling their wristbands for much, much more money than they are worth.

No. 2: Air mail

The administration could rent a small plane for a few hours and dump the ID cards over the Cathedral of Learning lawn.

Then the students could fight each other over them. Someone is probably going to get hurt, but it still might be fun to watch.

No. 3: Scavenger hunt

There are plenty of places all over campus that the ID cards could be hidden. Places that no one would ever think of looking or even going to, like class.

No. 4: Leave them at Founders Field

This could backfire though, since the only people that know where that is are the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the eight people who participated in Panthers Soccer Student Spectacular last weekend.

No. 5: Distribute tickets at football games

And not just at any football games. Distribute them at games against teams like Ohio and Rutgers. The games that only the die-hard fans, and the ones who like to tailgate, go to.

No. 6: Candy bars

Create a Panther candy bar and hide the ID cards inside random wrappers, kind of like in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Except these are much more valuable than a golden ticket, and the administration would make lots of money off the candy. We all know how much the administration likes to make money.

No. 7: ID cards in the cafeteria

This idea is similar to No. 6, but it’s just as fun.

The cooks around campus could bake the cards into the food at different restaurants. That would increase the number of people who buy food on campus and it might add some flavor to the food and increase the nutritional value of what everyone is eating.

No. 8: Basketball quiz

Rather than give wristbands to everyone who showed up for Midnight Madness, they could have given out a special Pitt basketball quiz and then give the tickets to the students with the highest scores.

No. 9: Midnight Madness surprise

Instead of giving all the students wristbands to enter in the lottery, the administration could have handed out ID cards during Midnight Madness without telling anyone.

By not telling anyone that the cards would be given out then, only the people who are really interested in watching the team would have received tickets.

No. 10: Give students more tickets

Would it have really been that hard to give tickets to all the students who want to watch their basketball team?

Clearly 1,500 isn’t enough.

Joe Marchilena is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News and he really isn’t bitter that his wristband wasn’t picked.