Vikings -- Winners (Plus More HM Travails)

(Play the Music while you read the post).

So I get four free tickets to Vikings/SF. Two in Section 100; two in Section 105. Two are from a guy I referred work to; two are from a vendor.

I attend with my two daughters and one of their friends. Young one is going to sit with me in 105; the 15 year olds will sit together. We get to the game at about 11:45, which is far too late as I know now. Anyway, we get in line around 11:50 to go in. The Dome now has a "female" lines and a "male" lines, like Disneyland, presumably so they can search women's purses. With three girls, I go in one line and they are in the girls line.

I get to the front, hand the guy my ticket. Yeah, not valid. Scan again -- nope. So I pull out the Stub Hub e-mail that they gave me "in case there is a problem." Ticket guy -- "Yeah, that doesn't help you any." The guy in line behind me is now really pissed because he is going to miss kickoff because my ticket will not scan. He says, "Here, I have an upper deck ticket that I won't need. Just let him in." He gives me the ticket, I get in.

My daughters are 20 feet away, but they give me their story later. My very bright 15 year old has her ticket scanned (section 100) -- nope. Then her friend gets scanned (section 100) -- good. Huh? Of course my 11 year old gives the Section 105 ticket to the person and it is also bad.

So I was given four free tickets to a Vikes and exactly..........one of them were scannable at the gate. OK. Bad.

So I walk in and there are the 3 girls. My eldest says, "Wow. That was bad. The lady asked us if we went out and came back in. Then she asked us if we stole our tickets. She said that she was going to let us in, but only "on trust.""

Well, this is probably just a scanning error. So I sent the two girls to 100 and Diabetes Maven and I went to Section 105. There is a huge fat guy and his chunky Asian girlfriend in our seats. They have computer printouts showing their seats as being......exactly where they are sitting.

So I go to an usher and ask for the section for fan relations.

We go to section 110. Now, if you are ever in my situation DO NOT DO WHAT I DID. You are in the building. Look around for a couple empty seats in the lower deck and sit there. I almost ended up out on the street.

DM and I go up to the lady at the ticket office (35 or so, medium build). I explain my problem and give her my tickets and my Stub Hub e-mail. Here is our conversation:

HM -- "So, I have two tickets here that a lawyer friend spent $300 on and someone is in our seats."

Lady -- Yeah. You have been duped. The people in your seats have valid seats and you do not.
You were duped.

HM -- "Well, the e-mail says I should show you guys the e-mail if there is a problem."

Lady -- "Yeah, that is worthless. It means nothing to us. Call Stub Hub and tell them you have been duped."

HM -- "Well, I came her to watch a game."

Lady -- "And you were duped. I am sorry you were duped. But we have tickets still for sale. You could buy two."

HM -- "I will not be buying two tickets to a game where someone paid $300 so I could go. Can I speak to someone back there?"

Lady -- "I guess. Let me see if you can speak with Chuck."

Chuck is a guy with a buzz cut, around 5'7", 155, coiled steel. Chuck is the kind of guy who you would start a fight with because he is little and in about 11 seconds you would be lucky to be alive.

Chuck -- "So here is what happened. You were duped. This guy sold these tickets to Stub Hub and then re-sold them to someone else. The second guy got the e-mailed tickets. Once tickets are e-mailed, the originals become worthless. Yours are worthless. So, yeah, you were duped."

HM -- "Please stop saying I was duped. I was given tickets by an attorney friend. I paid $0 for these tickets. I was never DUPED. So please stop saying I was duped. Is there nothing you can do for me, Chuck? I have two young kids in the game sitting in a different section."

Chuck -- "I will walk back and get you two tickets."

HM -- "Thank you, Chuck."

So I get Section 224, Row 1. We walk up and I show the usher my tickets -- "You have to walk around to the other side. The seats are on the other side." Walk the semi-circle. Show the fans over there -- "You have to go to the other side, they are on the other end."

Ask the same usher. "Do they say ROW 1!?!? I thought it said Row Z. Yeah, you are right there. (points)."

OMG.

In any event, we had OK seats, for free, so I don't want to bitch too much. But what happens at the end of the game? Favre to Greg Lewis..........in the end zone where I could have been sitting, in the corner where I would have been.
http://www.msfc.com/seating.cfm (click on section 105).

...........Instead I am 300 yards away texting my wife to see if she thought the guy was in or not.

I would like to see the guy who double-sold his tickets punished in some manner. Example -- castration.

HM