Heard folks chatting about Hillsdale’s next big football game last Tuesday while grabbing coffee. Decided right then I had to be there – team’s on fire this season! Pulled out my phone, fingers crossed for ticket dates.
The Official Site Disaster
Clicks straight to Hillsdale Athletics site – looked easy enough at first glance. Big banner screamed “TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 9AM”. Set phone alarm for 8:45 AM Friday. Felt smug about remembering early.
Woke up late Friday (snoozed the darn alarm). Panic mode! Fumbled for laptop at 9:12 AM. Saw the ticket page loading slower than cold honey. Refresh… refresh… ERROR PAGE. Felt my stomach drop. Sold out already?!
Called the ticket office. Got that awful automated recording: “All tickets for this event are currently unavailable.” Kicked myself so hard for sleeping in. Should’ve been ready at 8:59 AM hitting refresh like a madman!
The Wild West of Resale Sites
Jumped onto those resale spots everyone talks about. What a mess! Chaos prices:
- Saw $40 nosebleeds listed at $150?! Highway robbery!
- Random fees popping up at checkout? $25 “convenience charge”? Ridiculous!
- Almost pulled trigger on $90 tickets – then noticed tiny print saying “SOLD” on someone ELSE’s site. Total bait-and-switch.
Remembered horror stories about fake tickets. Closed browser fast.
The Local Lifesaver
Posted a desperate sob-story in the local Hillsdale Facebook fan group: “Slept through ticket drop. Anyone got extras?” Got roasted by strangers first – “Set 10 alarms next time, rookie!” – worth it though. Within an hour:
Guy named Mark messaged: “Have 2 extras. Paid $35 each – you can have ’em at cost. Meet at BrewHaus at 4?” Handed me real tickets on crisp cardstock, right across the bar table. Almost hugged him! Paid cash, no sketchy fees.
What worked: Being loud & honest in LOCAL groups. Regular fans saved me from scalper sharks.
What failed: Trusting official site + ignoring resale site landmines. And the alarm snooze button – never again!
Oh! Bonus tip? Grabbed cheap team socks online AFTER tickets. Won’t freeze my toes off waiting in that mile-long concession line for popcorn. Stadium popcorn machine breaks every home game without fail… but that’s a rant for another day!
