Taser or no Taser, it’s good business

In the wake of about 400 students being turned away from Saturday’s home-opener football game against NAU, it’s understandable that students feel angered over not being let into a game they theoretically paid for.

It led to an angry mob and a policeman using a Taser, but any student who read the fine print would know they have no business showing up within 15 minutes of the game – the time ASUA president Tommy Bruce said the commotion started – and expect to gain admission into Arizona Stadium.

For as long as Zona Zoo has been able to sell more passes than the 10,000-person section can accommodate, the program has clearly notified students that admission is not guaranteed and will be capped at 10,000.

Although Zona Zoo is offering refunds for any student unaware of that, fans should know that if they show up early, they’re going to find a seat.

Zona Zoo can easily get away with overselling the section because it’s marketed as a sports pass, not a football pass. Still, because the sports (besides men’s basketball) included free admission before the creation of Zona Zoo, in actuality it is a football pass.

It’s important for the section to be full each and every Saturday (and one Thursday this year) for the student section to provide a real home-field advantage and look good in nationally televised games. Since some students will always flake out at the last minute, overselling the section represents the only way to go.

Plus, if that weren’t the case, some students would not have a chance to attend games, an unfair situation because all fans should have an equal shot and the students who line up earliest should get in.

That’s not to mention the financial windfall the athletics department rakes in by selling at least a couple thousand passes more than capacity.

Bottom line: no one at this school has ever been turned away from a football game for showing up an hour early.

Michael Schwartz
assistant sports editor

Zona Zoo needs a better solution

A riot here. Someone getting Tasered there. Fights all around. Students getting turned away from the best thing about Saturdays in Tucson: college football.

This is all happening as a result of the overselling of Zona Zoo passes to students. The section holds 10,000 students and is the biggest student section in the Pacific 10 Conference. There is no reason to be greedy and sell extraneous passes.

Even though NAU may not have been the most desirable game to attend, the turnout still made it obvious students want to go to the games.

The result?

A new front-page story for the Wildcat about violence that occurred prior to the kickoff because students were turned away.

The Pac-10 schedule is quickly approaching, and it would be ridiculous to say that the intrigue of watching a conference matchup won’t draw a similar crowd.

Students will continue to show, and problems will continue to unfold.

And Zona Zoo has recently come up with what they call a “”solution.””

Students, if you didn’t get in and you’re mad, you can return your pass for a refund and go to none of the games.

Obviously, people who want to go to the games and experience the contest from the student section aren’t going to return their pass, even if they did get turned away. That resolution doesn’t solve anything.

If Zona Zoo wants to avoid issues, it is easy to see where the mistake occurred. If they would have sold passes to just the capacity of the student section, everything would be peaceful, just how the hippies wanted it in the ’60s.

Ari Wasserman
sports writer