Woodstock's Blog
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By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Mood:
Full of anticipation

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First pitch in a couple of hours

Rockies are in Boston, to face the Red Sox at fabled Fenway Park. Many commentators give Boston the edge in the series, and of course, the only way for them to be proved right or wrong is for the games to be played. The Rockies took two out of three from Boston in June of 07, so they are not facing their first experience of playing there. And the on field pregame hoopla for the playoff games against the Phillies and the Diamondbacks should give everyone an idea of what to expect in the half hour before the first pitch.

Not sure how much was in the national media, but the online ticket sales suffered a massive breakdown on Monday, perhaps a denial of service attack (the Rockies interpretation) or perhaps a failure to commit enough server capacity to the sales process (the view of most technical persons willing to be interviewed by the local press.)

Since the team only planned to sell via the Internet, there was a huge outcry of "not fair!" before the sales even began, since many people hoping for tickets do not have fast internet access easily available. The press is reporting 8 1/5 million hits in 90 minutes on Monday. Since there are believable stories of entire offices devoting their computer capabilities to trying for tickets, and computer consultants running searches on three or four machines at once, coupled with the automated buying done by ticket brokers, I am inclined to believe the astronomical figure. Whether there was also a denial of service attack by someone, somewhere is still an open issue. No one has stepped forward to claim responsibility if that's what it was.

The California vendor who provided the online sales process has stated that the Rockies were not at fault, which makes one wonder if proper allocation of server space was the problem. That doesn't cool the tempers of those who are angry at the entire process, and the way things unfolded.

It's not surprising that the controversy continues, even after Tuesday's sell out was successful. I can only compare it to the sale in 1995, when (1) there was a MUCH larger base of season ticket holders and as a result fewer single game tickets available; and (2) they started MUCH earlier; and (3) selling via the Internet was in its infancy; and (4) a lottery by postcard seemed to work quite well. In 2008, if the team stays more tightly in the hunt for postseason appearances, the experience of this week has provided a good laboratory on what not to do.

At least I hope so.

Getting ready to glue myself to the tube, except that I often am not able to watch in these circumstances. I probably will sit in the living room with the radio on, and dash into the den where Mr Woodstock and the cats will be watching TV.


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