The Annual Ticket Scrum

After maxing out on season ticket sales, providing advanced sales of a 13-game package to people on the season ticket waiting list, and pre-selling seats to their own ticket scalping service, the scores of remaining single-game tickets will go on sale to the public at 8:00 AM on Friday morning.

The Cubs instituted a wristband policy a few years ago to prevent people from camping out in front of the ticket offices overnight. This has proved to be one of the wisest moves the Cubs have ever made, since the demand has risen so high that there would be people living in a makeshift shanty town established at the corner of Clark and Addison moments after the final out of the previous season.

I love the Cubs. I think I've established that, even among those who only know me through this blog. Nevertheless, the annual feeding frenzy for the single-game tickets amazes me every year. There will be people standing in line in the frigid cold, or waiting hours in the online virtual waiting rooms hoping to get the right to buy an obstructed view seat for a game againt the White Sox or Cardinals.

Let me tell anyone who may be considering purchasing an obstructed view seat at Wrigley Field on the rationale that it gets you into the park: That is all it does. It gets you in the park. When you get an obstructed view seat that actually says so on the ticket, they are not kidding around. The only thing you will be able to see is whatever graffiti may have been written on the pole by the person who sat there for the game before.

If the pole is only partially or mostly in your sight lines, the ticket will not indicate it as obstructed view. You have been warned.

Also, be prepared to not get anything you want. As many rules and regulations as the Cubs dream up to prevent the non-Cub sanctioned scalpers from buying up all the tickets to the good games, those same scalpers always manage to find a way around those rules to suck up whatever remaining scraps of tickets are left.

Anybody hoping to get tickets online will have a two hour disadvantage to the live braceleted ticket buyers because the tickets start selling at the box office at 8:00 AM, but the online sales begin at 10:00 AM. If you're looking for Opening Day (and I am, by the way, if anyone has an extra), or Crosstown tickets online - I wish you luck and hope that you like scattered single seats in the 500 sections.

Those three people who get the tickets they want will dance around like Charlie Bucket after finding the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. I only ask that you not wave them around in front of those who are not so lucky. People have been known to get shot for lesser things in this city.

Good luck to everyone. I will be trying to get that extra Opening Day ticket, so I'll see you around the virtual waiting room.