Patience rewards early bird fans

Early risers nab $8 tickets to the Lightning game. Those farther back in line leave empty-handed.

TAMPA - They stood patiently in the early morning light, reading newspapers, talking on cell phones, sipping coffee, listening to the radio.

Some came dressed for work. Others, it seemed, came dressed for bed. In the end, most of them didn't get what they came for.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, as on every game day, offered 200 tickets to the first takers Wednesday morning for $8 each.

The box office opened at 9 a.m. sharp.

By 9:02, the bargain had disappeared, to the disappointment of most of the crowd of about 100 people that showed up early Wednesday at the St. Pete Times Forum.

With the first people in line able to buy 10 tickets each, plus other fans scooping up tickets on the Internet and over the phone, those not at the very front of the line stood no chance.

More expensive tickets remained on sale - $21 to more than $100 - but most folks had come searching for cheap seats.

Several left angry, like 52-year-old Gerry Johnson of Tampa, who showed up before dawn with a cooler and folding chair, only to leave empty-handed.

"I was second in line at my (ticket) window, and there were none left," Johnson said. "After being here since 4 a.m., I feel like something you can't print."

Ray Damon felt much the same.

"How the hell do you sell 200 tickets in two minutes?" Damon, a 36-year-old New Jersey Devils fan, asked no one in particular. "I'll go home and watch it on satellite, I guess."

Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett said the $8 tickets are a way to reward fans, and during playoff time, they are bound to disappear quickly.

"It's a race to get them," Wickett said. "We can't give everyone everything they want."

But he promised that should the Lightning keep advancing, the $8 seats will remain.

"Even if we go to the Stanley Cup Finals, you're going to be able get an $8 ticket," he said. "It'll be crazy, but it's a good thing to do."

Amid all the frustration Wednesday, there was joy, the kind that comes after waiting outside since 2 a.m., like 23-year-old Chester Carter of Brandon, who was first in line Wednesday.

"I've got $40 tickets, but I'd rather have the $8 ones," Carter said. "The top two rows are the best. You can see everything."

Carter whiled away the night with friends Krystle Saxton, 18, and Kevin Cleghorn, 29, both of Brandon. They played Yahtzee, listened to sports radio, threw a football, smoked Camels.

Carter promised he would catch his "second wind" in time to watch Game 4 between the Lightning and the Devils, a game the Devils won 3 to 1.

When the doors swung open Wednesday, Carter marched to the ticket window and walked off smiling.

"Section 308, row S," he said. "Best seats in the house."

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