Bring back the ticket lines!

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Can we just return to the days when people who wanted tickets to an event lined up outside the venue 12 hours in advance and waited?

This may seem like an archaic suggestion in a world where the internet is king, and everything can be done with the click of a mouse, but I have my reasons.

Scalpers, and, more notably, scalping agencies, are using the system to buy up all the tickets and line their pockets. The fan who just wants to see a game or concert is the one being screwed.

My example is the Mizzou-Illinois football game at the Edward Jones Dome. At 10:00 this morning, tickets were to go on sale at Ticketmaster.com. I was ready. I hit refresh just as the clock struck ten, and the screen flipped over to buying mode....and the game was already sold out. They said to keep trying. I did. They said to lower the number of tickets I was requesting. I did. (From 4 to 2) Still nothing.

Then suddenly, a ray of hope! I could go on Ticketmaster's Ticket Exchange to get some tix. That's where people who've already bought tickets can turn around and sell them. Amazingly tickets that were $35 at 10:00 were now $168 at 10:10. The same thing had happened at StubHub.com, where thousands of tickets instantly became available at inflated prices.

How does this happen? Every scalping agency invests in a bank of high speed computers which automatically flood the system when tickets go on sale. As a regular person, unless you have "win the lotto" type luck, you don't have a chance.

This is why I say, go back to the old way. It may be totally inefficient, and I'm sure the scalpers will send people out to stand in line. But at least the die hard fan has a shot at getting there first. Plus, if they put a limit on the tickets you can buy, the scalpers will have to pay their lackies a small fortune to get the same number of tickets.

If this sounds like sour grapes, so be it. I am a little pissed. If Missouri wants scalping to be legal, that's fine. But we need to find a way to level the playing field. Otherwise Ticket Brokers are going to set the prices, and only the wealthiest of fans will be in the stands. That's garbage!