Public Service Alert: A Warning to US Open Ticket Buyers August 27, 2008
Posted by mb in not necessarily the knicks, personal ramblings.add a comment
Yesterday morning, my father bought tickets to the Evening Session of Friday’s US Open action. Or so he thought.
Rather than scalping or purchasing from an illegal site, he went to the US Open website and used their official vendor, Tickets Now, the designated online retailer and reseller of US Open tickets. He purchased four tickets for $17 each for his family, thinking he was getting a great short-term deal. The total, with shipping, was more than $100.
As it turns out, what he got were something called “Restaurant Passes.” Restaurant Passes entitle you to visit certain eateries at the US Open. Unfortunately, restaurant passes are useless unless you have tickets to an event: something my father thought he had purchased.
How did this happen?
A call to the US Open Tennis Center revealed that the Open has previously told its vendors, including Tickets Now, NOT to allow the sales of restaurant passes on its own. Meanwhile, Tickets Now — a subsidiary of the generally reputable Ticketmaster — disclaims all liability, citing the “All Sales Final” component of its agreement. The person who I spoke to there, Joanne informed me that they aren’t legally on the hook because of this clause.
As it happens, I’ve had some legal training. The All Sales Final agreement stands assuming that the ticket sale was valid to begin with. It is a matter of basic contract law that in order for such a clause to be honored, the sale must have been valid and understood by both parties, not a farce like this one. Moreover, legal question aside, the manner in which these tickets made their way to the public seems an example of poor business practices and poorer ethics. Meanwhile, Joanne and Tickets Now will not provide my father access to the vendor who put these tickets up to begin with, leaving him with no further recourse.
Now, Tickets Now is disclaiming responsibility. The US Open is as well, saying that once the tickets leave their hands, they are now responsible. Which would make sense, except that the vendor is THEIR authorized vendor. My father is essentially being penalized for not scalping. This seems counterintuitive.
Don’t let this happen to you. Know that, apparently, “US OPEN CLUB” means the tickets you’re buying won’t even get you into the complex. Know that it’s probably not worth using an official reseller like Tickets Now if they’re so eager to watch you get screwed over. And know that the U.S. Open similarly doesn’t give a crap.
SASHSG Note: It’s Going To Be Okay. October 31, 2007
Posted by mb in personal ramblings, renaldo balkman, stephen a. smith heckling society of gentlemen.add a comment
Sometimes I wonder whether I’ll have sufficient inspiration to raise the bar yet again come next year’s draft. The Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen has to live up to impossibly high comedic expectations. What if the well runs dry?
Then I read that Stuart Scott, Stephen A. Smith and Bill Walton are going to share a studio.
It’s going to be okay.
Also courtesy of Awful Announcing: Happy Halloween! Here is Nate Robinson saying “Batman” a lot!
Update: Yes, Renaldo Balkman identified “Soulja Boy” as his favorite costume. Yes, I should’ve flagged this yesterday. No, it’s impossible he could’ve been referring to any Halloween except this year’s, assuming he understood the question at all. Yes, this is awesome.
Media Weekend Continues With a Needless Butchering of Rick Reilly October 29, 2007
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A digital butchering, one that is of course wholly unaffiliated with Sports Illustrated and Reilly himself.
I mean, come on, Riffs of Reilly was awful.
I wish him well at ESPN, though. And I hope SI doesn’t so something silly like give the back page to Dan Patrick straightaway. What’s he written, exactly?
(Also, the Rick Reilly pressbox story referenced in the video? It’s this one.)
We need to discuss Crank Dat Spider Pig. October 24, 2007
Posted by mb in not necessarily the knicks, personal ramblings.2 comments
Ok, so I’m aware that Crank Dat Soulja Boy has swept the country the way I always assumed the bird flu would. And that Youtube has followed up in predictably hilarious fashion with mashup videos featuring Barney, Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob that are pretty solid. I’ve been able to digest, even enjoy, most of this.
But then someone went out and grafted an entirely new contribution onto this phenomenon:
And, if that wasn’t enough, people on the Internet are actually making their own videos, dancing to Crank Dat Spider Pig. One example follows, but there are others:
I am struck dumb, and delighted. How did this come to be? And how can there be more of it?
UPDATE: Jesus Christ! What’s happening?
And now, a special message from Suzyn Waldman… October 10, 2007
Posted by mb in not necessarily the knicks, personal ramblings, stephen a. smith heckling society of gentlemen.2 comments
Something a little different, since I’ve had way too much fun with thisover the past day:
And why did I do it? Because the ordinarily on-the-ball Richard Sandomir of the New York Times was far too charitable.
Anucha and me. October 3, 2007
Posted by mb in personal ramblings.Tags: , anucha browne sanders, isiah thomas
1 comment so far
From New York City, this is Rockin’ Steady.
I haven’t said much about this Isiah Thomas thing, and I realize perhaps I should. Sorry for the silence. I’ve been too busy watching the Met collapse. It’s been tough getting out of bed.
I actually met Anucha Browne Sanders once, and the story of our encounter has been preserved here.
On line outside of Madison Square Garden before the NBA Draft last June. A member of the Knicks’ front office, a really tall black lady, comes out to chat with fans.
I try to convince her not to draft the undersized Mike Sweetney.
“Why not?” she asks. Suddenly, every inept maneuver by Knicks management since 1994 flashes before my eyes. My rage boils over. I fly into a tantrum.
I can barely control myself as I recite the litany of awful moves.
“But we have an All-Star in Allan Houston,” she says, condescendingly.
An All-Star? Who does she think she’s talking to? I see red.
“But, but,” I sputter. “You idiots are paying him like, like, like…”
[Think. Which sounds more ludicrous, zillion or jillion? How does one best convey the lunacy of the $100 million contract that has us so far above the salary cap the air's getting thin? Zillion, jillion, zillion, jillion, pick one... We're giving a glorified jump shooter more than we ever had to, and somebody has to pay, and it's gonna be this enormous woman, and it's gonna be right now... Zillion. I can't wait to see her face.]
“You’re paying him, like, like, a… MILLION DOLLARS!”
My eyes widen in horror. I have lost all credibility. Other disgruntled Knick fans on the line who had been cheering me on now silently distance themselves.
“I’ll pass your advice along,” says Knick lady, stifling a guffaw.
She turns away.
I guess it does suggest that Anucha Browne Sanders is capable of lying to a person–or at least delivering a really condescending half-truth–while smiling right at you. But I don’t think that’s enough to make me, much less anyone else, doubt the picture she’s painted of the Garden. It doesn’t sound like it would’ve been enough to turn the jury either.
Still, victim of Isiah or no, I can honestly say: I still hate you, Anucha Browne Sanders. You should’ve stayed inside.
$110 Doesn’t Save Many Africans… September 4, 2007
Posted by mb in personal ramblings, saving the world, stephen a. smith heckling society of gentlemen.add a comment
So it’s been a rough week for Rockin’ Steady. I didn’t post for over a week, owing to a whole set of crazy happenings in my life. (Sorry; this will soon change.) Then, the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society was snubbed for a Deadspin Hall of Fame nomination, which I think was–quite frankly–an outrage. Who’s running that show? Pacman Jones, funnier than us? With nominations like that, no wonder only one guy made it in! (I kid, I kid, Mr. Leitch. Shit, I voted for Kige twice.)
But worst of all, we’ve only raised a pathetic $110 for the African Medical and Research Foundation, or slightly over one tenth of what was a very modest goal. We’ll see if things turn around before next week, but I’m pretty disappointed, mostly in myself. I should’ve done this shortly after the draft–struck while the iron was hot. Now it’s September, and with football and the penant races happening, no one cares about our lost footage of Kevin Durant and Corey Brewer’s encounters with Lil’ SAS.
If you still feel like donating, please do. For now, here is something else I’ve been meaning to put up for a while. Don’t mind the legal notice at the end, it’s just how I roll.
The Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen vs. AIDS August 22, 2007
Posted by mb in personal ramblings, saving the world, stephen a. smith heckling society of gentlemen.1 comment so far
And now for something completely different: We are going to try to raise $1,000 for the African Medical and Research Foundation, a non-governmental organization that focuses on critical health issues facing Africa, including AIDS, malaria and TB. We are going to try to do so by using the goodwill created by our sock puppet friend weeks ago. If we can raise $1,000, we will release a video of additional footage and director commentary of Lil’ SAS at the NBA Draft.
The Death of an Archduke August 21, 2007
Posted by mb in 1970s knicks, 1990s knicks, blog news, introductions, personal ramblings, stephen a. smith heckling society of gentlemen.1 comment so far
From New York City, this is Rockin’ Steady.
1. The Way We Were.
I remember a time when New York Knicks basketball, in my mind, roughly approximated the above, give or take about ten feet on Patrick Ewing’s range. The quarter-by-quarter score was about right, the games were that physical and the Knicks prettty much had exactly two guys on the floor who could score. Most Knick fans wanted all of the above to change, even as the 50-win seasons flowed like tap water.
You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
This blog will be, as much as anything, a view of the current team as someone who never stopped cherishing the mid-90s festival of elbows and 20-foot jumpers.
2. Miracle on 33rd Street
I never got to see the 1970s Knicks live, having not yet even been an idea at the time. I’ve had them spoonfed to me over time, through Walt Frazier’s anecdotes on TV and radio, through MSG and the Classic Sports Network (later ESPN classic), through DVDs and the best-written sports memoir ever. The steady IV drip has been glorious. The idea of a team of such divergent yet compatible personalities, bound by a mantra of unselfishness and vision, the coincidence of Walt Frazier’s obsession with cool and efficiency, Bill Bradley’s essential preppiness, Dave DeBusschere’s blue collar and Dick Barnett’s mouth overcoming adversity with the purest of basketball philosophies–See the ball. Hit the open man.–must have been corrupted through romanticization at some point. I find it incredibly difficult to imagine a team that fun to watch without the pleasure being at least somewhat guilty–see, e.g., the 1993-1994 team.
This blog will also devote ample consideration to these fellows and their foundational role in establishing the soul of the Garden–a soul that still seethes beneath the facade of Madison Square, waiting to be unleashed anew.
3. 14:59
I list the below films as two of the highlights of my life, guarantees of some dubious immortality few grasp in their lifetimes and, admittedly, few desire. There will be some things about these, and about things even less relevant to the Knicks, every now and then. Bear with me.
