Cheap Seats
In New Mexico, order tickets by visa, not Visa
Word of New Mexico statehood arrived 84 years late at the Olympic ticket office. When Wade Miller, a Santa Fe resident, tried to buy Olympic volleyball tickets over the phone, all went smoothly until the ticket agent asked for an address.
“She put me on hold, then came back and said she couldn’t sell tickets to someone who lives outside of the United States. She said I needed to call my own national committee,” Miller said.
Miller then spent a half-hour convincing ticket staffers that New Mexico has been a state since 1912.
“I told her I was calling from New Mexico and emphasized the ‘New,”’ Miller said. “She told me, ‘Sir, New Mexico, old Mexico, it doesn’t matter. I understand it’s a territory, but you still have to go through your nation’s Olympic committee.”’ When the ticket agent turned the call over to her supervisor, Miller met with similar resistance.
“I told her I would fax her a map of the southwest U.S.,” Miller said. “She told me that wasn’t necessary, and she would do some research into it.”
Scott Anderson, managing director of games services, promised it won’t happen again.
Just to be safe, in fact, Atlanta Olympic organizers have granted statehood to New Delhi, New Brunswick, New Zealand and Newfoundland.
Dr. Steinbrenner and Mr. Hyde
George Steinbrenner is often criticized for the way he treats employees, but the New York Yankees owner also has a softer side.
Prior to the start of the Yankees-Toronto Blue Jays exhibition game last Sunday, two young fans were waiting outside Legends Field gathering autographs when Steinbrenner entered the park.
When Don Russo and D.J. Reidy asked for Steinbrenner’s autograph, the owner was so impressed with their politeness that he invited them into the Yankees clubhouse and personally served them glasses of orange juice. Steinbrenner also got Wade Boggs and Jimmy Key to autograph a baseball for the youngsters.
And then he offered them the manager’s job.
Stand and deliver
Remember Suzie McConnell-Serio, the coach of the Oakland Catholic girls basketball team in Pittsburgh, the one who had to leave a playoff game in the second half to give birth to her third child?
Before the game, she warned referees that she may have to stand during the game during contractions. In Pennsylvania high school basketball, coaches can be assessed a technical if they stand during play.
In Spokane, she’d probably get Ts for two.
Your 3 minutes are up
No spendthrift is Donyell Marshall of the Warriors, despite his nine-year, $42 million contract.
Ric Bucher of the San Jose Mercury News reported Marshall was recently in the lobby of a hotel in Dallas talking to his girlfriend back in the Bay Area.
Asked why he wasn’t making the call from his room, Marshall said: “They charge you 50 cents to make a credit-card call from your room.”
The last word …
“Your wife’s out shopping, son. It’s time to start getting some outs.”
- M’s manager Lou Piniella to newlywed pitcher Salomon Torres
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