re: Ticket face values...and WVA tix open to the general public.

All I know is, there is a waiting list, and it's still jammed. I signed up in July 2007 for Tide Pride, and I got an e-mail from a friend who was in the Tide Pride office that said I was still probably a "year or two" away from getting seats.

I'm telling you, even for this year's slate of games, if you just went to campus, tailgated, and made a round 20 minutes before kickoff to get seats, you'd never pay more than face.

Let's face it-- Tuscaloosa is a destination more so than a metropolis. The people on campus are a finite group of people, most of whom have tickets. With tailgating and HDTV being so good, many people are perfectly fine with staying on the quad. Besides the Iron Bowl next year, I doubt I'll ever pay more than 70 a ticket for any game.

When I do get off the Tide Pride list, I will still buy the seats. A way to make a tax-deductible gift to UA athletics, and, avoid the (albeit, small) hassle of haggling before the game.

But if you want to attend a game this year, show up, tailgate, wait til' 20 minutes before kickoff and find a guy selling tickets outside his tent (he's too lazy to go out and get full value), and enjoy the game. Worst case scenario? You stay on the quad! There is free beer! Free food!