Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders ~ Hockey and fighting

I don't really care about the Pittsburgh Penguins or the New York Islanders, but I woke up to a bunch of tweets and talk about the fights last night.

I found this clip on youtube that pretty much sums up the game.  One word: FIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!



There's history between these 2 teams, but wow...

According to an ESPN article, there were 346 penalty minutes, 10 ejections, 15 fighting majors and 20 misconducts.

Final score:  Islanders 9, Penguins 3


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Eric Fehr's 2 goals propel the Capitals over Penguins ~ Winter Classic

The Winter Classic, from Pittsburgh is in the books and the Washington Capitals have emerged victorious.  The Caps defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1.  The hero of the game was Eric Fehr.  Fehrzy had 2 goals and

70,000 fans sat in the rain and "cold" at Heinz Field.  Penguins' Evgeni Malkin scored first.  ****  Here's one of my better pictures of Malkin from May 2009. 

Mike Knuble scored for the Caps to tie the game at 1.  Fehrzy handled the rest.

If you're not a Caps fan, you may not have known Eric Fehr's name.  Well, hopefully now ~ you won't forget it.  Living in the DC area, I run into a lot of the Washington Capitals.  The ones I've met have been friendly and appreciate their fans.  ****  Here's a pic I dug up from 2007, with Eric Fehr.  Nice guy.

Capitals and Penguins meet again on February 6, 2011 at the Verizon Center.

By the way, I had no idea Caps coach, Bruce Boudreau, went to my high school...  At least he looked like he did with his "varsity" jacket...  Just kidding!

C---A--P-S!!!  CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!


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Optionit.com ~ A "new" player in the ticket game

While on the concourse on Saturday night for the Capitals game, I picked up a business card.  I never started carrying my business cards, but lately I've been going to a lot of events and I need to exchange information about TheWirk.com with people.  I'm not much into flyers etc., but a business card is beautiful because I can just put it in my purse easily.

Last night I was going through my cards and found the card from the hockey game.  The cards is for http://www.optionit.com/ ~ and I decided to check it out.  This site is for people to purchase an option to buy a seat for an event (e.g. playoffs or regular season) and then have the ability to purchase the ticket at face value.  For example, the Penguins are back in town on 3/24 and you want to go to the game.  You can purchase the option to buy 2 upper level seats (i.e. YUCK, EWWWWWW, GROSS) for $34 and then exercise your option to buy the 2 seats for an additional $150. "Aftermarket" transactions on the website will incur a 17% fee; the buyer is charged 7% of the option price, and the seller is charged 10% of the purchase price (i.e. Stubhub.com charges 15%).  If you purchase your option and decide to sell it, you can do so immediately on the OptionIt Aftermarket. However, in order to exercise your option, you can do so when the "exercise window" opens (your ability to do either ends when the "exercise window" closes). The "exercise window" is displayed on the screen when purchasing your option.

One drawback of this site is that it doesn't list the specific section or row that your ticket will be located in.  This can be tricky for picky consumers like me that are determined to sit in a particular section.  I like that you have a chance to get the tickets at face value.  However, for big ticket events, I can see myself trying to take advantage of the market demand and buying numerous options and either selling the options or exercising the options and re-selling the tickets at a higher price to make my money back and profit.  Most people hate the secondary market for tickets, but I love it.  You have to know the value of the ticket you want or that you have in order to get the best price.

Admittedly, Optionit.com might confuse some consumers...  I don't think you need a finance degree to figure it out though.  Personally, I like the idea that I can lock into Stanley Cup tickets (i.e. if/when the Capitals make it).  The question is, whether I'm willing to pay the $1000 option price.  Further, for those people that travel for work, it can be tricky to plan that far out in advance.  In addition, venue, teams, date and TV times change and aren't set usually until the end of the season.  At any rate, gamblers and investors might like the site due to the financial logic behind it and the ability to purchase an option to get your ticket at "face value"... 
Optionit.com works with your major credit card and paypal.

Ugh ~ I wish I'd thought of this myself...  BRILLIANT.  My only question is where they get their inventory...  My guess is through the teams themselves who have to release tickets based on league policies.  I need to snag one of those contracts :-P


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