Los Fresnos fans empty-handed for tickets to Falcons vs. Panthers game

By DAISY MARTINEZ
dmartinez@valleystar.com
956-430-6281

HARLINGEN - Nearly 200 Los Fresnos Falcons fans waited in line for hours Wednesday to buy tickets for Friday night's District 5A football title game between the Falcons and the Weslaco Panthers.

The problem was there weren't any tickets left.

General admission tickets went on sale Wednesday morning at the Leo Aguilar Memorial Staduim in Los Fresnos. By 10:30 a.m., 1,900 tickets were sold out for the game to be played in Weslaco.

Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar said according to UIL rules, the Weslaco Independent School District should have sent 1,500 more tickets for Falcon fans.

The home team designates a certain number of tickets for the visiting team's fans, depending on the seating capacity of the stadium. Bobby Lackey Stadium seats 8,500.

"It was an inadvertent mistake," Salazar said. "I don't think (Weslaco) did it with ill intention."

Salazar worked with Weslaco ISD Superintendent Richard Rivera to have the 1,500 additional tickets delivered to Los Fresnos.

"It's normal procedure. We usually don 't send (the visiting team) all of the tickets (available)," Rivera said. "The visitor's side is hardly ever full unless it's a big game."

Rivera said they reserve some visitors tickets to sell at the stadium the night of the game. There are approximately 4,000 seats available for the visiting team, he added.

"Some fans don't buy their tickets until that same day," he said. "The (visitor's side) tickets are strictly for Los Fresnos."

Rivera said it was a misunderstanding and that the tickets had been delivered by 12:45 p.m. Wednesday.

"It should be a great ball game," Rivera said.

But some fans who waited more than five hours to get their tickets didn't think the misunderstanding was accidental.

Phillip Hernandez arrived at the Los Fresnos stadium at 8:30 a.m. in hopes of purchasing 10 tickets.

"It's Weslaco's fault," Hernandez said. "They wanted to keep all the tickets. They're mad because (Los Fresnos) took them out of the playoffs last year."

Salazar said in order to be fair, tickets were capped at six per person. Even then, he said people at the end of the line might not get tickets.

Rosa Ramos was one of the fans near the end of the line. Her son, Julian Ramos, plays defense for the Falcons.

"I'm going to the game no matter what, even if I have to watch from the fence," Ramos said. "It's exciting to know (the community) is so supportive."

Salazar and CISD staff members accommodated fans by handing out water, soft drinks and chairs while they waited for the tickets. The superintendent also shook hands with all the fans in line and thanked them for their support.

Nov 08, 2006 - 23:42:15 CST