TRENTON, NJ–It was the second ever visit for GMC Hoops to Sovereign Bank Arena, and while it was still fun with a great view of the semifinal action from the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, there was still a good deal of disappointment in the experience. The time had at the Ritacco Center for the Quarterfinal round was far better.
The Sovereign Bank Arena experience is much more like the Rutgers Athletic Center, or Rutgers Stadium Experience with a $6.00 charge for parking, and a $3.50 price for a bottled water! At Ritacco, there was no charge for parking, and $3.00 for a bottle of Gatorade. Then, there was the added insult of not being able to bring in the video camera to film the game. A similar thing happened to me at the RAC last year for the 2008 Prime Time Shootout.
However, I still fared better than some others, who attended the game. One proud parent of Lenape expressed his disgust after paying $40.00 for getting his tickets online. His price included several fees for processing his order. I only paid $8.00 for my seat after paying for it at the ticket window, and the one bright spot was that it was a very good view of the action. Not exactly at center court, but for $5.00 less, it was still very nice. Speaking of the ticket window, there was another source of consternation. The wait to get the tickets was unbearable. I had gotten there right at 5:30 PM give or take a few minutes. I didn’t get to sit down at my seat until the intermission of the first game with Science Park leading 21-20 over Immaculata.
I have waited online for tickets at Rutgers for the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship, and the State Finals, but my wait was no where near as long. At least Rutgers takes care of you quickly so you don’t spend much time in line. My last trip to Sovereign Bank Arena for the 2005 Prime Time Shootout was when I was able to get a pass from the folks at the Prime Time so I wasn’t subjected to any of the pricing that I was exposed to. All of this coupled with a real downer of a game between St. Pat’s and Lenape, I came away from it all somewhat disappointed.