Sophomore Michael Konowitz said he showed up at the Autzen Stadium South Ticket Building on Monday around 3:30 p.m. expecting to wait in line for hours and eventually pay $56 for a ticket to see the Ducks’ first round game against Miami (OH) in Spokane, Wash.
He waited – for about 18 hours for that matter, working on homework until his hands got too cold – but Konowitz and 54 other Pit Crew members were rewarded several times over.
First, they got a surprise visit from coach Ernie Kent at around 7 a.m., who Konowitz said delivered doughnuts and cartons of coffee and hot chocolate to students and thanked them for supporting the team. About 30 minutes later, he said new athletic director Pat Kilkenny arrived with his wife Stephanie and more breakfast.
“He just really appreciated that we were so dedicated,” Konowitz said. Then a surprise announcement came just before 9 a.m.
Right before the ticket office opened, Konowitz said a representative of the athletic department informed the group that, in appreciation of their dedication, Kilkenny decided to pay for all of their tickets. At $56 per ticket, he will spend $3,080 in total for 55 tickets, representing 10 percent of Oregon’s allotment of 550 tickets, and Konowitz said Kilkenny will also pay for a charter bus to take at least 55 Pit Crew members to Spokane and back.
“We went crazy,” Konowitz said of the student’s reaction after hearing their tickets would be paid for. “It was a party for a few minutes.” In addition to the cost of the tickets, Kilkenny will also spend $3,000-$3,500 to personally finance the transportation expense, bringing his total bill to $6,000-$6,500. Kilkenny said in the release that he will also pay for tickets if Oregon advances to Sunday’s second-round game versus the winner of the Winthrop/Notre Dame first-round matchup, which would cost him an additional $3,080.
In the release, Kilkenny said he deemed the Pit Crew to be an important ingredient in the basketball team’s success.
“The excitement generated by our tournament appearance is shared by everyone and I felt that students should be given the opportunity to witness it first- hand,” Kilkenny said in the press release.
Konowitz said his understanding of the travel arrangements is that Pit Crew members will meet outside McArthur Court at 11:45 p.m. Thursday night and leave at midnight. The trip will take approximately seven hours and Konowitz said they will head home on Sunday if Oregon advances to the second round.
The athletic department said that Kilkenny was attempting to secure tickets for two students who also spent the night in line in hopes of securing tickets but could not get them.
Oregon’s entire NCAA tournament ticket allotment that went on sale to university students at 9 a.m. on Tuesday was exhausted within 30 minutes from a group that hand camped out overnight, the release said.
Konowitz said he and many others felt that it was against University academic policy to sell tickets that are in high demand during dead week, but that Kilkenny’s actions have mended any ill will.
“It would have been nice to see them release the tickets a little earlier and not necessarily have to spend the night,” Konowitz said. “Everything Pat Kilkenny has done for us more than made up for it. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it is just too much to give up.”