It appears the cloud that spoiled the clinching game of the World Series for a hundred or 200 Phillies fans has started to lift.

Brent Blanchard and a couple of associates purchased an ad that ran in the Daily News and Inquirer last week asking to hear from other fans whose tickets for the second half of that crazy Game 5 were invalidated, keeping them out of Citizens Bank Park. That happened because a small number of fans called the Phillies after the game was rained out Monday night and said they had lost their tickets, asking if the team could reprint them. When they did, those people apparently sold them, making it a double payday for them and a Wednesday nightmare for others when they walked up to the gates and tried to get in. They were denied entrance. Among those was Blanchard’s friend and son, who were told that their tickets were no longer valid. After driving around trying to watch the game at a couple of local sports bars, only to find all of them full packed to the doors, Blanchard’s friend and his son headed home.

Blanchard said last week that the Phillies had stopped communicating with him after several exchanges. That’s no longer the case. He and John Weber, VP for sales and ticket operations, met this morning and talked specifically about his situation and potential things the Phillies can do next season to make up for what happened. While the Phillies have yet to call with their response to what occurred in that meeting, Blanchard said he was told that they were amenable to talking to everyone who had a problem that Wednesday night on a case-by-case basis.

Blanchard said that he would be contacting everyone who got ahold of him over the next couple days to pass along Weber’s message and number.

“They did acknowledge that it happened to a couple hundred people,” Blanchard said by phone an hour or so ago. “It’s nice to know that the team is sympathizing with the fans [who got caught up in that scam]. And they’re acknowledging that it did happen to what are some very loyal fans.”

Last week, Blanchard said what he really wanted to do is connect with the original owner of the tickets, who called sometime between Monday night and Wednesday to have the tickets reissued. He hasn’t backed off that request. “We’re still having that discussion,” Blanchard said. “That’s the only thing that hasn’t been resolved. I’m still talking to them about getting that information.”

Blanchard said he started hearing from people as soon as his ad ran. One sent me an e-mail asking for Blanchard’s contact information. Here’s an excerpt from that note:

The story that the Phillies give is far, far from what actually took place. Despite pleas to talk to a manager or someone with some level of management, no one from the Phillies made any attempt to resolve our issue as Game 5 began and we were stuck outside of the park holding legitimate tickets, having no idea they were reprints which the Phillies provided to season ticket holders. At least 50 people were at the same ticket area as I was with the same issue.

I was told someone was already in the stadium with another copy of the same ticket I held. They confiscated my actual ticket and I was told I would be contacted and the ticket would be returned by mail so I could follow up myself to get my money back from the person I bought the tickets from. They took my address and my business card. That wasn't good enough for the dozens of outraged fans. No one from the Phillies made any attempt to get us into the park, even as standing room only.  

Certainly, whatever is done for Blanchard and others who found themselves in the same situation can never get back the experience they lost by not getting into the park. Blanchard acknowledged as much. They missed seeing the first Phillies title in 28 years and the first championship by any major Philadelphia pro team since 1983.  

Then there was the cost of the ad, $1100 to run several times in both papers. Still, as Blanchard said, they were too angry not to try and raise attention. Now, less than two weeks later, the story at least has a better ending than it did before.

Another year, another successful Army-Navy Game in Philly; well, except for the Cadets, who have lost seven straight in the series. It also means that it’s time for both academies and the Philadelphia Sports Congress to start looking ahead.

Proposals to serve as host for the game from 2010 through 2014 are due in by Jan. 9. The present contract runs through next year. It comes back to Philly, where it will be played on Dec. 12 at Lincoln Financial Field. The date recently was moved to the second Saturday in December, setting it up as the final regular-season college football game of the season and a week after all the conference championships are held nationally. In other words, the move puts the game alone in the spotlight.

Held for years here, the academies began to move it occasionally to other sites. It went to the Meadowlands in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2002. Twice it was played in Baltimore, in 2000 and 2007. For a week or two, word floated that the folks in Dallas were going to try and lure the game to that $1 billion stadium, which will open next year. But they have since looked at the cost of moving both teams and corps from the East Coast and said publicly that they won’t be bidding.

If it were up to officials in Philly, they’d prefer not to share the game with anyone.

“We’re going to make every effort to get it every year,” Larry Needle, the executive director of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, said yesterday. “We think we, at the end of the day, offer the best package to the academies. If they have other reasons to be in other markets on occasion then that’s their prerogative. But we’re going to make them think long and hard about being home every year, as it were. That’s our intent.”

Needle said if the academies stick to their normal timeframe, that the announcement on the next five dates should be released by late March or early April.

That game put the exclamation point on a year that netted a number of national events. Coming off the unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Olympics in 2006, the city pulled in the U.S. Table Tennis Trials in January and the U.S. Olympics Team Trials – Gymnastics in June. While it’s possible table tennis could come back, it seems certain that gymnastics surely will, since both parties talked about how satisfied they were once that event ended.

Next year’s schedule is similarly packed with the following:
* The first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships in March at the Wachovia Center.
* The U.S. Women’s Open at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., from July 9-12.
* The Walker Cup, what Needle called the Ryder Cup for amateurs, will take place Sept. 12-13 at Merion Golf Club.
* A meeting of the World Rowing Forum is scheduled for Nov. 5-7 in the city.
* And then Army-Navy.

Beyond those events are two appearances by the PGA AT&T National, better known as Tiger Woods’ tournament, at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square in 2010 and 2011; the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2011 at the Wachovia Center; and the U.S. Men’s Open at Merion in 2013. “That will be a huge event for the region,” Needle said.

No city gets everything it bids for; indeed, the competition for these college and pro championships and related events gets more crowded every year. Philly missed this year on a couple of events that sought, and there will be as many disappointments as successes ahead. That’s just the nature of the process.

One thing the city said it didn’t bid on was a chance to be part of the NCAA Championship City pilot program. Those went to Cleveland, Indianapolis, St. Louis, San Diego, San Antonio and Cary, N.C. Each city will serve as the host of multiple NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III national championships from 2009 through 2012. The city approached 36 cities; 21 applied. The final picks were announced back in mid-September. Needle said that one was on their radar but didn’t fit into the long-term plans.

“We had looked at it when it came out and realistically the challenge we thought in this market and some of the other first-year markets is being able to make some of those Division II and III championships work to the level that we would want and the NCAA would want,” he said. “And in some cases those are just better served to be in smaller markets that can support them. We’d be concerned that a smaller championship could get lost in the shuffle and, frankly, we try to focus on things that we think will really be a home run, will work for the city and the event organizer, and that the fans will embrace.  We’ve had some good success bidding for NCAA events, with everything from lacrosse to obviously basketball to wrestling that we have coming up in 2011. We think we’re better served just being selective for specific events when those opportunities arise.”

And when those arise, will the current economic climate hurt the city’s ability to go after some of these events? Needle thought it could. 

"Realistically, it’s going to be harder to find economic sea dollars from public entities certainly in the near future for understandable reasons,” he said. “So we need to be kind of turning over every stone we can in talking to folks in the private sector, foundations and others to see if they can help us with various bid efforts.”

So does it help knowing other cities are fighting the same financial shortfalls?

“You know what, we assume most people are in the same boat, so you’d like to think that evens the playing field,” Needle said. “But every case is a little bit different and in some cities they might have a stadium where they control the revenue streams. In Philadelphia it’s no longer a municipal building so it’s not like it was when back when it was Veterans Stadium. So it does vary city to city in terms of how much of a challenge it is but, in general, certainly you would think that many people are in that same boat.”

Flyers season ticketholders began receiving mail the past few days about payment for the 2009 playoffs and for the 2009-10 season.

The letter said: "The emergence of Jeff Carter as an elite NHL scorer, the return of All Star Simon Gagne, Mike Richards' captaincy and Marty Biron's hot November have all been key ingredients to our team's success in the first half of the season. You've also been an important part of our team. As such, we wanted to reach out with a reminder, giving you plenty of notice to plan for playoff and season renewal dates. Our renewal timeline remains intact and is consistent with last season." 

Invoices for the playoffs will be mailed the week of Jan. 12, with payment due by Feb. 13. Minimum payment is for the first two rounds, so long as fans include credit card authorization to pay as the team advances.

Fans can expect to see invoices to renew for next season to be sent during the week of March 16, with payment due back by April 24. The minimum payment is 5 percent of the season-ticket package and registration for a seven-month payment plan to begin in mid-June.

A couple of season ticketholders who e-mailed me said they thought the payment for the playoffs used to go out in March.

Shawn Tilger, the Senior VP for Business Operations, said the timing of the letter was in response “to our season ticket research.  Fans said in light of current economy the patrons would like advance notice of what we will be doing regarding invoices, prices, etc so they can plan and budget accordingly.”

You might have seen in yesterday’s Daily News that colleague Ed Moran talked to Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luukko about the number of empty seats at the Wachovia Center for Flyers games. Luukko said that no-shows are increasing and single-sale seats are decreasing. Overall, there are more available tickets for games than there have been in awhile, sometimes as high as 2,000 or 2,500.

“We’re making it known and that they are out there and they are getting sold,” he said. “The economy is definitely having an impact.”

Finally, the fan advisory board met for the second time Saturday before the game against the Penguins. A member of the board said discussions touched on the following:

1) earlier gameday faxes/emails
2) mailing advising of upcoming invoice dates and "due dates"
3) discussion afternoon vs night games no real concensus
4) web site ...how often+ what else?
5) flyers early bird season ticket payment ...

Sixers Alum Moses Malone hands a fan an autograph in the Sixers locker room at the Spectrum.

The Sixers say they sold around 2,000 tickets today for the swan song at the Wachovia Spectrum, set for Friday, March 13, vs. the Bulls.

Those who arrived at the Spectrum box office this morning were given a tour of what used to be the team's dressing room by former Sixers Moses Malone and World B. Free, who also shared their memories with fans.

Tickets are available at ComcastTIX.com, in person at the Spectrum box office or by calling 1-800-298-4200. Tickets will cost $19.67 (the building opened in 1967), $75, $90, and $150.

The Spectrum will be removed from the landscape next year to make way for Philly Live, a new retail, restaurant, and entertainment district.

Here are two notes involving getting to and from games in Philly, one more immediate and the other with effects that will be more far-reaching.

First of all, you know that the Eagles will play their final Monday night game of the 2008 season tomorrow night, with the Browns providing the opposition.

That means that SEPTA will increase its service to and from the game, starting with implementing Broad Street Line “Sports Express” trains that will leave Fern Rock Transportation Center about every 10 minutes from 6:45 to 8:35 p.m.  Local Broad Street Line trains operating about every 10 to 12 minutes will also be in service for the game. 

Sports Express trains stop only at the Olney Transportation Center, Erie, Girard, Spring Garden, Race Vine, City Hall and Walnut Locust Stations en route to Pattison Station. The express trip from City Hall takes only about eight minutes. Local trains take only 11 minutes to travel to the Sports Complex from City Hall.
 
After the game, riders will find northbound trains standing by to provide express and local service back to Fern Rock. Especially for the Monday Night Game, SEPTA will also extend sales office hours at Fern Rock Transportation Center, C.B. Moore, Spring Garden, Race-Vine, City Hall, Walnut-Locust, and Pattison Stations through game time.

Fans driving into Center City also may park at any one of five city-operated parking lots for only $5.00 and also purchase SEPTA tokens there. It is only a short walk to the Broad Street Line City Hall Station from the parking lots.

The parking lots include:
• AutoPark - JFK Plaza Garage - 15th and Arch streets
• AutoPark - Center City Lot - 15th and Arch streets
• Gateway Garage - 15th and Vine streets
• AutoPark - Gallery Mall - 10th and Filberts streets
• AutoPark - Jefferson - 10th and Ludlow streets

Meanwhile, colleague Jonathan Tannenwald wrote recently about how the closing of the South Street Bridge for the next two years will affect fans going to the Palestra and Franklin Field for various events. To read what he had to say, open the following link.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pretzel/Dick_Vitale_and_the_South_Street_Bridge.html

This will be the fourth year that the Phillies are holding their holiday/winter sale at the Majestic store at Citizens Bank Park .

But it will be anything but business as usual in the wake of their title. First and foremost, the World Series trophy will be present, just one of the many stops it will make during the offseason. Listen, they've even got a trophy czar, Jamie Trout, whose primary role is coordinator of marketing programs.

"Dave Buck, our senior VP of marketing, basically said, 'We have a little project for you,' " Trout explained by phone last night, en route to a private unveiling of the team's DVD, "The Perfect Season." "I guess that's how I was anointed. It's been coming and going pretty much every day since the beginning of December for various events."

That has kept Trout preoccupied with playing chaparone while helping to lay out a route that will take it all over the region. "This will be an enhanced winter tour as a result of this trophy," he said. "The idea is to have as many people see it as possible."

Unlike the Stanley Cup, which pays a visit to the winning city before heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame, this trophy will reside at Citizens Bank Park . That's where fans will find it as they come in for the holiday sale, which will run 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Scott Brandreth, director of merchandising, said the Phanatic will be dressed as Santa and offering that big lap for kids to settle into from 11 to 2 Saturday and 11 to 1 Sunday. Late tomorrow, around 5, he'll head back to the park on a fire truck and, as Brandreth said, do "that Clark Griswold thing" and plug in the Christmas tree.

Brandreth said there’s plenty of World Series merchandise, including copies of “The Perfect Season” DVD. He said that holiday World Series merchandise is in stock and that “we’re probably the only people that have the locker room caps and T-shirt.”

In addition, those ear-flap caps that Tampa coach Joe Maddon (and the bad weather) helped to popularize during the Series is also in stock. Also called the Elmer Fudd caps, they are flex-fit, in size S/M and M/L, Brandreth said.

Finally, Phillies Charities will be set up in an adjoining room for a memorabilia sale, including some game-used and autographed items, which will direct the proceeds to charity.

The Sons of Ben and MLS Philadelphia 2010 will be following through tomorrow on their drive to "help kick hunger."

They will be arriving at 11 a.m. tomorrow and delivering $2501 and 600 pounds of food to The Bernardine Center, 2625 W. Ninth St., in Chester.

The group will include Chester Mayor Wendell Butler; Bryan James, the president of the supporters association called the Sons of Ben; Sandy Drain, Sons of Ben 2008 food drive chairman; and Nick Sakiewicz, CEO & Operating Partner, Keystone Sports & Entertainment, the ownership group of MLS Philadelphia 2010.

Last year the group raised $1500 and 550 pounds of food.

The Bernardine Center is a nonprofit organization that provides a helping hand to low-income Chester residents by distributing emergency or supplemental food and supplies.

This year, the Sons of Ben have raised $2,501 and 600 pounds of food—up significantly from last year’s more than $1,500 and 550 pounds of food.

MLS Philadelphia 2010 asked attendees of their stadium groundbreaking ceremony earlier this month to bring canned food contributions and made a donation of $500.

The ad in Sunday’s Inquirer jumped right out from the bottom of the page.

ATTN PHILLIES TICKER HOLDERS WHO WERE

REFUSED ENTRY TO WORLD SERIES GAME 5

We want to hear from you!!

 It goes on to explain that the person who placed the ad was trying to find others who had bought tickets for what turned out to be that infamous Game 5 of the World Series. That’s the one that started in a light rain on Monday night, Oct. 27, and ended in fireworks and a world championship on Wednesday night, Oct. 29. Ticket holders, it said, who bought their seats through legal means on 10/27 “had their tickets suddenly voided before the game resumed on 10.29. This was allegedly at the request of people who resold their tickets online then called the team to claim they ‘lost’ them. These clowns apparently then re-re-scalped the new tickets oneline again for big profits, while an untold number of original ticket holders who attended the first half of the game in the driving rain were refused entry on 10/29 and left standing out on Citizen’s Bank Way on the biggest sports night of their lives.”

Brent Blanchard of Medford, N.J. , was one of those on the outside looking in that Wednesday night. He said last night that his campaign to find others who had suffered a similar fate was “as grass roots and disorganized as these things get. It's basically myself and my friends.”

He attended several postseason games, including Game 4 on Sunday night, and knew he also was going the next night for the possible clincher.

“We had tickets we knew were good,” he explained by phone on Tuesday night. “We bought the tickets through a guy who bought them through StubHub. So we got the tickets. And I don’t mind saying I paid like $2400 for four tickets. We dropped about $1100 for a pair for standing room. And knowing Game 5 was the only theoretical game that could be a clinching game, we bought those a week earlier. Almost speculating, if you will. And so we were all excited and we went to that last game together, and the rains came, and they put the big messages on the board and they had all those announcements on the PA saying just hang on to your stubs. And so we did, and we went back two days later and two tickets were still good, and the other two tickets, whoever had originally bought them apparently called in and reported them stolen and got two new tickets for themselves.

“It clicked for me because I remember seeing on Wednesday how many tickets were available on eBay all of a sudden. And all of sudden there was this flood of tickets that were available and they were really cheap, and I can remember thinking, how the hell can this be, for a Game 5, a clinching three-inning Game 5. So I almost bought a couple of others for my son’s friends, but I didn’t and we went to the game and then I saw why. Because we got there that night and it turns out who knows how many people called in their tickets stolen and resold another pair of tickets.”

And resold them on the secondary market, Blanchard asserted, voiding the tickets and leaving him stranded. Blanchard said part of the impetus for the ad was coming across a story published in the Inquirer on the day after the World Series championship quoting team executive John Weber, who said the team had duplicated about 200 tickets. He told writer Mike Jensen that if the Phillies had a record of the ticket being purchased, it could get replaced. If somebody could prove it was their seat, the old stub would be deactivated, Weber said.

Weber added that since StubHub is the official secondary ticket partner for Major League Baseball, with windows operated by Phillies employees, those tickets also could be reproduced if they were lost. Buyers were on record, allowing them to be replaced, he said.

“The other ones, if they bought a ticket three, four, five people down the lane, if we can't verify that receipt - those people might have trouble,” Weber said that night. “We try to help out to a reasonable extent. We’re not going to bat 1.000.”

Blanchard said, based on his observations, that the number was higher than 200. “We were at the will-call window that night and it was packed,” he said. "There were people freaking out. Women crying and dudes hitting the windows, you know.  There were people that definitely were legitimate in being scammed, and there were a lot of them. So that’s the real reason we took out the ad is because we know there were a lot more people than just us.”

Blanchard said since the ad was placed that he had gotten nine or 10 calls. He said the ad should run in the Inquirer and Daily News several times.

Bonnie Clark, the team’s director of communications, sent an e-mail earlier today from the winter meetings in Las Vegas that disputed the numbers of those still unhappy with how everything was resolved: “The postponed completion of World Series Game 5 presented The Phillies with a unique set of ticket challenges.  Happily, we were able to creatively resolve almost all of them, usually by issuing some additional standing room tickets.  We understand that there has been a complaint by a repurchaser involving one set of three tickets.  Apparently, the original purchaser put the tickets up for sale and they were ultimately purchased by someone who used them to attend Game 5A.  On the Wednesday of Game B, The Phillies issued three new tickets to the original purchaser, who said he had lost them. That, of course, resulted in voiding the original tickets and therefore denying the repurchaser admittance to Game 5B.”

A StubHub spokesman originally said by e-mail today that he thought any problems had have been solved. Wrote Sean Pate: “I talked with our team who handled the event and it seems there wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary for the game in the way of invalid tickets.  There were a handful of issues as would be typical when there have been thousands of tickets purchased through us and this game was more unusual of course due to the suspension and continuation on Wed.  But any StubHub customer who alerted us of an issue received a replacement ticket on site and was admitted into the game. If there are any outstanding issues, which I seriously doubt there would be from our side, customers can call 1-866-STUBHUB for help. We remedied all matters on game day or shortly thereafter.”

Shown some of the transcribed comments from Blanchard later today, Pate wrote back and said: “Let me once again be sure we have closed all the cases. Or the cases that pertain to us. It looks like we have from what I have seen, so I don’t know where this gentleman is coming from. If he has a Transaction ID he’ll share with you I can specify exactly what happened in his case to set the record straight.”

Blanchard said he'd try and provide that by tomorrow. He said that he spent several weeks sending documentation to the Phillies, everything from a copy of the tickets to his StubHub receipt to pictures he took inside the park that Monday night. “Anything they wanted I gave them,” he said. “And they did this back and forth for two weeks. And then all of a sudden they said, ‘Sorry, there’s nothing more we can do,’ and now they just don’t return e-mails anymore.”

So what does he want at this point? He said just a chance to contact the original owner, the person who called in to get his ticket voided. “I don’t mind pursuing this with them,” he continued, “but the Phillies are now putting themselves in a position to be a shield for who knows how many people who did this intentionally, and they’re saying, ‘We’re not going to release any information.’ Well, you can’t do that. That leaves us no avenue of pursuit.”

And, he said, that just makes an annoying situation worse. “There’s one issue of being out $1100 for the tickets,” Blanchard said. “But the totally separate issue is, even if StubHub called me tomorrow and say, ‘We’ll give you your $1100 back,’ we lost this memory. We lost this experience through someone who knew what they were doing, called in, stole our tickets, and sold them to someone else. So that’s where we’re looking for some type of assistance from the Phillies. I don’t care if the Phillies charge them with something. It doesn’t matter to me.”

The exclamation point to Blanchard’s push for some form of retribution is that he had intended this ad to run a couple of weeks ago. But he had several hurdles to leap over regarding the language he was using. “I had to rewrite that ad four times,” he said. “They kept rejecting it. It was supposed to run like two weeks ago and they kept saying no. The legal department kept rejecting it, saying you can’t have the word Phillies in the ad, and then they said you can’t have the word StubHub, and then you can’t have the word thieves. They kept cherry-picking my words in my ad,” he said, finally stopping to laugh. “So finally I got it dumbed down enough where they accepted it.”

The Sixers will take their turn in the farewell tour of the Spectrum with a Monday, March 15 game against the Bulls. To add some hype, the team has enhanced the experience for anyone who comes to the Spectrum this coming Monday, Dec. 15, when the tickets go on sale.

Those tickets will go on sale online, by phone and at the Spectrum box office starting at 10 Monday. The first 500 fans who buy those tickets in person will be able to take a tour of the former Sixers locker room and meet a couple of franchise alumni, including World B. Free.

The price range for tickets will be $19.67, $75, $90, and $150. Those who can’t buy them in person can get them through ComcastTIX.com or by calling 1-800-298-4200. Expect some additional fees.

Sixers season ticketholders already have been notified about purchasing additional tickets, if they desire. Based on what the Flyers did when they staged a couple of exhibition games at the Spectrum in September, expect much pomp and nostalgia for that March game. And a full house; capacity for basketball at the Spectrum is 17,967.

One problem the Flyers wrestled with was trying to get present season-ticketholders into the seats they had when they were attending games at the Spectrum. Eric Blankenship, the Sixers' VP of marketing, said that doesn’t present as big a problem because the Sixers have a smaller season-ticket base that the Flyers do.  He did say that they are trying something similar; for instance, those who have lower-level seats at the Wachovia Center will get the same at the Spectrum.

Blankenship said he thought there were about 11,000 seats still available for that game.