Yesterday's San Diego State-Univ. of San Diego outdoor basketball game at Petco Park "earned a solid 'A' -- for the photo opportunities alone," but hundreds of fans left the game "grumbling ... about entry delays up to an hour and concession line waits of 30 minutes or more," according to Bryce Miller of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The "cool quotient ranks high," but many the logistics left many fans "angry and annoyed." One fan said, This is so bad. We said we’re never coming back for something like this, because of the experience. That sucks, because we thought this would be cool. It seemed like they didn’t want to pay to staff it right.” Another fan added, "We waited a solid hour to get in. They weren’t prepared -- at all.” Padres Senior Dir of Ballpark Operations Nick Capo said of fans, “They all seemed to show up at once." He then began "politely directing additional questions" to the club's PR officials. The Padres in a statement said, “We apologize to guests who experienced longer than expected wait times at [yesterday] afternoon’s Bill Walton Basketball Festival contest. ... We made every effort to reallocate resources at both the entry gates and the concession stands to accommodate the fans waiting in line as quickly as possible" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/7).
