Monday, 10 a.m., Oct. 22, 2007: The Day the Earth Stood Still.
In Colorado, anyway.
The 1951 science-fiction film classic told the story of a space traveler who brings a message to Earth that it must end its warlike ways. To prove his power, the visitor, Klaatu, suppresses all electric power all over the world except for critical uses like hospitals or planes in flight.
Fast forward 56 years. Thousands of intense figures, many garbed in purple, stand poised over computer keyboards. At exactly 10 a.m. they punch in .
Lights dim as the computers begin the mad quest for first-ever World Series tickets in Denver. The state economy grinds to a halt as fans anxiously await the results of this online lottery. Eventually, tickets are sold out and the purple-clad figures return to their jobs. The Colorado economy starts moving again – at least until the actual games begin.
Some fans have complained about the online-only sales, but it seems the fairest way to achieve the inherently unfair task of allocating the 17,000 or so available tickets to the far larger number of fans seeking them. The online quest is certainly better than waiting hours in a physical line for a long-shot lottery, a process inherently unfair to working people. Those fans without a computer can ask a friend for help or go to a library. And the unlucky many can always watch the games on television.
Like the spaceman in the movie, when the online lottery ends we expect the winners and losers alike to join to send a simple message to the world: “Go Rockies.”
Good luck and good hunting.
