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CNNSI.com GROUP
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'That's northeast enough' Sale area changed to prevent Philly fans from getting tickets
Updated: Tuesday January 02, 2001 9:00 PM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles twice in the regular season. On Tuesday, the Giants got the Eagles' fans. Eagles fans who had hoped to buy some of the 5,000 tickets New York put on sale for the NFC semifinal at Giants Stadium on Sunday ran into a giant roadblock when they called Ticketmaster at noon. Fans from South Jersey and the Philadelphia area who got through when the sale started at noon were informed the tickets were not available in those areas. That was because the Giants changed the sale area for Ticketmaster after the Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-3 on Sunday to earn the right to play New York, Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said late Tuesday. The Giants announced Saturday the tickets would be sold by Ticketmaster locations in the northeast. After the Eagles won, the northeast became central New Jersey, the New York City metropolitan area and southern Connecticut. "That's northeast enough," Hanlon said of the change. "If the Eagles had 5,000 tickets to sell, they wouldn't run around Times Square trying to sell them," Hanlon said. "Since we had 5,000 tickets to sell, we didn't run around Center City Philadelphia trying to sell them." The tickets were sold out within five minutes, Hanlon said. "The home-field advantage is gained when your house is full of your people," Hanlon said. "The Giants were not under any obligation to put them for sale in this market," said Ron Howard, Eagles director of public and community relations. "Philadelphia fans have long been known for their aggressiveness and ingenuity, and we think they'll put them both to good use this weekend." The Eagles had made two tickets available through a contest on its Web site, which asked entrants to write a 50-100 word essay explaining why they are the best Eagles fans. The contest opened at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. Within a few hours, more than 400 people had entered, Howard said. "We expect a lot more overnight," Howard said Tuesday night, noting that people were still getting home the last time he checked the number of entries and he expected that people would learn about it from news reports. The winner will be selected by a celebrity panel and will also win bus seats. Howard said the Eagles have a limited number of tickets to sell to players and their families. "We've been inundated with requests from players," he said. The Giants beat the Eagles 33-18 on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia and 24-7 at Giants Stadium on Oct. 29. New York has won its last eight games against Philadelphia.
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