Billy Joel Sells Out Shea

Billy Joel quickly sold out Shea Stadium this morning, making his "Last Play At Shea" an event whose anticipation may only be rivaled by that of Johan Santana's first pitch.

Ticketing giant Ticketmaster was frozen out of the sales process as the ducats were sold through the Mets online ticketing system, 507tixx.com. As Citi Field is currently being constructed in Shea's parking lot, it's unsurprising that Citibank credit card holders received special preferences. However, 507tixx.com seemed quite ill prepared to efficiently handle the frenzy of Internet activity produced by the allure of one of New York's own headlining the venue.

Starting at 9 a.m., hordes of ticket buyers were greeted with a message informing them that the servers were busy and a clock ticking off a 60 second countdown, after which another attempt would be made. With the average wait being more than an hour, it was hardly shocking to learn that by the time the server was free, all the tickets were gone.

Ticketmaster may soak their fans with exorbitant and unnecessary service fees, but at least they have the courtesy to tell you whether the show is sold out without killing your entire morning watching a clock tick.