As the crowded bus pulled toward its College Place stop, Shawn Morris put an end to his seemingly aimless walking. Suddenly, he’d found a target.

Jetting toward the opening doors, Morris greeted the huddled, orange-clad masses pouring onto the Syracuse University campus.

‘Anybody got any tickets?’ Morris asked, essentially announcing his profession to the crowd.

It was shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Monday, with just over an hour and a half to go before the No. 9 Syracuse Orange were to clash with the No. 15 Pittsburgh Panthers. No one seemed to notice, let alone express interest in Morris’ offer, nor the offers of the four other scalpers littering the bus stop area.

Morris didn’t seem to care, though. He shook his head at the situation, and patiently awaited the next group heading toward the Carrier Dome.

This scene was nothing new for Morris, who has been scalping tickets outside the Dome for over 20 years, since he was just 11 years old. Over this time, Morris has almost perfected his craft.

As a second bus pulled up to the stop, Morris spoke to the crowd with ease, at a volume just loud enough to be heard by those who were trying to listen, and quiet enough so as not to attract attention from any police or public safety officers. His second effort was as fruitless as the first, but Morris just laughed it off.

‘It’s a decent living,’ he said, smiling through the cold, rainy weather.

Of course, given his success rate on Monday night, no one would know. Still, Morris insisted that the money is worth the effort.

‘A lot of people rely on a scalper,’ Morris said. ‘We’re providing a service. They might have tickets they need to get rid of.’

But the police don’t see Morris as someone who helps the community. They’re too busy, Morris said, hassling scalpers to stop bothering and scaring the fans.

‘I don’t scare the fans,’ Morris said, smiling again. ‘I’m harmless. I can’t speak for everybody, though.’

Nobody seemed to scare the fans on Monday night. Then again, no one even seemed to pay them any attention.

PETE FREEDMAN IS A JUNIOR NEWSPAPER MAJOR. E-MAIL HIM AT [email protected].

Published on February 15, 2005 at 12:00 pm