The Daily Numbers: 300 tickets to the Final Four games that went off in a lottery for Villanova students last night.
200 bucks, what one of those ducats set the students back.
3,995 dollars, what one online outlet was asking for tickets to Saturday’s Villanova-North Carolina Final Four faceoff.
1,400 orders that came into the Villanova University Shop on campus for Wildcats merchandise as they head for the Final Four.
0 fare hike or services cuts included in the $1.13 billion operating budget OK’d by SEPTA.
108,413 dollars, how much a Broomall man is believed to have bilked from an Upper Darby company by putting bogus friends and family on the firm’s payroll.
2 more elementary schools – one in Philadelphia and one in Bristol – that will be closed by the archdiocese because of declining enrollment.
18, age of suspect charged in the graffiti rampage against 15 homes in Newark, Del., over the weekend. Police now believe he was targeting the homes of some fellow high school students.
3 armed robberies on the streets of West Chester that are causing alarm both in town and on the campus of West Chester University. No one was injured in the gunpoint attacks.
10 minutes, how long a tornado stayed on the ground Sunday in Lancaster County packing winds of 85 to 95 mph. It caused an estimated $2 million in damages.
2 suspects under arrest in the break-in and theft spree that targeted a Catholic school in Delaware six times since September 2008.
15,000 rooms that have been booked in Philly for the On Demand Conference and Expo, being called the largest convention in city history.
21, where Chester County ranks on the list of wealthiest U.S. counties, according to date tracked down by Syracuse University.
2 more colleges that are now battling incidents of meningitis. Both the Penn State main campus and East Stroudsburg University are reporting students with the bacteria.
6 months, age of baby in western Pa. that died of alcohol poisoning. A prosecutor says he plans to file charges against the parents.
3 cent hike in the price of gasoline over the weekend. Average price in the Philly region now is $2.06.
2 runs on six hits allowed by Chan Ho Park as he pitched almost six innings yesterday for the Phils.
3 runs on 10 hits give up by Cole Hamels as he threw in a minor league game in Clearwater.
4.9 rating for Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational won by Tiger Woods. It was the highest rated golf telecast since last June’s U.S. Open, also won by Woods. He was off the golf radar screen since just after the Open after undergoing surgery on his knee.
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Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.I suppose we will just have to learn to deal with the fact that the “ace” of the Phillies staff does not always translate into the Opening Day pitcher. The team confirmed yesterday that Cole Hamels will not be available for Sunday night’s opener on national TV vs. the Braves. He is not, however, expected to miss a turn in the rotation.
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I Don’t Get It: It’s enough to drive you nuts. First it was peanuts and peanut butter. Now it’s pistachios. There’s another huge recall today over concerns about possibly contaminated pistachios.
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Today’s Upper: The Philadelphia district attorney yesterday announced a new program to target adults who buy guns and then turn them over to teens. It’s called being a straw buyer.
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Quote Box: “Whatever we bring in is right out the door.”
-- Jane Del Grippo, assistant director of merchandising and marketing at the Villanova University Shop, on the sale of Wildcats’ gear now that the team is headed to the Final Four.