We’re talking, of course, about the men and women who make up our computer department.

Maybe it’s because each one has had extensive training on IBMs, Macs, Playstations and Cuisinarts. Or maybe it’s their self-imposed celibacy that accounts for their focused desire to provide the best infrastructure of any tour database on the Web. No matter, their dedication, along with their keen desire to work for free CDs, makes them the best damn coders around when it comes to properly displaying dates for Angeles Del Infierno, Mother Hips and Fastball.

But they’re more than just your average run-of-the-mill techies with pocket protectors, Palm Pilots and Messianic attitudes. They’re our saviors, not only when it comes to debugging renegade programs but they have proven to be invaluable when it comes to non-computer related problems as well.

Take the other day, for example. Not only were we deluged with new tour dates for Lynyrd Skynyrd with special guest Ted Nugent, but our main water line burst, flooding every office and corridor with at least four feet of water. And to top it off, we hadn’t had lunch yet.

Were we worried? Heck no. Not with Bob, our chief programmer on the job. It was quite a site as he walked across the water to our main servers where, not only did he provide a temporary data pipe from our terminals to the main server so that we could list the latest changes for Acoustic Alchemy, but with a wave of the hand, he fed all 5819 of us with one solitary pizza. Now that’s a programmer!

Yes, Pollstar.com’s computer department is like no other. They code for us, they feed us, and at times they’ve even assisted on the occasional salesperson post mortem and autopsy. They’re so dedicated that, if allowed, they’d work 24/7.

However, we’ll have to put that off until the price of sugar goes down. Right now we’re feeding them raw sugar cane, and it’s starting to get a tad expensive.