Lions fans with a hole burning in their pocket can now bid on a urinal recovered from the Pontiac Silverdome signed by Barry Sanders (via Deadspin).
This strange saga started when Triple Investment Group — the company that acquired the Silverdome in 2009 — started auctioning off items from the former home of the Lions last year. Sanders took it upon himself to tweet “FYI – I am not signing any urinals…”, which created a media sensation.
Ebay user mgk086 won two urinals (along with two sinks, three showers, a toilet, two stall partitions) for the sum of $23. He managed to get Sanders’ autograph on one of them from a public signing event with Detroit City Sports at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights:
Already having Barry’s autograph on a jersey, football, and hat, I did the logical thing and decided to attach the urinal to a dolly and see if he would sign it. I was quite nervous wheeling in the urinal (which I had bleached and power washed multiple times) to ask my childhood idle to sign it. After a long wait, I reached the table with Barry and I uncovered the urinal telling him it was from his old locker room. He responded “Are you for real?”. I said “Yes, will you sign it?”. Barry said “I refuse” and after a short pause he laughed and said “no problem, where should I sign”.
This could be the perfect gift for the Lions fan with an equal appreciation for Dadaist art.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2015.
