Here’s a sound purchase for any Detroit Lions fan: A urinal from the Pontiac Silverdome, autographed by Barry Sanders. With the auction’s opening bid set at a mere $500, it’s an opportunity that can’t be passed up.
An explanation of how Sanders signed the urinal is in the listing’s description. Back in May of 2014, pieces of the Silverdome were auctioned off, and Sanders notified the public that he wouldn’t sign any urinals:
Oh, but how that changed. The man in charge of the eBay listing, mgk086, laid out the process:
Chronology:
Early 2014 - The Pontiac Silverdome & RJM Auctions announced an asset auction of the Pontiac Silverdome
3-21-14 - Barry Sanders tweets “FYI - I am not signing urinals...”
3-21-14 - Barry’s comment goes viral and several articles were written stating no collector would be able to obtain a Silverdome urinal with Barry’s autograph (see pictures)
6-19-14 - I won a bid, paying $23.00 for the contents of the home team locker room “2 urinals, 2 sinks, 3 showers, toilet (I didn’t take the toilets), 2 stall partitions in bathroom & shower area (Home Team Locker Room)” See pictures for the lot and invoice from my bid.
6-24-14 - I picked up the items from the Silverdome. I was fortunate enough to be able to walk into the decaying Silverdome and into the locker rooms to see the items being removed. I have included pictures I took of the field, my truck in the tunnel, inside the locker rooms, and my truck with the contents in it.
9-20-14- Barry Sanders held a public signing event with Detroit City Sports at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights MI. 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”. While signing and taking pictures, a man with Barry (I assume his agent) laughed and said “Hey Barry, last time you saw that thing you were taking a p*** in it”. Barry was extremely nice about it and it was a great experience.
The photo from the meeting is wonderful:
As mgk086 notes, this is most likely the only existing urinal signed by Barry Sanders.
[eBay]
Contact the author at samer@deadspin.com.