 "Photo: Mike Mangum")
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the University Campus Store opened its doors to a line of diehard Ute fans eager to purchase a piece of history--the Rice-Eccles Stadium's turf.
For $99, anyone could receive a 9-by-12-inch piece of turf, placed in a wooden box. Only 350 pieces were available. An hour after the store began its sale, almost 150 had already been purchased.
“People were camped out in front of the bookstore the night before,” said Chris Brunelli, the merchandise manager at the bookstore.
This is the turf on which the Utah football team celebrated two undefeated seasons in 2004 and 2008. It is an emblem of all the rivalry, dedication, and sportsmanship that was demonstrated by past Ute football players and coaches.
Selling that piece of turf to the fans was “a way to give that part of history back to them,” Brunelli said.
It took time, work and preparation into making this event happen, he said. The store employees, with the help of the university maintenance staff, devoted several months to just cleaning and cutting each piece of turf.
The replacement is a new kind of field known as FieldTurf. It's a next generation in-filled synthetic turf -- one that will not wear out as quickly.
The Turf Sale’s grand opening was Wednesday and will continue until all of the those prized fragments have been purchased. Fans can also acquire them at the Campus Store’s Web site, www.bookstore.utah.edu.
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