Cowboys Online Auction Winners Corral Their Pieces of History
Saturday, January 31, 2009
"This was more about...family history than Cowboys history"
Even during the last week of football for the current NFL season - a week in which their absence from the big game must still be a source of vexation to their rabid fans - the Dallas Cowboys made news just the same. Pieces of the team's fabled history, that had gone on sale back in the fall, were fnally ready to be picked up by those who one them. More from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
There were parking signs and parts from concession stands, items that signified little about the history of the famous building they came from.
But there were plenty of signature scraps as well: Tony Romo's locker; the Fiberglas stars that ringed the infield walls; a golf cart with a huge Cowboys helmet.
Winners of a December online auction of more than 600 items went one by one Friday to Texas Stadium to claim their Cowboys memorabilia -- their memories, really.
"My family has had season tickets to Cowboys games since the stadium opened, and someone in my family has been to every home game," said Susie Stephenson of Plano. Stephenson said she paid $380 for a club sign and $300 for a pair of men's and women's bathroom signs that were on the suite level.
"This was more about [buying] family history than Cowboys history," she said.
Texas Stadium, the home field of the Cowboys since 1971, is to be demolished by the beginning of 2010. Many things, such as the Cowboys Ring of Honor, the Super Bowl championship banners and the goalposts, will move to the new stadium in Arlington.
But homes of fans will be decorated with items such as a "Section 3" sign, bought for $200 by Scott Brandt, 38, of Keller.
"It's a really weird feeling," Brandt said. "We walked down the hallway to get our things, and it was cold and lonely. There is no more warmth here. Everything has been stripped bare. It's eerie."
The day's most emotional moment may have come at 1:12 p.m. That's when the stadium's last general manager, Bruce Hardy, gave the OK for six workers to take up the blue-and-silver star that sat in the middle of the field under the hole in the roof that made the stadium famous.
The star wasn't included in the auction and could find a place in the new stadium. But seeing it rolled up and taken away was sad, Hardy said.
"It's been a part of my life for 25 years, and it's just sad to see it go," said Hardy, who retired after the Cowboys last game last year.
"The best thing you can say is what it represents today," he said.
By the way, the price for Romo's locker: $4,000, according to an official with Schneider Industries, which conducted the auction. The Cowboys say Romo's nameplate went for $1,100. The golf cart fetched a cool $12,500.
(Pictured: Robert Detz of Houston loads up chairs from a suite he is emptying at Texas Stadium on Friday. Fans who purchased items from the online auction began picking up their pieces of history. Photo by Ron T. Ennis of the Star-Telegram)
Even during the last week of football for the current NFL season - a week in which their absence from the big game must still be a source of vexation to their rabid fans - the Dallas Cowboys made news just the same. Pieces of the team's fabled history, that had gone on sale back in the fall, were fnally ready to be picked up by those who one them. More from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:There were parking signs and parts from concession stands, items that signified little about the history of the famous building they came from.
But there were plenty of signature scraps as well: Tony Romo's locker; the Fiberglas stars that ringed the infield walls; a golf cart with a huge Cowboys helmet.
Winners of a December online auction of more than 600 items went one by one Friday to Texas Stadium to claim their Cowboys memorabilia -- their memories, really.
"My family has had season tickets to Cowboys games since the stadium opened, and someone in my family has been to every home game," said Susie Stephenson of Plano. Stephenson said she paid $380 for a club sign and $300 for a pair of men's and women's bathroom signs that were on the suite level.
"This was more about [buying] family history than Cowboys history," she said.
Texas Stadium, the home field of the Cowboys since 1971, is to be demolished by the beginning of 2010. Many things, such as the Cowboys Ring of Honor, the Super Bowl championship banners and the goalposts, will move to the new stadium in Arlington.
But homes of fans will be decorated with items such as a "Section 3" sign, bought for $200 by Scott Brandt, 38, of Keller.
"It's a really weird feeling," Brandt said. "We walked down the hallway to get our things, and it was cold and lonely. There is no more warmth here. Everything has been stripped bare. It's eerie."
The day's most emotional moment may have come at 1:12 p.m. That's when the stadium's last general manager, Bruce Hardy, gave the OK for six workers to take up the blue-and-silver star that sat in the middle of the field under the hole in the roof that made the stadium famous.
The star wasn't included in the auction and could find a place in the new stadium. But seeing it rolled up and taken away was sad, Hardy said.
"It's been a part of my life for 25 years, and it's just sad to see it go," said Hardy, who retired after the Cowboys last game last year.
"The best thing you can say is what it represents today," he said.
By the way, the price for Romo's locker: $4,000, according to an official with Schneider Industries, which conducted the auction. The Cowboys say Romo's nameplate went for $1,100. The golf cart fetched a cool $12,500.
(Pictured: Robert Detz of Houston loads up chairs from a suite he is emptying at Texas Stadium on Friday. Fans who purchased items from the online auction began picking up their pieces of history. Photo by Ron T. Ennis of the Star-Telegram)
posted by Chris and Frank at 12:04 AM
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