Stadium Chairs R Us.
So, what’s in a mustard-colored piece of plastic and steel? What would you do with a discarded stadium chair from the Marriott Center? These seats are kind of undersized, awkward to fit into a house's décor. One could take one and make it work as part of a man cave or trophy room and it could fit out on the patio as a discussion piece. A guy might get one, take it to the office and put it in the corner, hoping for a client to ask, “What’s that?” and go from there.
Or, it could stand as a symbol, a memento of memories gone by.
BYU decided to give donors who bought those seats the first shot to take them away. After that, members of the Cougar Club have been invited to truck some off. The school will go from there.
I know if I brought one home, my wife would distinctly say, “What is that for? Why did you drag that here and when will you get rid of it and that pile of other stuff?” No sentimental refrain would be lost in that conversation.
Marriott Center Events director Justin Durfey said seat distribution is going very well. These seats are desired, albeit not like in 1971, but coveted just the same.
But what’s in a seat?
Well, I’ll take a stab at it.
These seats have been present for some amazing moments in time, from iconic basketball plays to concerts by Neil Diamond, the Beach Boys, Elton John, America, Seals and Crofts, The Carpenters, John Denver, Billy Joel, Dan Fogelberg, Barry Manilow, The Doobie Brothers, Boston, REO Speedwagon, INXS and Journey among other musical talents whose sounds have bounded off those chairs.
As Kenny Loggins took the Marriott Center stage two decades ago, after opening act Christopher Cross had warmed up the audience, Loggins tripped and broke three ribs and was immediately taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Bits and pieces of Journey’s video “Faithfully” was filmed in the Marriott Center in 1983.
President George H. W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Cosby, Ronald Reagan and Supreme Court Chief Justic John Roberts are among the celebrated Marriott Center speakers, as well as every president of the LDS Church since 1970, including President Howard W. Hunter who, in 1993, was the target of a much-publicized bomb threat.
A mid-1970s game between Provo and Orem set a national record for high school basketball attendance. BYU and Hawaii set the NCAA attendance record for a volleyball game before those seats on Feb. 19, 1999.
When those seats were installed, they became part of the largest on-campus basketball arena in America, a fact that stood until Tennessee built the Thompson- Boling Arena in 1977. Kentucky’s Rupp Arena seated more, but is off campus.
Those seats are part of a remarkable building, constructed 43 years ago but polished, washed, scrubbed and coddled like a temple. Comments from visitors regularly include shock that the building is nearly half a century old. Part of that is due to a dedicated custodial mandate to keep it clean. After every event, an overkill cadre of students, an army of sorts really, are hired to go over every square foot of the arena, hallways and seating areas and make 'em spotless.
You’d let a baby crawl on its floors.
I’ve been to arenas across the country and have walked into plenty of dumpy buildings with stained hallways, filthy carpets and peeling paint, and many are only 10 or 15 years old.
Then there are the sports moments.
These seats have seen plenty of highlights.
They welcomed basketball Hall of Famer Kresimir Cosic, whose death 20 years ago will be celebrated this coming week in his home country of Croatia.
They hosted the legendary BYU basketball coach Stan Watts, whose select seat after retirement always brought another legend, UTEP’s Don Haskins, up the aisle for a handshake of respect.
“The Marriott Center is one of the top five places to play in the country, not just because of its size, but because its facilities are fantastic,” Haskins once said. “ If there is a better arena, I haven’t seen it.”
I was there in 1979 when Michael Brooks of La Salle set the building record for points scored with 51 points, and most of those seats were filled that night.
They saw the assemblage of Frank Arnold’s Elite Eight team in 1981 and a string of WAC and MWC championship squads.
They were filled when a freshman named Danny Ainge played before the days of the 3-point shot and still he filled it up and put on shooting clinics. One night Ainge prompted Oral Roberts coach Lake Kelly to tell reporters after his team lost, “He’s the best white player I’ve ever seen.”
These seats saw classic games between BYU and Utah, real claw fests before packed crowds when each possession counted and the matchups meant everything. They seemed more than games; they were dances around a buzz saw in a mine field.
Names like Rick Majerus, Roger Reid, Digger Phelps, Danny Vranes, Keith Van Horn, Fred Roberts, Greg Kite, Jeff Judkins, Jeff Jonas, Shawn Bradley, Andy Toolson, Devin Durrant, Michael Smith, Jeff Chatman, Mekeli Wesley, Lee Cummard, Travis Hansen and a train load of other familiar stars from decades gone by performed before those seats.
In Ainge and Jimmer Fredette, these seats witnessed the play of two NCAA national players of the year, Naismith Award winners, John Wooden Award winners. Joining and surpassing them as the school’s scoring leader just a few months ago was Tyler Haws.
These yellow seats witnessed one of the more exciting games I’ve ever seen: No. 9 BYU's upset of No. 4 San Diego State on Jan. 27, 2011, when Fredette poured in 43 points.
Why designers chose this shade of yellow in an arena that could have used more color remains a mystery of sorts. After replacing them with blue seats, the arena’s capacity will be reduced by a couple of thousand from its original design.
Today, those seats sit in a heap at a holding yard. They’re now done, retired, they're purpose served.
And they are looking for a new home.
Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.