UNC’s Athletic Department held their first Tar Heel Yard Sale this Saturday to rid itself of surplus equipment. From 7am to noon, over 12,000 items — including hundreds of football jerseys and Jordan basketball shoes, were up for grabs. The rules were set early: all sales were final, exchanges were not allowed and the purchase of brand shoes were limited. Seems pretty simple, right?
The event was open to the public, and eager shoppers began to fill up the stands outside of the Eddie Smith Field House as early as 3:40am. Twenty minutes may not seem that significant, but Black Friday shoppers know the severe impact even a few minutes can have on a highly anticipated shopping trip — especially when incredible deals are on the line. Those that were unable to attend were able to keep up with the event via social media.
If you search #TarHeelYardSale on Twitter, the first tweet to pop up will likely be Coach Bubba Cunningham’s tweetof thanks to the public for the large turnout and suggestions for improvement. Keep scrolling and you’ll find yourself in a pool of dissatisfaction from customers including students and alumni. The alumni included former athletes who took to Twitter plead for the opportunity to own jerseys that they once wore. For players, jerseys are more than just a game day staple — they are memories and evidence of the years of work, sweat, and tears they gave towards their craft. Thankfully, the Carolina Way prevailed as their posts were retweeted to help them achieve their goal.
It is unfortunate that the actions of few disadvantaged many, but it was an great event and for its first occurrence; over regulating customers’ activities could have created an equally (if not more) negative experience. In the future, event coordinators may implement a registration process, or limit the number of items each customer can purchase. Athletes should be given some sort of preference..
There’s a first time for everything. The Athletic Department could have kept the surplus equipment in storage, but they chose to give open the merchandise to the general public. There could have been a parking fiasco, but public safety ensured that traffic flowed smoothly. A child could have been injured by a stampede of eager Tar Heel fans, but workers ensured that the flow of traffic remained under control. Now they know what they can do better – and the ball is now in their court. Next year, they will improve and they will continue to each year the event is held. Give them a break.
