Utah fan’s GoFundMe page meets goal while joking about BYU
A fan’s page to fundraise for signage at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium has met its goal. And it made fun of some of the Utes’ rivals in the process.
A GoFundMe started by Utah fan Mark Sargent wanted to get “UTAH” painted atop Nielsen Fieldhouse behind one of the end zones at the stadium. After starting his page on August 3, Sargent met his goal of $15,300 within a couple of days.
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As donations started to pour in, fans decided it would be a good idea to put the donations in the names of noteworthy Utah rivals. Multiple donations were made in the name of BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. One $5 donation even had the name of Mendenhall’s wife, Holly. Gotta keep the rivalry burning.
Other “contributors” included:
• Former BYU quarterback Max Hall multiple times. Yes, fans were aware of Hall’s arrest last September.
• A $70 donation in the name of the “BYU Honor Code.”
• A $30 gift in the name of BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe.
• Multiple donations by former BYU basketball player Jimmer Fredette.
• A $5 donation by new Oregon State coach Gary Andersen that mispelled Reser’s Stadium.
• $10 given by Buffalo Bill coach Rex Ryan. You can guess what that joke was about.
• The largest donation for the fundraiser was $2,848 in the name of former Utah basketball player Keith Van Horn. Van Horn did retweet a tweet of support for the sign from his Twitter account on Wednesday.
While the university didn’t work directly with Sargent for the campaign or was affiliated with it, a spokesperson said the project was approved by the university. However, a timeline for the signage is currently unknown. Sargent said on the page that he’d like to have the sign complete by Utah’s season opener against Michigan.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
