You can bid to buy
a bar for a day
at Pigskin PigoutEverything is up for auction at
the eighth annual UH football
fund-raiser -- including the host site
Everybody wants a place to call their own -- even if it's just for one day.
Don Murphy is counting on that by giving away his bar and restaurant for a day. It's his latest idea to spice up the Hawaii football team's biggest fund-raiser of the year, the Murphy's Warrior Pigskin Pigout.
The proprietor is putting his popular downtown restaurant, Murphy's Bar & Grill, up for bid Thursday along with nearly 200 other items.
"At so many of these auctions you see the same things," said Murphy, who has hosted the annual event since 1996. "We wanted to come up with something unique."
Murphy said the winning bidder can change the name of the establishment for one day, with the new name on signs, T-shirts and menus.
Half of the day's proceeds (as well as the winning bid) will go to Na Koa, the UH football booster club. "The rest goes to pay for the day, which will be a loss anyway," Murphy said.
The donated proceeds, as well as the bid, can be a complete tax write-off, he said.
"I'm hoping some big hitter wins the bid and brings in a bunch of friends for steak and lobster," Murphy said. "It's every man's dream. Own your own bar."
Murphy also will auction off the opportunity to tend bar on St. Patrick's Day.
"Whoever gets that can make some money. Our bartenders make about $200 in tips on St. Patrick's Day," Murphy said. "It's basically buying yourself a job for a day."Other auction items include jerseys signed by former UH standouts Ashley Lelie (Denver Broncos) and Pisa Tinoisamoa (St. Louis Rams), and an Andy Warhol lithograph of Larry Bird autographed by both Warhol and Bird. There are also 2004 Super Bowl tickets, golf packages and many other sports and non-sports related items up for bid.
UH football coaches will be at the event, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at Murphy's.
The first Pigskin Pigout raised $39,000, and $118,000 was generated last year. In the first seven years of the event, UH football has received $550,000. Tickets for the Pigskin Pigout are $100. Dinner, drinks and entertainment are included. For more information call 531-0422.