WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – What’s a Purdue-IU game day, Tuesday in this case, without a reference to the most infamous moment in the in-state series – the time when IU coach Bobby Knight threw a chair from the Hoosiers’ bench across the Assembly Hall floor?

Purdue University Surplus Store threw fuel on the rivalry with its one-day “Toss a Dollar Sale Day.”

“Toss us a dollar,” the university’s south campus store posted Monday on social media, “and we’ll toss you a chair (not literally).”

Some 78,000-plus views – and a healthy bit of trolling, on both sides of the IU-Purdue divide – later, the Purdue Surplus Store team was busy offloading more than half the 424 chairs all sorts set out on the south campus warehouse floor for the afternoon sale.

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“It’s been fabulous today, one long line after another,”said Susan Ticen, who manages sales at marketing for the 6,000-square-foot space at 700 Ahlers Drive, where everything from dorm furnishings to desks, computer monitors to football cleats, milk cans to trash bins goes for resale.

“I’m not sure Bobby Knight would have wanted to throw a lot of these,” Ticen said.

When Knight’s temper got the best of him on Feb. 23, 1985, after getting a technical foul in a game Purdue eventually won 72-63, the chair the coach skipped across the Hoosiers’ home court was the red, molded plastic variety.

Ticen said this was the second consecutive year for the Knight tribute sale.

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“We sell a lot,” Ticen said. “We have an abundance of chairs right now. Office chairs, you name it. All a dollar. There’s no rhyme or reason when we get them. There’s no schedule. It just happens. … So, the game comes at a good time.”

The Indiana University Surplus Stores, not to be outdone, posted a similar sale for Tuesday at its Bloomington location.

“We’re felling nostalgic about the Indiana-Purdue game on Feb. 23, 1985, which means our commemorative $1 CHAIR SALE starts tomorrow,” the IU Surplus Stores posted Monday on Facebook. “Come THROW a chair in your car! … Get a good KNIGHT’s sleep and we’ll see you tomorrow when we open at noon.”

The post about the Purdue sale brought its share of taunts from IU backers, as the comments stacked up into Tuesday.

► “How about a PU (national championship) banner sale? What? Can’t find any at PU?”

► “It's hilarious the way Bob Knight lives in Purdue's head rent-free.”

► “Just another poor example of Purdue sportsmanship. Chanting IU sucks at every game? It’s fine to have a rivalry but this is just classless and trashy.”

“That really took off,” Mark Schock, Purdue Surplus Store director, said.

“If it gets people aware that we’re here, I’m all for it,” Ticen said. “As long as it stays clean.”

Tucked between the taunts came the practical in the Facebook comments: “Do you have any desk chairs?” (“The answer is, Yes,” Ticen said Tuesday morning. “Tell people to feel free to toss one in.”)

The final count for the “Toss a Dollar Sale,” as of closing time, three hours before Purdue-IU tipoff: 222.

Were any of those chairs thrown?

“Nobody did today,” Ticen laughed. “Maybe next year.”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.