Over the last several years professional teams and colleges alike have been tripping over themselves in a rush to sell the "naming rights" of their home stadiums and arenas to corporate partners for a boatload of cash. Because of this a number of historic stadium names have been lost. Some examples: Candlestick Park, long home of the Giants and 49ers is now Monster Park, it's 3rd or 4th name; and New Jersey's Brendan Byrne Arena, long home of the NHL's Devils, is now the Continental Airlines Arena.

Colleges too are jumping on the bandwagon. Syracuse plays in the Carrier Dome (which ironically enough has no air conditioning!), and the University of Missouri briefly named its on-campus arena Paige Arena, after Elizabeth Paige Laurie, a Wal-Mart heiress, at least until her roommate at USC (that's right, she was not a U of M student, either!) revealed that Miss Laurie had engaged in academic dishonesty and subsequently left the university.

But the trend has now come full circle. Officials in Glendale, AZ announced today that the naming rights to the new Cardinals Stadium have been sold. To the University of Phoenix.

Now I know that U of P is a corporate entity more than a school, but it is deliciously funny to see a corporation pay to call a stadium "University of [anything] Stadium".

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:26 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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It's officially football season.  Why all of a sudden I like football, I have no idea. But over the last decade, I have really built up a love for it.

As a girl, I hated it.  couldn't relate.  Too violent.  Silly.  Boring.  A waste of my precious reading time.  An obstacle to GOING HOME, PLEASE, until halftime or the end of the game after lunch at my Grandmother's house on Sunday.

Now I can't wait.  College, NFL, I don't care.  I watch it like one of those freaks with a fantasy team.  I know the teams, the coaches, the players.  I'm still learning the lingo, like "west-coast offense" and "slant pass into the flat", but I get it.

I appreciate the nuance of it.  Learning the strengths and weaknesses of the your own team and the opponent.  Special plays that are emblematic of  your own offense or defense.  the irony of the detailed and meticulaous preparation required to bash your opponents brains out.

From a scientific point of view, it's interesting too.  Sociologically, it's entertaining to watch men bond and reinforce social norms over some beer and pigskin-related violence.  Evolutionarily, it's amusing to see us put men dressed in costumes that emphasize their "manliness" (broad shoulders, thighs, and calfs; small waist, flat stomach.  Think about where the pads are and how different it makes them look...) up on a pedestal.  The ugliest-ass football player can still get a hot chick, just because he's a baller.

So, I've been immersed in it since yesterday morning.  GameDay came on at 7am, and since then I have been making up for a winter and summer of lost time.  I think I watched all or part of at least 7 games yesterday, between 4 channels.  And I am quite proud that I called that Tennessee stompin' of Cal.

Ov-er-ra-ted clap clap clapclapclap!

I was also rooting for GTech, mostly because I'm a Trojan fan and ND is anathema to me, but I was glad to see a good game, and I think GT still busted a lot of the ND hype.

Texas, Auburn, and OSU all played chump games (yes, Wazzu is a CHUMP team), so I'm waiting to see how good they REALLY are.

In other news, JD Booty lives up to the hype and my Trojans are starting to look like new faces in old places.  If they keep it up, the rest of the NCAA better watch out.

Biggest Chump of the Week: Wisconsin Lutheran, who lost to Valparaiso 54-0.
Happy Surprise of the Week: Navy beats ECU
I Expected it of the Week: Richmond beats dook.  By a shutout.
Shit Call of the Week:  A tie: The questionable helmet to helmet on GT vs ND, and the non-whistle which took a TD away from my Tar Heels, leading to a Rutgers score and victory.

Bad Officials of the Week:  Again, a tie: Pac-10 ref crew at the UofO/Stanford game and the Big 10 crew running the ND/ GT game (both for blown replay calls)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:57 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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My personal football season kicks off with the USC Trojans taking it to Arkansas.  ESPN2 for those of you who'd care to watch it too!

Rusty predicts a whoopin'.  I agree.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:13 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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