Post subject: Another reason boston is classless....
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 3:35 am
In a van down by the river
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:15 am Posts: 33031
Arena named Jimmy Fund Center instead
By Darren Rovell, ESPN.com
There will be no Derek Jeter Center after all.
On Tuesday, New York attorney Kerry Konrad won the right in an eBay auction to name Boston's FleetCenter for a day. For his $2,325, Konrad wanted to honor the New York Yankees shortstop.
But, on Friday, FleetCenter officials rejected the name, which Konrad hoped would add to the 25-year rivalry he has had with his former college classmates who are Boston Red Sox fans.
"We decided that all the names had to be rated G, and this name was determined to be obscene and vulgar," said Richard A. Krezwick, president and chief executive of the FleetCenter, which has auctioned off daily naming rights to about a dozen companies since its contract with the bank was terminated. "We were afraid of the volume of phone calls bogging down our switchboard, the number of e-mails clogging our portal and the potential graffiti on the side of our building."
When reached at his office, Konrad said he was not disappointed.
"I had no idea that this joke would get so much attention in the first place," Konrad said. "It was a joke. I've already had my laugh. But I could have made it much worse, like the A-Rod Center, Bucky Dent Center, the Aaron Boone Center, or the 'Only 25 More [championships] To Go' Center."
To be fair, the Red Sox are only 20 championships behind the Yankees' major league record 26.
Instead, on March 1, the building will be named the Jimmy Fund Center. Jerry Rappaport Jr., Konrad's ex-college roommate and Red Sox fan, added $6,275 to Konrad's bid -- to reach $8,600 in total to signify the 86-year Boston Red Sox curse that was broken in 2004. The money will go to The Jimmy Fund, which supports the fight against cancer through Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Krezwick said that it's not likely that any future auction winner would get by with naming the arena after anyone associated with the Yankees organization.
"I got a lot of e-mails from Red Sox fans in Boston who tipped their cap to me," Konrad said. "They left the back door open. I'm sure if [Yankees owner] George Steinbrenner were foolish enough to auction off the naming rights to Yankee Stadium for a day, Red Sox fans would have thought of something clever."
The FleetCenter is the home of the NBA's Celtics and NHL's Bruins. No events are planned on March 1 -- the NHL is locked out, and the Celtics have an off-day.
Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:03 pm Posts: 26481 Location: virginia Gender: Male
why the hell are you going to hold an auction and then tell the winning bidder no. i heard about this earlier today on sports center and could only say Rediculous
_________________ what is that a titleist..............Hole in one
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:06 am Posts: 2402 Location: Freedonia
Right, because all of Boston was behind this. Just another case of corporate businessmen pussying out of something that might, god forbid, makes waves.
Right, because all of Boston was behind this. Just another case of corporate businessmen pussying out of something that might, god forbid, makes waves.
Peeps, you're human garbage.
add to the reasons the fact youre either from there or support em
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:39 am Posts: 1200 Location: Boston Gender: Female
I don't really get why somebody would want to name it something like that anyways, unless they wanted to cause a stir. Seems sort of silly. I just wish they'd call it the Garden, even though it isn't--it's still better than a corporate name.
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