KEN WILLIS: Three-dotting our way around Pittsburgh, with a beer run mixed in
With a nod to the old label Dot Records, Illinois-based Dot Foods, and Orlando’s Lake Dot, a weekend 3-dotter when the attention span is shorter than Willie Shoemaker’s inseam . . .
Occasionally, you’ll hear the know-it-alls suggest some recent happening is surely a sign of the apocalypse. So far, they’ve all been wrong — knock on wood. But this could really be it: In Pittsburgh, many (or maybe most) Steeler fans are upset because Heinz Field has been rechristened Acrisure Stadium . . .
That’s right, corporate naming rights have become so ingrained in our sporting society, we now have folks getting sentimental about losing Heinz — sure, it’s a Pittsburgh company, but it’s still just a ketchup . . . Acrisure is a Michigan-based insurance broker . . . Downstream a ways on the Ohio River, in Cincy, the Bengals are about to rip Paul Brown’s name off their stadium and sell the naming rights. Now that’s worth some righteous anger . . . But then again, I’m a Hunt’s man, though I do wish they still called it catsup . . .
Heinz’s first product, in 1869, was horseradish. The company went bankrupt after six years and was soon reborn with tomato ketchup as the chief product. If they’d kept some horseradish around, they could’ve combined the two and got in on the ground floor of the cocktail sauce racket . . . Where were we?
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That Toddlin' Town . . .
As the Cap’n told Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Or so it seems. NASCAR’s newly announced street race in Chicago, set to debut next July, is a point of contention within that city’s infamous political theater . . . Aldermen representing the downtown districts say they were left out of the talks, which upsets them considering the inconveniences coming their way before and during next year’s Fourth of July events . . . Alderman Brian Hopkins, on Mayor Lori Lightfoot: “She apparently thinks this is a great thing for the city and she just felt like doing it without any involvement, no transparency, no consulting of her colleagues. It’s just a terrible way to govern a city like Chicago” . . . I always assumed such things were baked into that city's charter . . .
No one else is saying this, so I will. Joe Gibbs Racing is apparently having trouble lining up proper funding to secure driver Kyle Busch after his contract ends this year. Maybe it’s due to bottom-line numbers and Kyle’s desire to make more than is being offered . . . But maybe, just maybe, those numbers would be bigger and the offers more plentiful if corporate marketing teams weren’t a tad scared of what Kyle might do or say to draw critics . . . Crazy thought, I know . . .
LIV and let LIV . . .
The Saudi-backed LIV golf tour and commish Greg Norman are courting Charles Barkley to join its broadcasts, which are currently available only on YouTube. Frankly, that would be a bigger get than any of the players Norman lured, with the possible exception of Phil Mickelson . . . Barkley is must-see TV for a lot of viewers, and he’d go a long way toward possibly securing some sort of TV deal for the LIV backers . . .
Speaking of which, a slightly philosophical question. This whole deal has been labeled as “sportswashing,” designed to improve the Saudis’ reputation throughout the Western world. So far, along with disrupting the pro golf universe, all it’s done is bring more attention to those past Saudi deeds . . . At what point do the financers quit shoveling coal into a cold boiler and ask, “Tell us again what we’re supposed to be getting from this?” . . . Luckily for them, they use pumps, not shovels, and the well is quite deep and wide . . .
How hot is it? . . .
This time of year I always think of Johnny Carson’s monologue ode to summer. “It was so hot today” . . . Audience: “How hot was it?” . . . “I saw a dog chasing a cat, and they were both walking” . . . Remember “Baghdad Bob” from the war in Iraq? It seems the delusional PR guy has resurfaced as head football coach at Vanderbilt . . . “We know in time Vanderbilt football will be the best program in the country.” That actually came from Vandy coach Clark Lea at last week’s SEC Media Days in Atlanta. Sounds crazy, sure, but things happen. Hey, who saw UCF’s 2017 national championship coming? (Calm down, I'm just checking to see if you’re still here) . . .
“We are a relationship-driven, student-athlete-focused program that values the holistic development of our people over all else,” Lea continued. “When you do the right things, the right way, with the right people, with respect and appreciation, you will not be denied” . . . I doubt Nick Saban flinched, but don’t write it off entirely. There’s a lot of money in Nashville, and if enough of the right people decide they want a quality college football team at Vandy, in today’s NIL climate the movers and shakers can buy a quality roster . . .
Pour me . . .
When it comes to the history of corporate naming rights on stadiums, there should be an entire chapter on the marketing genius of brewing god Augustus Busch, who owned the St. Louis Cardinals and wanted to turn Sportsman’s Park into Budweiser Stadium. No dice, said commissioner Ford Frick, who later gave the thumbs-up to Gus’ second choice: Busch Stadium . . .
In 1954, the Cardinals ballpark was renamed in honor of the Busch family. In 1955, Gussie Busch introduced Busch Bavarian Beer to his lineup of lagers . . . The Anheuser half of the company was Eberhard Anheuser, who made his money in soap and candles, and some of you beer snobs will suggest that explains the taste of Busch beer . . .
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Stadium no longer named for a ketchup, and they're upset? | KEN WILLIS
