Astros Field to be named Minute Maid Park. Once again Houston becomes the laughing stock of the country.
I don't like Minute Maid Park either. But it is in no way is a disgrace, Minute Maid is a Local company and a successful company, they don't seem to be up to any shady practices. Now if the stros can just get to .500 I heard on the radio that it was a 28yr deal.
I was just going to roll my eyes, but, instead, I think I'll move this into the Hangout where it isn't as quiet...or as safe.
a laughingstock????? in comparison to what, Enron Field????? Minute Maid is a successful comunity rooted in the city of houston that is ponying up millions of dollars to our city's beloved baseball team... why should that make the city a laughingstock? is it any different than any of the other corporate sponsored parks out there (Pac Bell, BOB, Qualcomm, Pro Player, Wrigley, Comerica, Edision International, AND OF COURSE TROPICANA FIELD!!!!!!) absolutely not! i'm glad the 'stros found a company to bring in more money to the team... now only if mclane can spend it wisely, that's another story...
Nothing against MM the company but this has to be THE worst sounding sponsorship for a park. Almost as bad as galleryfurniture.com bowl. At least other corporate names are neutral sounding, ie. Safeco, Reliant, BOB, Cynergy, SBC, American Airlines, etc. The name Minuite Maid just sounds too girlish to me. Why not just call it Playtex Stadium or Summer Eve's Palace. Geeez. Can you honestly tell me that if you tell your friends who live outside of Houston and who are fans of other baseball teams that Enron Field is now called Minute Maid Park, that they won't laugh their ass off? I'm sure it will be the same response when you told them that Houston's new football team will be called the Texans. Oh well.
I think a more important questions should be, why should any of us care what people outside of Houston think? This really isn't about you, now is it? Second, GIRLISH? I never thought orange juice would be girlish. What, apple juice is tougher? Maybe auto parts would have been better or wrestling or leather bars - oh, wait, that's a little TOO manly.
That reminds me of the time we were eating breakfast with my mother-in-law. My son (around 18 at the time) ordered apple juice. My mother-in-law looked at him and said, "Apple juice? That's a sissy drink."
Just for arguments sake, unless you only want a fan base solely made up of habitants of the city of Houston, it would make great sense to care what people outside of Houston think. Yes, I know fans are not going to support a team based on the name of the stadium in which they play(unless it happened to be Gallery Furniture Field which would be the day I became an Expos fan ) But as you said it really isn't about you, me, him, her, etc....it's about our baseball teams ballpark having a stupid name. There had to be some better choices out there, but Minute Maid obviously put up the most jack. Personally, if I had the money Drayton has I would have taken a couple hundred grand less to have my teams ballpark named something a little less cheesy.
If you read my post CAREFULLY, I said that the "name" Minute Maid sounds girlish, not the juice. So please refrain from making comparisons to apple juice or whatever else you are mistakingly thinking about. To me, the name Minute Maid conjures up images of little girls running around in aprons serving juice. There is nothing wrong with image, but seems like a less than perfect match to be associated with baseball. Yes, I do think that its important what other people who live outside of Houston think. Is it critical? No. But important, yes. Houston for the past 20 years has been trying to sell itself and boost its image as an international cosmopolitan city. So you have to be kidding yourself if Houston doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks.
Do you laugh when you hear 'Tropicana Field' (home of the Devil Rays)? How about Gaylord Entertainment Center (Nashville)? Heinz Field (Steelers)? Mellon Arena (Penguins)? GMGI Field (Patriots)? Gund Arena (Cavaliers)? Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles)? TDC Waterhouse Center (Orlando)? I can honestly tell you my friends don't really care what stadiums are called. Perhaps if your friends care that much about stadium names, you ought to find some new friends . Perhaps as you get older, you'll find that some things just aren't worth getting upset over.
Well, Bubba, you either highly offended Jeff's wife, or gave her a new idea for a new role playing/sexual fantasy thing to try tonight