So what's in a name...

Remember when the names of stadiums and arenas were civic minded such that they actually meant something?

Pictured above is an aerial view of the stadium area in South Philadelphia circa 1971. From left to right they are John F Kennedy Stadium, The Spectrum, and Veterans Stadium. In these venues football, basketball & hockey, and baseball, respectively were played. Good sensible respectable building names that made sense (even "The Spectrum" as it was meant to be used by an array of arena sports).

Now JFK and Vet Stadium are long gone, having been replaced by newer structures. And the names? Hmph. All sold to the highest bidder: Lincoln Financial Field, Wachovia Center, and Citizens Bank Park. That does cause problems, of course, given the propensity of businesses to fail or merge. The plain Spectrum, has been called The CoreStates Spectrum and the First Union Spectrum until now being the Wachovia Spectrum as each of the institutions was successively swallowed by another. And with Wachovia's failure it's now part of Wells Fargo.

The Wells Fargo Spectrum.
Now that just rolls off the tongue, don't it?

- Farmer Ted