The San Diego Padres' bid farewell to cell phones (Qualcomm Stadium; formerly Jack Murphy Stadium/San Diego Stadium) and say hello to pet food, as their new downtown stadium is to be called Petco Park, in a $60 million naming-rights deal with the pet food chain based in SD.

This is just getting way out of hand. That's almost as bad a name as Minute Maid Park. frown

Wow, the animal rights activists are going to have a field day with this. Even some of the most moderate animal rights folks have a major problem with Petco.

agreed...whats next, Charmin park????? wink

Why's that -- they don't shoot horses, do they? (well maybe they do -- something has to go in those KalKan cans)

It's mainly because of their support of the "puppy mills" and the way they sell birds and other animals to less than knowledgable new owners. They lose a lot of their animals to disease as well due to the shipping and high vlume breeding of their suppliers. I personally just don't shop there, but I don't raise a stink about it either.

Animal rights activists have a problem with any pet store that sells live animals, Petco just happens to be one of, if not the, largest.

Hey...I can see it now:

Bullpen = Kennel
Dugout = Doghouse
Restroom = Litterbox
"Hey Batter, Batter, Batter" =
"Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty"

"Throw it home" = "FETCH"

Boy...now this would give totally new meaning to the concept of the Squeeze Play.

How about ....


O U T S P O R T S . C O M
S T A D I U M...





I like the sound of it.

Now PETA is asking the Padres to back out of the deal with Petco. Petco's CFO says PETA objects to Petco because they "believe people shouldn't have pets."

Well that's just a stupid statement by Petco's CFO. I'm no fan of PETA, but of course they don't think "people shouldn't have pets", because people take care of and feed their pets, they don't eat them. Most domesticated animals would die of starvation if people didn't keep them as pets.

Anyway, the Petco stores around here do not sell cats and dogs; they only have a small section where you can adopt a cat or dog from a local shelter. I don't think that is supporting puppy mills in any way. They do have a few (and I mean only a few) guinea pigs, birds, hamsters, etc. The only animals that might be overcrowded are the fish.

Max I agree with you on that. We have PetsMart which is very similar and I have been the to Petco in Huntsville. I never saw them selling anything other than fish and a couple of birds. They had a large section dedicated to animals from shelters and rescue operations that are up for adoption.

I have actually adopted 2 collies for my in-laws from the PetsMart (they were from the Collie Rescue). I think PETA should stick to throwing paint on fur coats.

As a Padre Fan, I don't have a strong feeling toward or against this naming. I certainly don't know enough about Petco and their practices to hold judgement. However, Petco Park just doesn't have a strong ring to it and doesn't reflect San Diego. I know Petco is based in San Diego, but I was hoping they could come up with a more creative name for the part that would reflect the feel of it.

Of course, the name has nothing to do with creativity and everything to do with money.

I have no idea who's in the running to buy the naming rights to the Phillies' new stadium. There's been speculation about Comcast, but they haven't been anxious to re-name the Spectrum and its next-door replacement arena, both of which they own (as well as the Flyers and Sixers). They were the CoreStates Spectrum and CoreStates Center, then First Union bought CoreStates and they changed the names (...hence the FU Center. ) First Union has since bought out Wachovia, but because FU has such a pathetic reputation for customer service, it was announced at the time that they would drop the FU name and go with Wachovia. Once they change the names of the bank branches they'd presumably change the arena names again. You'd think Comcast could have worked something out and gotten rid of the bank name merry-go-round but haven't done so. Just about everyone here is hoping that a miracle will occur and the Phils will name the ballpark after Richie Ashburn, but we'll settle for something like "Ashburn Field at Comcast Plaza" if we have to.

Any corporate name is bad, but Petco Park just seems extra lame.

(Edited to add) Just thought of a local corporate name that would be really tacky but fun, in a way....Tastykake Park!!! wink

[ January 27, 2003, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Since there's already a Miller, Coors & Busch, how about Yuengling Park?

Since Coors, Busch & Miller all have parks, how about Yuengling Field?

Comiskey is now to be called U.S. Cellular Field