We can call it whatever we want!

BY ED FELIEN

As part of the billion dollar giveaway to Zygi Wilf, the State Legislature agreed to let him sell the naming rights to the new Vikings stadium.  This can amount to a sizeable piece of change over 25 years.  Target agreed to pay $5 million a year for 25 years for the privilege of naming the baseball stadium, and Xcel will pay $3 million a year for 25 years for the stadium in St. Paul.  The MetLife Stadium in Meadowlands, N. J., home to the New York Giants and the New York Jets, gets $20 million a year for 25 years.  So, Zygi probably is walking away with at least a couple of hundred million dollars when he allows someone the right to place their name above the door to our stadium.
There’s nothing we can do about that.  The deal’s done.  But we don’t have to call it by the name Zygi picks.  We can call it anything we like.
Southside Pride is sponsoring a contest for the next few months to pick a name for the new stadium.  What do you want to call it?  What sort of name seems appropriate?
It could be named for a person, like Floyd B. Olson or Sinclair Lewis or Bob Dylan.
Or it could be named to memorialize an event.  Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears since 1924, pays respect to the war dead of World War I.  We could call it Teamster Rebellion in honor of the 1934 trucker’s strike that made Minneapolis a union town.
Or the name could be a description of the architecture: The Glass Palace or Deathtrap for Birds.
The possibilities are endless.  Think up your own best name for the stadium and send it to: Editor, Southside Pride, 3200 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407, or email it to [email protected]. Put Stadium Name Contest in the subject line.
We’ll post some of the best suggestions in the next few months, and we’ll announce the winner in our April editions.
We may not be able to get back our money from this racketeer and the corrupt politicians that enabled him, but maybe we can get back our self-respect.