Nice Column by George Vecsey on Billie Jean King & the National Tennis Center

Babe Didrickson, anyone?

 

I would say so, or at least most important female athlete/former athlete. What she did after she retired overshadows her many, many accomplishments as a player.

 

Re: Nice Column by George Vecsey on Billie Jean King & the National Tennis Cente

John's point makes poindexter's point correct.

BJK wasn't the *first* pioneer, but she was the most important pioneer. Babe Didrikson Zaharias was ahead of her time, and helped inspire Billie Jean King to do what she has done. BJK's impact on Title IX's legacy also cannot be overstated. She isn't the reason for the legislation itself, but she is a big reason why it remains as strong as it is today.

It's absolutely a great day in sports, for the center to be named after her.

 

Re: Nice Column by George Vecsey on Billie Jean King & the National Tennis Cente

I never figured out why a tennis stadium ever was named after Louis Armstrong.
It's like mooring your racing yacht at the Geddy Lee Marina.

 

The Times sports dept was bleating over the whole story today. You could barely find a box score.

Today's Times sports section brought be back to the 70's where if you wanted to read about the Yankees or Mets you had best buy the Daily News.

 

To be fair, the Yanks were off & the Mets played a day game, which means anyone who cared knew what happened, & haven't played a meaningful game in a month.

 

Yeah I know- just sayin though back in the day The Times left you with the impression that the Yanks and Mets were off every night.

 

A pro sports franchise is not a widget factory. It's a public trust, even if the stadium is mostly privately financed. I guarantee the Mets aren't paying for the new roads and other infrastructure involved with the new stadium. So the public damn well has a right to speak out about the new stadium, and the Mets would ignore such input at their peril. I'm not saying the stadium should be named after Jackie Robinson, but it shouldn't be named Trump Field if the Donald were to pony up a billion bucks for naming rights.

 

Sad thing is dooley, despite our opinions of this issue (I agree with you wholeheartedly), this is business and unfortunately those who buy naming rights are going to do whatever they want. Take Wells Fargo Bank as example for me. They have a facility on campus at Arizona State named after them. So is the new downtown facility in Des Moines. For all I care, if it the new arena was called 'Iowa Arena,' at least it was named for something the local yokels know and would cherish. Having more than one facility named after the winner of a "whoever pays more money, we will slap your name on this bad boy" contest, isn't my cup of tea.

If the public was given more input by Polk County, which was none at all, the public would have at least asked the Wells Fargo honchos to name it after someone important in town or state. In a perfect world, if I had as much money as the ones with their names slapped all over a sports facility, I'll do my damnest to name it someone who really deserves the honor for what they have done for the community. Bill Laurie will always standout as someone who thought it was cute to name Mizzou Arena after his daughter.

What a dumb-ass idea to name something after a lazy ass college student.

 

The UCLA basebal stadium is named "Jackie Robinson Stadium."

Seems appropriate, since he was a multi-sport star at UCLA. Unless the Dodgers choose to rename their stadium after him, there's no need to stretch it and have the Mets (or Yanks) mooch the name of this great Dodger. What he did helped all of baseball, yes . . . but it makes little sense to have his name immortalized by a stadium for a team that did not even exist when he played.

 

The public also has a right not to be hosed by paying $5 for a Coke, but that's gonna happen, too.

Sad to say this train left the station a long time ago.