You’re calling it the WHAT bowl?

Since 1997, there has been a college football bowl game in Boise Idaho at Boise State University’s Bronco Stadium. It has turned into a neat local event, even when the Broncos aren’t playing in it.

Over the years, the bowl’s name has changed, as different title sponsors have ponied up the cash to be involved. Early on, it was just the Humanitarian Bowl (connected to the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, also here in Boise). Then, both Crucial.com and MPC Computers took shots at titleship.

MPC Computers decided to drop out after last year, so the bowl game has been searching for a new title sponsor.

Well, today it was announced who stepped up. And it is as bad as it could possibly be.

The new name of the bowl game is the “Roady’s Truck Stop Humanitarian Bowl” (see article)

Yes, you read that right. Apparently, Roady’s Truck Stop is a locally based company and is the “largest chain of truck stops in the country”. Well, isn’t that peachy? I’m FROM here and have never heard of this company. But then again, I’m not a truck driver.

Now, I know bills have to be paid. But at the same time, shouldn’t you take into account what your title sponsor says about your bowl game? I mean, every year, you have those dozens of columns around the country yelling about how there are too many bowl games and nobody cares about the “Meineke Car Care Bowl” or whatever. It is the ultimate “lazy columnist” piece that they crank out every single year during December when there is nothing else to write about. Those hacks always list the games with the most ridiculous names as the ones that should be eliminated. Which game do you think will be at the very top of the list in every one of those articles now? You get one guess….

I don’t even want to think about what types of vitriol this will inspire on the various message boards and blogs (kinda like this one) littering the internet. Yikes.

Frankly, I don’t care that this company has 350+ locations. Their name is stupid. And it is even MORE stupid when attached to a college football bowl game. That name is only a half a step ahead of some local jackass somehow finagling his name on a bowl game and it being called “The Billy Bob’s Bar-B-Que and Taxidermy Bowl”.

I know there are only so many AT&Ts, Citibanks and Tostitoses out there. Not everyone can be sponsored by a ‘big boy’. But at the same time, shouldn’t you shoot a little higher? Was this seriously the best you could do?

Frankly, that name is embarrassing. Instead of being an instrument of mutual promotion for both the bowl and the sponsor, all that name will do is cause ridicule to be rained down upon the bowl game specifically and Boise in general. The last thing that a growing smaller city (or football program for that matter) needs to do is provide critics with any easy ammo. And that is exactly what that name does.

Every year, we get some team (or 2) who don’t want to come here. Nobody wants to play an outdoor game in the middle of winter here when they all think they should be in the Rose Bowl. But, every year we hear that the teams are ALWAYS impressed with how the bowl is run. They put together great activities for the players and fans. Everyone is very impressed, and return home to tell all their local people how great the experience was. Not to mention, the local population here steps up to the tune of 28,000 tickets sold.

By all accounts it is a great thing for everyone involved. It is just unfortunate that nobody will be talking about that. Everyone will do exactly as I’m doing… ripping on a horrible name.

Update: apparently, they had the good sense to leave off “Truck Stop” from the actual name of the bowl.  Leaving it simply “Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl”.  That I don’t hate near as much.  That really is no more ridiculous than any of the other corporate named bowl games.  At least people will have to ask, “what is Roady’s?” before they can crack jokes.