What Are We Calling CenturyLink Field?

and go with CLink. (I’m pronouncing it Sea-Link, not Clink – is that the right way?)

I’d rather side with history over a corporation that’ll probably re-brand again in 5 years anyway.

If it goes by CenturyLink Field then I’m just going to refer to it as The Link. There’s just something that makes shorter names stand out (ie Qwest, SafeCo, The Link…).

Wish to change my vote to C-Link.

Makes Seattle even more of a home fortress!

I wouldn’t call it the Clink. The dock is pretty funny though.

but I like the C-Link pronunciation better as well :D

Or the Cliff Claven, for long

I know I’m alone in this… but I still like it better than RBP. Sea-link seems acceptable though, and is certainly better than Clink.

but somehow RBP received over 20 votes today. Hmmm… All I’ll say is when I wanted to double check the box office hours for C****** L*** Field yesterday, I subconciously googled: “Qwest Field box office hours.” And I received my CCL ticket in the mail today and noticed the ticket stubs still have giant Qwest logos on them. It’s going to take a lot of work on CLink’s behalf to fully wash Qwest from our brains.

are because ECS finally showed up. :)

In four hours, the post I wrote on the ECS board got 99 views. If we snagged 20 votes for RBP today, then that means only 1/5 of the automatons at ECS followed my command and came here and voted for RBP.

Damn, I better work on their restraining bolts. :)

Okay, seriously… the arguments for “Royal Brougham Park” (or RBP for short) are pretty good ones.

First, history. Royal Brougham was a hell of a guy. He was the sports editor for the PI for about a million years, back when newspapers were how people actually got their news- and the PI had the best sports section in town. (Seriously. It’s true. It was the best up until, oh, 1995 or so.)

Royal Brougham was a man of the people. He established a scholarship fund that exists even today, supporting young Christian athletes in higher education. (As a Buddhist, I’m ineligible for it, but what the heck- I admire someone who created something for such a superb purpose as education, and impressed that it’s lived on for decades after its creator.)

While he was the sports editor, he had enormous power, and for the most part he used it fairly wisely.

Brougham’s name is on the street that runs between our two excellent stadiums.

And he suffered a fatal heart attack in the Kingdome while covering a Seahawks game. On the stretcher, being taken to the hospital, he tugged on the shirt of the elevator operator and asked “what’s the score?”

THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who’s into sports.

Second, RBP is non-corporate. He’s Seattle, he’s us, he’s a fan and a supporter and a guy who loved sports. He’s not some gee-whizzy sounding name that’s spelled funky (Qwest, CenturyLink) or made up.

Third, RBP has already been in use for a few years. This nickname for our home adorns the ECS scarves from last year. Our present roundel version of our logo calls us the “Brougham Faithful” and it’s not strictly an ECS thing, either- other groups refer to the Brougham End. Arlo White paid a bit of homage to Brougham during a broadcast once last season.

Fourth, it works for both the Sounders and the Seahawks. A guy who died while at a Seahawks game, after he worked for decades to promote sports in this city and covered the team? Awesome.

Fifth… it’s more or less permanent. We don’t have to change the nickname of the stadium when the corporate overlords who are lining Paul Allen’s pockets change. This year it’s CenturyLink- what if AT&T buys them a year or three from now? New nickname time? That’s BS. The best stadiums are always the same, IMO.

Sixth, it mostly stems from soccer. It’s time for us to assert our power and place among the sports community of Seattle. If we take this opportunity to make this OUR name for OUR home right now, by football season it’ll have taken root… and the effort can be led by soccer.

Now is the time, folks. Clink, C-link, yawn. Kowtowing to a corporation whose only motive is profit. “The Dock” is too esoteric and lofty and a bit snooty and in-jokey… exactly all the stereotypes that suck about soccer fans. SoDo stadium makes no sense, Seahawks Stadium ignores the Sounders, Qwest is dead and gone.

Royal Brougham Park. The people’s park.

I set up the poll. I should have expected what happened to happen. I can dislike the results, but I shouldn’t whine about it. My bad. More to the point, sorry to be dismissive to counter-arguments. Carry on.