Boston's JeterCenter???

“Boston's 'JeterCenter?"
Yanks fan wins 1-day naming rights for Boston arena
Posted: Friday February 25, 2005 12:16PM; Updated: Friday February 25, 2005 12:37PM

BOSTON (AP) -- The arena is in downtown Boston, the heart of Red Sox Nation. There couldn't be a bigger insult than to name it after the captain of the hated New York Yankees.

But that's just what Manhattan lawyer Kerry Konrad aims to do next Tuesday after his $2,325 bid won an eBay auction giving him the one-day naming rights to the FleetCenter.

Konrad's proposed name: the Derek Jeter Center, after the Yankee shortstop.

His winning bid threw the FleetCenter brass into a dilemma.

"I told him, 'I don't think we can approve that name,'" arena spokesman Jim Delaney said.

He said he would talk it over Friday with FleetCenter president Richard Krezwick and a decision would be made by the end of the day. Arena officials have reserved the right to approve or reject any winning bid.


last edited: 2/25/05 12:40:46 PM”

“take the friggin money..who cares it is for one day”

“It's only for one day!

Hee hee hee! :)”

“Anybody dumb enough to make that kind of offer should be held to it!”

“Well, they did have a we reserve the right to reject anny offer disclaimer. The Jeter Center would have the same ring to it as The Boston Eats Poo Center.”

“maybe they would like the


Jeter Peter Center”

“I wonder whether anybody suggested during the meeting where this idea came up that some Yankees fan might bid a high amount.

And if so, is the guy who replied, "No Yankees fan would want to name anything in Boston!" still working for the company???”

“... and it could have been worse. It could have been Fenway.”

“'Derek Jeter Center' rejected in Boston

Daily News Wire Services


A New York lawyer and Yankees fan went down swinging in his bid to turn the Boston Celtics' home arena into the "House That Jeter Built."

Kerry Konrad's winning offer to rename the FleetCenter for a day in honor of Yankees captain Derek Jeter was rejected by arena officials, who were auctioning off the name on eBay to raise money for charity.

"They were going to have to answer the phone all day, 'Hello, Derek Je-tuh Cen-tuh,' " Konrad told the New York Daily News, mimicking a Boston accent. "I was just going to keep calling them all day just to hear that."

The Manhattan lawyer bid $2,325 for the rights to rename the arena - and to tease his Red Sox-loving pals from Harvard's class of 1979.

"It really was meant as a private joke," Konrad said. "I guess it was a good one."

All too aware of New York's history of dominating teams from Boston, arena officials reopened the charity auction until Konrad's onetime Harvard classmate - and loyal Sox fan Jerry Rappaport Jr. - came in with a winning offer of $6,275.

That money, combined with Konrad's bid, will go to a Boston cancer charity. On Tuesday, with Rappaport and Konrad set to be on hand, the arena will be renamed the Jimmy Fund Arena for the day.

"The Jimmy Fund is a charity that transcends the biggest rivalry in sports, which is fitting, as cancer affects everyone," said charity chairman Mike Andrews, a former Red Sox second baseman.

The Jimmy Fund's reputation was enough to persuade Konrad to back off his bid when an arena official called him.

Konrad intentionally steered clear of invoking the names of other Bronx Bombers vilified in Beantown, which broke the Curse of the Bambino in October, winning its first World Series since 1918.

"I very deliberately decided not to call it the Bucky Dent Center or the Aaron Boone Center," he said. "Now, that would have been an insult."”

“that's pretty funny”

“those boys got too much money - at least it was for a good cause.”

“If you've got lots of money, what better way to spend it than on a good cause in good fun?”

“This is lots more fun than discussing steroids ...

From ESPN:

"We decided that all the names had to be rated G, and this name was determined to be obscene and vulgar," said Richard A. Krezwick, president and chief executive of the FleetCenter, which has auctioned off daily naming rights to about a dozen companies since its contract with the bank was terminated. "We were afraid of the volume of phone calls bogging down our switchboard, the number of e-mails clogging our portal and the potential graffiti on the side of our building."”