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Thursday, July 2, 2020 — Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page A-37 ~
Ballfields.
in county
waiting on
safety plans .
’By Justin Johnson
justin@masoncounty. com~
Mason County moved to PhaseThree
of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Start Safe Washing-
ton plan June 22, but the Mason County
Recreation Area and Sandhill ballfields
remain closed in response to "an unidenti-
fied team not following health and safety
requirements.
“The ballfields at MRCA and Sandhill
parks were closed by order of the Mason
County Health Officer after Mason Coun-
ty Parks & Trails received complains of
an unidentified sports team not following
the governor’s phase two order spe-
cifically (about) outdoor recreation in-
volving five or fewer people outside your
household,” Mason County parks director
Ross McDowell wrote in an email to the
Shelton-Mason County Journal. “For the
health and safety of all involved, a deci-
sion' was made between the Mason Coun-
ty Board of County Commissioners and,
the Mason County health officer to close
the facilities while still in phase two and
remain closed until we could comply with
the governor’s guidance for phase three
‘ Let’s playball!
Barb Rhoades cf Fuddpuckers tags out Adam 'Beeler of Camco as he tries
to slide in at home plate dur-
ing a City of Shelton recreational adult co-ed league softball practice
game Monday at Callanan Park in
Shelton. The league has practice games all week at Callanan before
beginning league play Monday. See
more photos on A-39. Journal photo by Justin Johnson
FAB Pasr
opening.” .
McDowell wrote that part of that re-
quirement is for youth sports teams to
create a return—to-play safety plan that
provides a detailed operations plan to
keep the players, spectators and parents
safe and healthy while at the ballfields.
Part of the plan requirements are
to explain how teams will keep social
see FIELDS, page A-38
’A forgettable namefor a historic sporting venue i
f you missed the news
out of Seattle last week,
it was announced that
ests. It is not a new trend, v
nor is it one that’s going
away any time soon.
For 31 years, from 1964 to 1995, it
was known as the Seattle Center Coli-
seum.
purchase of the team was critical 'to
keeping the Seahawks in Washing-
ton.
Seattle-based Amazon won It’s still boring though. Any of those are
better than Cli- Let’s face it. Naming rights going
the building-naming rights Remember when Seattle mate Pledge Arena, no
matter how to corporations are not going to go
associated with historic had the Kingdome? That’s well-meminngezos and
company are. away. None-of the owners are willing
KeyArena.
Instead of naming the
arena, which is undergoing
a $1 billion renovation prior
to the winter 2021 debut
of Seattle’s NHL franchise,
after the company, CEO Jeff
Bezos announced it will instead be
.called Climate Pledge Arena.
*yawnu: .
Don’t get me wrong, some of Bezos’
plans to address climate change and
environmental issues, including mak-
ing the arena the first net-zero carbon
certified venue in the world, are com-
mendable. .
The name, however, flat out sucks.
Boyving to the almighty dollar,
most professional sporting —— and
many major college -— venues have
sold namingrights to corporate inter-
By JUSTIN
JOHNSON.»
a much better name than
CenturyStink... err, Centu-
ryLink. \
I much prefer venues that
aresnamed after the region
or someone worthy of being
honored.
The Seattle Times reports the Cli-
mate Pledge deal involves, as expect-
ed, multiple years and multiple mil-
lions of dollars. I’m sure that’s money
someone thinks they need, but I don’t
think you can put a' price on the good-
will that a name more representative
of the region. 1
Why not call it the Seattle Center
Arena, which the rest of the complex
surrounding it is called? Or go retro
and bring back one of its previous
names, such as WashingtOn State Pa-
vilion or Washington State Coliseum.
Corporate-named venues are easily
forgettable, and after they inevitable
change, become a rebranding night-
mare. In Utah, where I’m from, the
Utah Jazz played at the Delta Center,
which then became EnergySolutions
Arena, before becoming Vivent Smart-
Home Arena. To this day, I still call
it the Delta Center. I think it should
be called Larry H. Miller Arena after
the long-time owner of the J a_zz who
died in 2009 from complications re-
lated to diabetes.
In 2017, CenturyLink paid a re:
ported $162.7 million to keep its
name on the home 'of the Seahawks
and Sounders until 2033. It’s not
likely to change, but I’d argue that
Paul Allen Memorial Stadium would
be a much more fitting name and
honor the beloved owner whose 1997
to give up the money stream.
That’s one of the things I like about
high school sports. Fields are named
after people that made a difference
instead. .
,Here in Shelton, we’ve got J ack
Stark Field at Highclimber Stadium,
honoring the longtime Shelton High
School football coach. Up in Belfair is
Phil Pugh Stadium, which likewise
honors the longtime Bulldogs" football
boss. ~ ‘ ,
We’re probably not going to see the
PUD Dome in Shelton any time soon,
but we probably shouldn’t give them
any ideas.
I Justin Johnson is the Sports Out-
doors Editor for the Shelton—Mason
County Journal. He can be reached by
email at justin@masoncounty.com.
A.