Turner Gill stadium!

Recently I was asked what the name of our football stadium was. I felt kind of embarrassed to answer "UB Stadium." How did they think of that one?

It seems to me that the school could have been a little more creative with their names for the two major sports venues on campus. Alumni Arena is slightly more interesting, but could use a little work.

Some schools sell out the rights to name their stadiums or arenas. This way, they get a little money and have the name settled.

In Syracuse, the Carrier Dome is known around the country as an intimidating place to play. Maybe that is because Syracuse has had a decent sports history, although up until this past weekend at Louisville their football program could not intimidate anybody.

Even though Carrier is now mostly out of the city, the name has not been changed because the Dome is so well known. When a winning Orange football team is present there or any basketball team, opponents fear the noise of the Dome.

Corporate sponsors solve the problem of naming a stadium. The schools don't have to think and it's a little more interesting, right? Depends which sponsor you get.

Maybe you lose when your school sides with the highest bidder. Maybe you go to Providence College. Sorry, Friars fans. You get stuck with the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

That's giving into good ol' American capitalism right there. The highest bidder is a well-known chain and your arena screams "Corporate Sponsor" to the masses. Congratulations!

If UB were to go this route, one of our major sponsors for athletics is Mighty Taco. Personally, I think that if our football team played in Mighty Taco Stadium it would be completely awesome. However, that's probably just because I'm a college kid who has enjoyed his share of cheap tacos.

I don't know how I'd feel about that name if I were a bit older. I'd probably still think it was awesome, but that's only because I'm immature.

A different method is to name the venue after someone who gave a large donation. Unlike using a corporate name in the title, this will most likely not sound cheesy to the public.

The University of Pittsburgh named their new basketball facility the Peterson Events Center, after John and Gertrude Peterson. The couple gave $10 million to help build the arena.

The donation method is far better than a corporate sponsor. However, the school is still giving into money. This is the best way to name a stadium or arena that would not have been built without that large donation.

Maybe an event happened to make the stadium famous. The University of Southern California lucked into a name for a stadium. They play in the Memorial Coliseum. This was the site of the 1932 Olympics. Therefore, it has some history that allows almost any non-corporate name to work.

However, most schools aren't lucky enough to be able to host the Olympics at their stadium. The actual best way to name a stadium is after a person who was important to the school.

Penn State, who the Buffalo football team played less than two weeks ago, followed this method. They play in the 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium. It was named after James A. Beaver. He was a former President of Penn State's Board of Trustees and also a former governor of Pennsylvania. He passed away in 1914. Beaver, who was also a Civil War veteran, will have his name remembered for his services.

This naming system may be harder because it involves narrowing it down to one person per venue. It involves some thinking.

Maybe the reason that the University at Buffalo named their stadium the way it did is because they do not have a long enough history in Division I athletics to name it after someone who was a major contributor to its sports program.

Hopefully, this is the reason. If the football team keeps on improving and playing like they did against Temple and Penn State, maybe we will be calling it Turner Gill Stadium soon.

Regardless of whether or not the name of UB Stadium ever changes, it could be worse. It could be Dunkin' Donuts Stadium.