I blame women's pro tennis

Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, home for more than 30 years to the Phillies and Eagles, was demolished in a carefully-planned implosion on Sunday to make way for a 5,500-space parking lot.

The teams are not without a home: The Eagles now play at Lincoln Financial Field while the Phillies' home opener on April 12 will take place at Citizens Bank Park.

Oh jeez. I used to think the practice of naming everything under the Sun either Veterans This or Veterans Memorial That was irritating and self-centered on the part of veterans' organizations but also revealing about what we valued in our society. This, however, is if anything worse.

Back in the '30s, it was common for radio programs to be named for their sponsors, a practice that carried over into early television, with Kraft Music Hall and Hallmark Hall of Fame being among the last holdouts. Then for a time it seemed corporate names had been permanently banned from the marquee, and good riddance was thought to be the attitude.

The came the move, in 1970, to start a women's professional tennis tour. Short of money, the organizers found someone to back the effort: Philip-Morris; specifically, its women-aimed Virginia Slims brand. Apparently a cigarette was considered the perfect accompaniment to an athletic contest. In any event, thus was born the Virginia Slims Tour.

Without actually faulting Women's Tennis Association founder Billie Jean King, who had to find the bucks somewhere, what this did was indicate that consumers of entertainment would put up with the crap of identifying the events with their sponsors instead of their performers. The doors swung open wide and now it's ubiquitous.

I used to see the Boston Celtics play at the Boston Garden. Now it's the Fleet (Bank) Center. I used to go to concerts at Great Woods. Now it's the Tweeter (speaker company) Center. It's not even the Newport Folk Festival anymore; it's the Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival.

And on April 12 the Philadelphia Phillies will inaugurate Citizens Bank Park.

And it's all irritating, self-centered on the part of corporations - but our passive acceptance of it is also revealing about what we value in our society.

Update: Slight edits for clarity.