Tuesday 3 January 2006

Schwarzenegger Said To Be In Furious Hunt For Another Stadium Naming

Bowl Games Badgered; Staff Says "Any Large Structure Will Do"; May Take Hollywood Sign By Eminent Domain

The California Governor has more than flooding rains and mudslides on this mind these days.

Sources have told The Garlic that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and his staff, have been on a furious mission to secure another stadium naming for the Governor.

This follows the action last month, of Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz, Austria, in a protest against the the Governor's refusal to issue a pardon for convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, of taking down the letters from the stadium named in honor of their famous resident.

Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilding champion and Hollywood star before turning to politics, trained at the stadium as a young man. It was renamed in his honor in 1997.

According to sources, Schwarzenegger was "enraged" when he heard of the action to be taken, and fired off an angry letter "demanding" that they take his name off the stadium. The Governor also returned a "ring of honor" that he had been awarded by city officials in 1999.

"This was done before his staff could fully digest what was happening," said one source.

When heads cooled down, the Governor "was frantic", and reassigned his entire staff to "go out and get me another stadium".

Through the Christmas holiday, staff members telephoned, emailed and flew to all parts of the country seeking out a stadium deal.

Official for the major college bowl games - the Rose, Cotton, Sugar and Orange Bowls - all confirmed they were contacted by someone from the Governor's staff.

"They were unrelenting," said one Rose Bowl official. "They wouldn't stop, They wouldn’t take no. They kept offering all kinds of ridiculous things. They even wanted to offer us pardons, in advance, in case we committed any crimes."

Only the University of Michigan made an offer, that the Governor could use Michigan Stadium - The Big House - for one day.

Officials in New Orleans were contacted, but, with the city still in a state of emergency from Hurricane Katrina, and the status of the damaged Superdome still not determined, Schwarzenegger has told his staff he doesn't not want to wait.

Another unconfirmed report has Schwarzenegger and staff members flying to Brazil, and having heated talks with officials there about renaming their famous Sambodrome in Rio De Janeiro. Talk broke down when the Brazilians refused, offering only a junior league soccer stadium on the outskirts of the city.

With other pressing matters, the Governor's staff has been concentrating on companies like Boeing, McDonald-Douglas and all the major airports, inquiring if they could bestow naming a hanger for Schwarzenegger.

"It's not Arnold's first choice, offered a Sacramento watcher, "but there in a mode of any large structure will do."

There have been rumors that Schwarzenegger has been "pleading" with his wife, Maria Shriver, to talk with her family, the Kennedy's, and get their approval for renaming RFK Stadium in Washington.

If the Kennedy's turn down the Governor, many believe his staff will turn to the Supreme Court ruling last year on Eminent Domain and Schwarzenegger will seize the famous Hollywood sign on the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, in Southern California.

"It has 40-foot letters and it's a world-wide icon," said another source. "I believe Arnold will take it, but he'll likely put up 80-foot letters and he'll still push for another stadium deal."















With his name off his hometown stadium, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be poised to take the famous Hollywood sign by Eminent Domain