Could Crisler/Yost ever be renamed?

Submitted by BeileinBuddy on

This question stemmed from a short conversation I had with my mother (MSU alum) during graduation weekend. We were talking about Crisler Arena and she asked "who is that named after?" And I said a former football coach and athletic director. Then I thought, Yost is also another former football player and coach. I began to question, why are our basketball and hockey arenas named after football coaches? Shouldn't they be named after basketball and hockey legends?

So, MGoBlog Community, do you feel that our arenas should be given new names at any point at all? Yes, the amazing legacies of Fritz Crisler and Fielding Yost should not be forgotten, but they were known for football, not basketball and hockey. I propose 3 options to tackle this question:

1. Keep Crisler/Yost the same. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. Rename the arenas to Russell Arena/Tomjanovich Arena or Berenson Ice Arena, etc.

3. Compromise and do the trendy thing in college sports: Russell Court at Crisler Arena or Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena, what have you.

It would be very, very tough at this point to rename iconic buildings that have stood for many years, thus my vote would go for option 3 if we were to acknowledge a U-M basketball and hockey legend.

PurpleStuff

May 26th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^

The athletic department is paying tens of millions to completely overhaul Crisler rather than build a new arena.  Combine that with the history of Yost and the lack of incentive to build a state of the art new hockey arena (already selling out and how much more could you really charge for tickets/suites for college hockey) and I doubt we'll see new buildings in my alcohol and chili-dog shortened lifetime.

Jasper

May 26th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^

With all respect for Rudy T, that name isn't working for me. It sounds like a place where you'd watch bowling or roller derby.

MichiganPhotoRod

May 26th, 2011 at 9:03 PM ^

bowling and roller derby?  Don't knock 'em until you've seen hot babes in tight bowling shirts or flinging other women around on the roller derby rink.  So what if there are only about 17 of them around the world?  Once you find them, it's worth it.

MichiganPhotoRod

May 26th, 2011 at 9:23 PM ^

We have two new naming opportunities in that we have two new varsity Lacrosse teams coming online.  They're going to need training/playing facilities, which will need names.  Given Michigan's tradition of putting names on buildings of people who did not play that sport for which the name is attached, the possibilities are interesting.

Desmonlon Edwoodson

May 27th, 2011 at 8:04 AM ^

When I saw the thread title I clicked with the sole purpose of flaming section 1/aawolv/gbdub(pretty sure they are one guy with three handles) when he made that suggestion.  Sadly, there would have been no sarcasm in his post.

Tangentally, I work with a guy who drove for Al Glick as a summer job.  Co-worker is an ND fan, so opportunities that I would give up my left arm for(picking Lloyd up at the airport, golf with Jim Brandstatter, etc) were completely wasted on him.  Was surprised to find out that Glick lives fairly modestly, and that the funds he gifted to build the practice facility were roughly 40 times the value of Glick's own home.   

Did I have a point?  Well no, not really.  Just that I'm not against naming a new building after the major contributors who fund it.  Just because you didn't coach here, or you didn't go to school here, or you weren't the star player or the AD, that doesn't mean you haven't made sacrifices meriting great recognition.  With that said, it is fairly obvious to me that buildings that currently bear(bare?) the names of great men past or present cannot be renamed.  That would be a slight not only to the history of the buildings but also the children and grandchildren these men left behind.

FieldingBLUE

May 26th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^

Both Yost and Crisler were ADs at Michigan, too, not just football coaches. That's why it makes sense. Yost was AD from 1921 to 1940 and Crisler from 1941 to 1968. That's 47 years of continuous AD goodness. (The natatorium was named after Don Canham, AD from 1969 to 1988, and no, he was not the swimming coach.)

No renames needed, says the buy with Fielding in his handle.

M-Wolverine

May 26th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^

And there's hardly a "legendary" basketball coach to name anything after.

Hockey at least you have Berenson, and I'm sure there's some hockey training facility type thing someday in the future that they'll name after him, once he's retired.

So #1, I guess.

virgilthechicken

May 26th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^

but didn't Yost build Yost Fieldhouse as AD and Crisler build Crisler arena as AD? These guys may have started as football coaches, but their legacies as Athletic Director deserve to be comemorated as well.

JeepinBen

May 26th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^

Yost built Yost Fieldhouse, and he didnt name it, it was named for him. That building is NOT changing names, nor should it. A great history about Yost can be found here:

It touches on the building of Yost Fieldhouse too, the athletic campus in general, and is a great read.

http://www.amazon.com/Big-House-Fielding-Building-Michigan/dp/1932399119/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306434799&sr=1-5

bwlag

May 26th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^

The swim teams compete in Canham Natatorium, named for a former AD and track star and coach.



The volleyball team competes in Cliff Keen Arena, named for a wrestling coach.



The fact is, football coaches have been much bigger names than coaches in other sports at Michigan. I can't imagine Yost being called anything else (or Crisler, for that matter).



 

Tim

May 26th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^

If you think Michigan named its ice arena after a football coach, you have a loooooooot to learn about Michigan history.

Tater

May 26th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^

I would be more than willing to bet that Brandon has already considered the amount of money to be made by corporate sponsorship against the shitstorm that it would rain upon his political ambitions.  Thankfully, it won't be possible for him to sell Michigan out this time around.  If he makes the inside of the Big House look like a minor league ballpark, though, it's probably time to start worrying.  

jonny_GoBlue

May 26th, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^

The only name change I would support for Crisler would be to "The House that Cazzie Built".. and that would only be tongue in cheek support at best.

JeepinBen

May 26th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^

The Red Berenson Rink at Yost? Something like how there is Coach K Court at Cameron Indoor? They wont rename the building but putting his name somewhere makes sense. I believe at IU it's also Bob Knight Court at Memorial Stadium (or whatever the hoops arena is called, only been there once)