A Little News from Ewe-taah

Mullen: It's meltdown time as readers nuke name of arena

By Holly Mullen
Tribune Columnist
Salt Lake Tribune

We asked Tribune readers Tuesday to help nickname Larry H. Miller's newly re-christened arena, which, as you may have heard, is now named for a nuclear waste-disposal services company. After all, EnergySolutions Arena isn't the sort of name that knocks your Nikes off. (Well, on second thought . . . ). Wow! We're aglow at the explosive level of creative genius out there, as exhibited by the reader who suggested a certain Jazz broadcaster change his name to Fuel Rod Hundley. So we've sorted through nearly 100 reader calls and e-mails. The rest is up to you. Select your favorite from among these finalists and cast your vote.

The Nominees are…

“Glow in the Dark Park”
“The Tox box”
“Nuclear Winner Stadium”
“Nukeback Mountain”
“Meltdown Manor”
“The Fallout Shelter”
“Plutonium Palace”
“Radium Stadium”
“The Glow Dome”


Runners-up, in no particular order:

"The Dump" (suggested by many readers)
"The Nuke" (suggested by several readers)
"The Hot Box" (suggested by several readers)
"The Jump Dump"
"The Toxy" (short for "ToxiCenter" and a "postmodern tribute to another entertainment icon, The Roxy")
"Larry's Atomic Mutation Eco Center," or "LAME Center" for short
"Dump 'n' Dunk Dome"
"Fission Abandon Palace"
"Half-Life Arena" ("given the Jazz's tendency to fall apart midway through the season")
"The Disposal"
"The Garbage Heap"
"Ground Zero"
"The Geiger Counter"
"The Lair" (in honor of both the Jazz Bear and Larry Miller)
"The Downwinders Dome"
"The Melting Pot"
"The ESA," pronounced "essay" in honor of the gang slang term "ese," which means "dude" or "homie."

One TribTalk message-board reader submitted a "partial list of Larry H. Miller-proposed names that were rejected," including, "The Celestial Kingdom Center," "The Work And The Glory Center" and "The Stockton and Malone Who? Center." And finally, another TribTalk reader offered a half-hearted endorsement of the arena's new name: "Energy Solutions Center beats Jell-O Center any day!"

hmullen@sltrib.com griggs@sltrib.com

If you really want to vote, http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_4703248