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Is there a naming company in the house? Rebranding takes one Giant step backwards at Candlestick.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2002. Candlestuck: In Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle, Rob Morse lambasted the San Francisco Recreation and Park department for the new name they've selected for the local football stadium.

The stadium where the Forty-Niners play ball on a chunk of land next to the San Francisco Bay called Candlestick Point was known for thirty odd years, naturally enough, as Candlestick Park; that is until 3Com bought the rights to name it 3Com Park back in the heyday for all things Tech. This is a growing trend in America, not just selling the naming rights for ballparks, but to anything that can be sold, even entire towns.

There's nothing quite so bracing as a recession to reign in corporate spending, however, and now the 3Com contract has expired and a new sponsor cannot be found. So what will SF Rec-Park be naming the stadium in the meantime? Back to the familiar old "Candlestick Park," or the colloquial "'Stick"? Nope. The NEW old name will be...wait for it..."San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point."

Time to start dialing all the corporations with cool names in your Rolodex. Perhaps that's the point.