The yammering about Citigroup’s naming-rights deal with the Mets has gotten so loud, I needed to take a crack at sifting through the remaining options:

Given that construction of the Mets’ new stadium began under a cloud of controversy about its name, it’s probably fitting that that’s all anyone can talk about as its first Opening Day approaches. So far, we’ve had Congressmen and newspaper columnists demanding that the Treasury Department force Citigroup to rescind its naming-rights deal for the Mets’ new home, fans wishing the Mets had named it “Shea Stadium” instead, and Wally Matthews (who’d previously called for the Mets’ new digs to be renamed “Field of Schemes” – ahem) demanding that the team “take that toxic contract with Citi and endorse it right over to Manny [Ramirez], 20 years at $20 million per.”

Which all makes for great tabloid fodder, but the odds of any of it happening are only slightly greater than prodigal walk machine Oliver Perez pitching a perfect game… [read more]