I'll get right to the point: Advertising is a scourge. It is ridiculous how much of our lives we spend being advertised to. It's even worse in sports, since we all acknowledge that our favorite teams and athletes often hold a particular place in our hearts, and the uniforms they wear and the venues they play in should not be so polluted by advertisements.
The Gophers play in a stadium that is named after a bank, one that merged with the bank that used to have its name on the stadium. That first bank buying the naming rights made it more possible for the stadium to be built sooner rather than later, but that does not mean we have to have ever liked the name. So let's imagine that the university has gotten rid of the awful corporate name for whatever reason, and think of alternatives.
Category 1: Historical Figures
There are numerous people that could be worthy namesakes for a Gopher football stadium. Take Murray Warmath, the last Minnesota coach to win a national title, whose name is on the home locker room. Bronko Nagurski, a legend of the game, has a case; he already has his name on the football complex, along with George Gibson. If we wanted to throw the donors a bone — which we never have to do, but that's often how this works — there's always the All-American Bob McNamara, whose name is on the alumni center and whose family continues to give a lot of money to the athletic department.
