You know what you should definitely not do if you own the naming rights to a building that’s earned a cute nickname that you hate?

This.

Quit yer whining, Forrest Lucas. We’ll call our stadium whatever the heck we want to call it, and you can’t stop us, especially not by moaning about how you want to maintain the integrity of your brand.

We’re fans. Defiance defines us.

You should be happy people aren’t making more obscene references using the nature of your products as the butt of their jokes.

Then again, the first time ol’ Butterfingers Sorgi lets a pass slide right through his hands, I can envision some mighty funny lube comments.

Look, you plastered your name on the side of the building for a string of years. Everyone’s going to see it. And even if people call it “The Luke,” there will be plenty of folks who follow that up with, “Why’s it called that?”

The last thing you want them to say in response is, “The guy who bought the rights complained, so we do it to spite him.”

  Well, it’s good to be back from vacation (okay, we all know it isn’t, but that’s the correct thing to say), but I’m still cranky from jet lag (six hours between here and Poland), so I’m going to do a cranky post today.  So here goes.

  I know it’s too late to do anything about it (not that they’d listen to me anyway).  But am I the only one who thinks Lucas Oil Stadium is ugly?  My biggest complaint is that it doesn’t look like a football stadium, which I believe a football stadium should.  I’m not sure exactly what I think it does look like.  I have three options.  1. an airplane hangar (a really huge one, maybe for the space shuttle)  2. a barn  or 3. a basketball arena.

  It definitely is impressive as you approach downtown, especially from the airport, maybe a bit too overwhelming.  I’ve never seen a stadium (and I’ve seen most of them) that just rises up like the alien spaceship in Independence Day.  Of course it has to be big to accommodate all those money-making suites, gift shops, and concessions.  Money-making for the Colts, that is, not the people who paid for the stadium.  And it has to be big for that roof.  And my question is, will that roof be worth all that money and added size in the end?  My suspicion is that Colts fans are so used to never having to experience even the slightest discomfort, weather-wise, that the roof will almost always be closed.  Maybe it will be open for a couple of games in October, providing it doesn’t rain.  But is that really worth all the money it’s costing?

  The more I think about it, the more I think it looks more like a basketball arena, which should surprise no one in Indiana.  But don’t we already have one of those?  Conseco Fieldhouse is one of the country’s best basketball arenas, and it makes you feel like you’re going to a basketball game when you go inside.  But what will Lucas Oil Stadium make you feel like?  That you’re boarding an aircraft carrier?

So, let me get this straight. Taxpayers, who’ve footed the bill for most the costs associated with building Lucas Oil Stadium, now have to pay to get a tour of that facility?

The Capital Improvement Board made a complete mess of the distribution of the free tickets last month, leaving thousands of fans grumbling. This latest announcement just adds insult to injury.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been a longtime proponent of the new stadium and convention center, and I’m not advocating free tickets to events. But we paid to build the thing, and we should be able to see inside the finished product. For free.

There are a couple stadiums we’ve seen a lot recently in the news. Which one do you prefer?

(Watch Abdul’s Hot Button)

My friends, as much as I think the new Lucas Oil Stadium will eventually be a great benefit to Indianapolis and the region, the people who are running the show haven’t inspired a lot of confidence in me as of late.

First, after spending nearly $800 million on the facility, we find out it has a leaky roof.

Then when thousands of free tickets were to be made available to the public for a free tour, they were gone in minutes and some of them ended up in the hands of scalpers and a lot of the public ended up out in the cold.

So following that disaster, the stadium people tried it again and offered up thousands of free tickets for a tour. And guess what? They were gone in minutes and the public was left out again in the cold.

I don’t understand why the people running the show just don’t offer free tours of the place without tickets? It’s not like the stadium is going anywhere? Pick a couple days a week and offer free tours to the first few hundred people. This ain’t rocket science, its a tour.

Now if you can’t wait for common sense to kick in with the people who are running the show, there is another tour coming up on August 14, the day of the stadium’s grand opening, but those tickets won’t be free. Theyll be $250 a piece.

Do you feel a chill?