August 04, 2004

Colorado: Ending Beer Sales In Arena?

FROM THE CHRONICALLY BELEAGUERED UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO comes yet another round of contentiousness and disarray as the school struggles to regain its balance.

The most recent controversy to beset the school was a public debate about the propriety�or lack thereof�of the naming sponsorship of the Coors Event Center. When considered against the backdrop of CU�s alcohol-fueled recruiting visit embarrassments and the school�s #1 Party School status, many wondered what PR nightmare might be next.

And now CU faces its latest challenge. CU Regents are considering a ban of beer sales at the Coors Events Center, which is the only university venue that openly serves beer to all legal spectators.

The squeaky wheel in this case is Regent Jim Martin, who has been known to propose beer bans on many occasions in the past. He tried to get beer banned at Folsom Field in 1994.

Martin is nothing if not consistent. About the naming of the Coors Event Center, he said, "It was a wrong decision at the time, but it doesn't mean that you continue to compound your wrong decision by having a sports venue auditorium, particularly in college athletics, named after some alcohol sponsor, or even some cigarette manufacturer for that matter. There ought to be certain things out of bounds."

Meanwhile, the Adolph Coors Foundation has always highlighted that the Coors Brewing Company is a completely separate entity from the foundation.

(this 235 word excerpt�with attendant commentary�was distilled from a 906 word article in the Colorado Daily Record of 8-3-04)