Well, something happened in the 76ers offseason that didn’t make me want to cry a little bit. In the big scheme of things, it’s just a mild disappointment. The Wells Fargo Center is now Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Oh man. Oh gosh. Look at this!
Wow. Did you see those fake camera shots? Cool, right?
Did you see how they used color instead of making it black and white? That would have been an odd choice, right? Not only is it Xfinity, but the Xfinity is mobile as well. It can go anywhere!
And so on. Anyways, a mild disappointment is still a disappointment. I can’t think of many people who get really excited when thinking of an internet company. It’s mostly just “Oh. My internet provider sucks. They’re down all the time.” Or “My internet provider sucks. They promised me 500 Mb/s but I’m only getting 300.” You notice your provider when they’re not doing the job.
Well, now you get to watch the 76ers recover from this past season, surrounded by reminders of your internet provider. Not sure what that does for the live experience.
It should’ve been Wawa
It absolutely should have been Wawa.
Wawa is great. They are one of the many wonderful regional staples that we don’t get in Michigan — Bojangles, Wawa, formerly Sonic. Maybe that makes it seem more special to me, but to my knowledge, Wawa is beloved in Philly. Plus, it has a cool name that when you say “wawawawawa” it’s reminiscent of someone (I think Mario?) in Mario Kart 64 getting hit with a red shell and making funny noises.
Beyond that, any gas station that serves gravy is special. That’s a type of commitment that I can’t see Speedway making. And there are so many Wawas! If you’re around Philadelphia, you can get your gas station gravy almost anywhere!
I went to Philadelphia a while ago. I had three plans: the art museum, a concert, and Wawa. I was able to do all three. That’s right. I went to Wawa. I have nothing but positive memories. Good vibes.
Isn’t that what you want your crowd to feel when they’re at home games? That feeling of “Hell yes. I want to be here, and I want to return?” Engendering pride in the team by naming the arena after something that your community already takes pride in?
Wawa Arena. Wawarena. I don’t know. We can work on it. It’s not too late to change minds.