By Ken Robinson

What bonehead at Alaska Airlines came up with the idea that they should give the University of Washington $41 million dollars in exchange for putting their name on Husky Stadium?

They must have really been foaming at the mouth at the board meeting when someone  said "Hey! We've got an extra $41 million in the bank from charging people to take luggage with them on our airplanes. What if we get the UW to let us put our name on the stadium like Century Link did for the Seahawks?!" 

Here's the problem with this: The Seahawks and that baseball team in Seattle are commercial entities, businesses. We get it that they love having their stadiums (paid for principally by taxpayers) festooned with corporate logos, flashing intermittently at the games. It helps pay the salaries of guys who don't live here.

The Huskies are a team representing a public institution of higher learning. The players are playing for joy, not money. The taint of commercialism should not be part of college football.  

Last Thursday night at the pre-season Seahawks-Raiders game, the commercial messages were a powerful reminder of the difference between private and public sports activities. 

Instead of tossing $41 million at the Huskies, it would be better if Alaska Airlines used that excess cash to lower the cost of air travel. Or stopped charging people for bringing their luggage with them on a flight for a year or so, however long it took them to gather  the big money.

The story goes that the UW regents are "considering" this largesse. I think it is just dead wrong of them to even keep it on the table. These people serve at the pleasure of the university and should be held to a higher standard that does not ask them to sell out to a big business. Any argument that begins with the idea that mounting a great football team is a very expensive enterprise should be swept off the table. Don't make it so expensive. Keep it amateur. Keep it clean.

If you want to be bombarded with commercial messages, flashing logos and booming business appeals, go to a Seahawks game and help Paul Allen pay his bills.

Don't tell me it is benign. This method of in-your-face commercialism is a boisterous and blatant  way to bolster a brand. How's that for alliteration?

If the regents did OK this lame idea, I would not be surprised if Alaska Airlines soon made the seats in the stadium  smaller, closer together and with less legroom. Then, they would begin charging us for bringing in our own blanket and seat cushion. Instead of beer and peanut hawkers in the stands, there would be flight attendants dressed in purple and gold taking drink orders, then pushing a cart through the aisles, bumping people, then snarling at them for being in the way. Debit card only, please.

Details of the game on the PA system would come from "The Captain" in a soothing voice meant to instill calm and confidence even if the team was losing. Football jargon would be replaced with airplane lingo. 

There would be a "Mile High Club" cocktail lounge.

The Husky mascot would be replaced by a caribou. The cheerleaders would be dressed as Eskimo women in furry parkas and with sealskin footwear. Instead of batons and pompoms, they would have harpoons and bunchgrass clumps. Alternative team names: The Alaska Airlines Caribous. The Baby Harp Seals. The Narwhals. The Sea Lions. The King Crabs. The Jets. The Tarmacs. 

Airline staff, wearing wooden smiles and dead eyes,  would thank you for coming to the game as you exit.

Is that what you really want?

My wife suggested Alaska Airlines use the money to help offset the cost of a college education for thousands of local students. Isn't that a better idea?