NO SUDS: If West Valley City turns down $7 million from Coors Brewing Co. for its new hockey arena, maybe that money could find a place in Provo. Never mind that Happy Valley doesn't have a Happy Hour. Or that there are only two places in the entire city that serve beer.
There are several proposed projects in the area that could use a little corporate pick-me-up. And cash is cash.Take the proposed shopping mall in south Provo. Why not call it the Coors Fashion Mall? The much-debated Olympic ice sheet could be even more than that with some extra cash the Coors name would bring.
Then there's our personal favorite, the Coors Library at Academy Square. About the only way the old Brigham Young Academy will dodge the wrecking ball is with an infusion of cash.
OK, so it will never happen. Coors wouldn't dare set foot in Provo. This is a city that wants minor-league baseball but wouldn't serve beer in its stadium. That's fine with us. We're not ones to cry over spilled beer.
Colors of the winding road: Color changes in the mountains have their own Internet site.
The USDA Forest Service has just announced not only a toll-free hotline number, 1-800-354-4595, but a web page for information on the latest of the fall color scene: (http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation).
Seems like a good idea. There's always major interest in the brilliant foliage around here.
It just sounds a little too good to be true.
For one thing, updating the page information would have to be almost minute by minute. We've seen some fall months where by the time you tell somebody they "just have to go see," the colors are already gone.
But hey, we're willing to see a good try here.
We looked it up, by the way, and it wasn't very exciting. Sort of gray, but then it isn't Sept. 5 yet either, and that's when it's supposed to be officially available.
Why, oh Y: We'd like to thank everyone who played our little Former BYU Quarterback Challenge last week. The number of responses was overwhelming. Our e-mail in-boxes were jammed; our answering machine was full and the telephones rang for days. BYU's victory over Texas A&M must have rekindled interest in Cougar football.
Our other contests were never so well received. Of course, we never had BYU tickets to dole out before.
Anyway, our six pairs of tickets went fast. And most all of the respondents knew that Steve Young (San Francisco); Ty Detmer (Philadelphia) and Jim McMahon (Green Bay) still play in the NFL.
We're hoping to score a few sets of tickets for a future game. But we're thinking of trying a different contest. How well do you sing and dance?
Mail it in: We receive some strange mail in our office. A piece we received the other day certainly wasn't the weirdest, but it was in the "why would anyone send this to us" category.
News Flash: The Republic of Chad in central Africa has the collectibles world "all shook up." It released a limited edition postage stamp set featuring President Clinton and his "lifelong idol" Elvis Presley, according to a press release.
That ought to bring Elvis back from the dead, if anything will.