This message is brought to you by...

Corporate sponsorship, a boon to professional sports organizations everywhere, can sometimes get confusing. The Stanley Cup isn't named after a company, it's named after Lord Stanley. Apparently, the Winston Cup was not named after Lord Winston, it was named after a cigarette brand. Now called the Nextel Cup, it will be changing names AGAIN next season to the Sprint Cup, even though "sprint" racing is a totally different thing. Similar things have happened in the past. I've put together a few choice moments in corporate sponsorship.

-Dick's Sporting Goods was acquired in 1972 by American Ball Bearings. The yearly-sponsored "American Ball Bearing Marathon of Toledo" was renamed "The Dick's-Balls Toledo Marathon".

-In the mid-1980's, the Denver law firm of Dawn, Cohen, and Johnson sponsored a yearly softball game for charity. After Jon Cohen left the firm in 1987, this event was renamed "The Dawn-Johnson Annual Charity Softball Classic".

-A small Atlanta bedding store named Mattress King sponsored a yearly footrace dubbed "The Long Race" in the early-1990's. After Mattress King was purchased by Sofa World, the race was renamed "The Sofa King Long Race" (Say the name very quickly to achieve maximum effect).

-A small brewery in Buffalo, NY, whose flagship beer is named "Great Lakes Steamer", relocated to Cleveland in 1996. This brewery continued their tradition of sponsoring local auto racing, and thereby named their race team after their best-selling beer, "Cleveland Steamer Racing".

-An annual motorcycle race in Yuma, AZ held during the 1980's was named "Crotch Rocket Rally". When the race began to be sponsored by local Schmelling Construction, the event was renamed "Schmelling Crotch Rocket Rally".

-"BeachFest", originally held yearly by The Sandpiper Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC, was renamed "WangFest" after the resort was purchased by Japanese investment firm Wang & Yoshimoto.