It started out as a joke. Just a few guys sitting around debating who would pony up an estimated $20 million to buy the naming rights for Florida Atlantic University's proposed football stadium. Home Depot? Comcast? Best Buy? Then someone said, 'How about Hooters?' and we all kind of laughed," said FAU freshman Colin Valada. "But then I was like, you know, that's actually a great idea." And so, the "Get Hooters to Sponsor Our Stadium" campaign was launched and since mid-January, nearly 350 FAU students have signed on to the project's Facebook page pledging their support. It just makes sense to Valada, an Orlando native who was disappointed when the University of Central Florida sold the naming rights to its new stadium to Bright House Networks, a cable and communications company. "What does that have to do with UCF?" Valada asked. UCF's nickname is the Knights. But Hooters, the orange and white Florida-born restaurant famous for wings, and, well, um, women - its logo is an O-eyed owl.And FAU's mascot, "Owsley," also is an owl. "It's a brilliant idea," said Kyle Butler, a 19-year-old FAU student from Melbourne, who signed on to help sell the Hooters idea. "I was like, wow, that's perfect." Whether FAU gets a 30,000-seat, $62 million football stadium depends largely on fund raising.http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/2008/02/28/m1a_hoot_owls_0228.html
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