A-Rod Arena to open in Boston

Well, no, apparently. The arena formerly known as the FleetCenter will not be named after the Yankee team captain.

Kerry Konrad's dream - let's call it a mischievous wish - was that on March 1, the FleetCenter in Boston would be renamed the DerekJeterCenter.

"My goal was to have the ultimate bragging rights with my buddies up there and tease my friends about the day I named it the DerekJeterCenter," said Konrad, 47, a Yankees fan who attended Harvard with certain members of Red Sox Nation.

"It could have been something more troublesome," Konrad, a Manhattan lawyer, said by telephone. "Like Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone." Or Harry Frazee. Even worse, Alex Rodriguez, the Red Sox' spring-training piñata.

Still, Konrad's flight of fancy stood a chance of achieving reality. The arena has shed the Fleet name because the bank's owner, Bank of America, does not want its moniker on the home of the Celtics and the Bruins.

Earlier this month, the arena's owner, Delaware North, began hawking one-day naming rights on eBay, and will do so through March 7 (proceeds go to charity).

Through 14 days, bidders have paid $88,841, including $35,099 from the on-line casino GoldenPalace.com, to $4,001 from John Muller of San Jose, Calif., who had it renamed the LindaWaltonGarden yesterday as a gift to his wife.

"All the names passed the smell test and were rated G," said Richard Krezwick, the arena president.

In eBay bidding that ended Wednesday, Konrad's $2,325 was topped by no other. Did he get away with a plan that he felt symbolized a friendly rivalry, one that any fan would acknowledge has grown bizarre and out of control? Or would Beantown churls deny him 24 hours of fun?

And oh, what fun he would have, snapping photographs of the arena scoreboards that would sport "DerekJeterCenter," and telling his Red Sox friends to call (617) 624-1000 to listen to the operators say, "Hello, DerekJeterCenter."

After two days of deliberation, the arena ordained yesterday that the Jeter name was rated X in Boston. "We consider it a curse word in Boston," Krezwick said. "Anything initiating from the blue and the pinstripes would probably be considered offensive by Boston fans."

No sense of humor up there in the Nation. Guess it's all the snow they've gotten this winter.