Wachovia Center

The eight NCAA Tournament teams playing Thursday at the Wachovia Center will hold practices at the Center tomorrow that are free and open to the public. The practice schedule: Noon to 12:40 p.m.: Texas A & M 12:45 p.m. to 1:25 p.m.: Chattanooga 1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m: Brigham Young 2:15 p.m. to 2:55 p.m.: Connecticut 4:25 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.: Villanova 5:10 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.: UCLA 5:55 p.m. to 6:35 p.m.: American 6:40 p.m. to 7:20 p.m.: VCU Tipoff times for Thursday's games (seedings, records in parenthesis)

The AT&T Pavilion inside the Wachovia Center will open at 2:30 p.m. today for fans to watch the Phillies game in an effort to encourage early arrivals for tonight's Flyers game. No ticket is required to enter until 5:30 p.m. The pavilion has 30 high-definition TVs. Also, anyone attending the baseball game can bring their ticket stub to the Wachovia Center box office at the end of the baseball game, where they can purchase a $25 ticket to the Flyers game vs. Pittsburgh.

The Flyers will host a pep rally outside the Broad Street entrance of the Wachovia Center today from noon to 2 p.m. Fans can pose for pictures with the Prince of Wales Trophy, meet Flyers alumni, get free hotdogs and purchase official merchandise. Official Flyers viewing parties again will be held at area locations of P.J. Whelihan's and Chickie's and Pete's for games this weekend.

Fans can go to the Wachovia Center to watch Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday in Boston between the Flyers and Bruins. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 o'clock game. Admission and parking are free. There will be food and drink specials and discounts on Flyers' Black and White and Winter Classic jerseys.

Comcast-Spectacor, owner and operator of the Wachovia Center, is changing the name of the 21,000-seat home of the Flyers and 76ers to the Wells Fargo Center, effective immediately, to reflect the name change in the financial institutions, company president Peter Luukko announced Tuesday. "As the owner and operator of the arena, Comcast-Spectacor is honoring the contract as it was agreed upon with the bank that the successor shall keep the naming rights of the facility," Luukko said.

The Wachovia Center, site of the 2000 Women's Final Four, is among 12 sites under consideration to host one of the Final Fours from 2012 to 2016, the NCAA announced yesterday. The finalists will be determined in August with the five winning cities to be announced in November. Other past host cities vying for the event are Cleveland (2007), Indianapolis (2005), Kansas City (1998), New Orleans (1991, 2004), San Antonio (2002) and Tampa (2008). Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston and Nashville, Tenn.

Maybe the Polyphonic Spree's third attempt to bring its joyful noise to Philadelphia will be the charm. The 25-member musical congregation - they wear white robes and spread good vibes through choral pop music that sounds like Brian Wilson and the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne scoring a Disney film - postponed a show at the First Unitarian Church last summer for personal reasons, and canceled a fall make-up date due to a scheduling conflict....

From the street corners of Philadelphia to the stadiums of Japan, Eddie Alvarez made his name by finishing fights. Born in Kensington, trained in Fishtown, and currently living in Northeast Philadelphia, the 26-year-old is a world champion in mixed martial arts. This hybrid combat sport combines kickboxing, wrestling, and the cage that contains it. Formerly called "cage fighting," it's now better known by its largest promoter, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Since Pennsylvania sanctioned it in 2009, a burgeoning scene has appeared in Philadelphia, which could become the sport's East Coast hub. Mixed martial arts' object is to beat an opponent into defenselessness or force him to submit with a joint lock or choke hold.

Comcast-Spectacor, owner and operator of the Wachovia Center, is changing the name of the 21,000-seat home of the Flyers and 76ers to the Wells Fargo Center, effective immediately, to reflect the name change in the financial institutions, company president Peter Luukko announced Tuesday. "As the owner and operator of the arena, Comcast-Spectacor is honoring the contract as it was agreed upon with the bank that the successor shall keep the naming rights of the facility," Luukko said.

Say goodbye Wachovia Center. The arena of many names is being relabeled the Wells Fargo Center starting today. Wachovia, which owned the building's naming rights, was bought out by Wells Fargo Corp. in 2008. The 21,000-seat South Philadelphia arena - home to both the Flyers and the 76ers - opened as the Corestates Center in 1996 before becoming the First Union Center in 1998 and the Wachovia Center in 2003, as one bank swallowed up the other. Workers are slated to begin removing the Wachovia Center sign from the arena today and the transition to the Wells Fargo Fargo Center is expected to be completed by Sept.

Philadelphia has been awarded the 2014 NCAA Frozen Four. The NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee announced the selection today. The games will be played at the Wells Fargo Center, formerly the Wachovia Center. The Frozen Four is the NCAA hockey tournament's national semifinals and championship game. Traditionally, the semifinals are held in two sessions on the Thursday after basketball's Final Four, and the title game is played Saturday night. On the Friday night between the semis and final, a skills challenge is held, and the Hobey Baker Award is presented to the season's best player.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Flyers announced their schedule for the 2010 preseason Tuesday, and it includes three games at the Wachovia Center. The eight-game preseason slate will start at home, with the Flyers facing the Atlantic Division rival New Jersey Devils on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Here is the full preseason schedule: Sept. 21: New Jersey at Flyers, Wachovia Center, 7 p.m. Sept. 23: Flyers vs. Toronto at the John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario, 7 p.m. Sept.

With the turn of the calendar from June 30 to July 1 yesterday, the Wachovia Center has become the Wells Fargo Center with the start of the new fiscal year. Wachovia, which owned the building's naming rights, was bought out by Wells Fargo Corporation effective Dec. 31, 2008. Wells Fargo now holds the naming rights at a reported cost of $1.4 million per year until the contract expires on June 30, 2023. No signage has been replaced in the building, which will publicly undergo its fourth name change transition this fall before the Flyers and 76ers begin their seasons in October.

The subway station that serves Citizens Bank Park, the Wachovia Center, and Lincoln Financial Field will get its own commercial name soon. The change dumps the name of a former Philadelphia lawyer and Democratic governor of Pennsylvania in favor of a phone company. The SEPTA board of directors Thursday approved changing the name of Pattison Station to AT&T Station, in a deal valued at $5.44 million. The station is the southernmost stop on the Broad Street subway, serving the stadiums that host Philadelphia's major sports teams and many concerts.

NEW YORK - Do you remember the 2006 NBA draft? In an effort to appease hissed-off season ticketholders, the 76rs decided to have a party for fans at the Wachovia Center, even though they had only the 13th overall pick in an extremely suspect draft. It was lightly attended, but when NBA commissioner David Stern announced, via the television scoreboard, the Sixers had picked Thabo Sefolosha, a guard from Switzerland, the boos that resonated made the building sound like a full house.