The Copper Bowl.

Most likely, that is how the seven-year-old college football bowl game will be announced when it is played Dec. 27. But an idea two local disc jockeys had that started with them joking about getting officials to call it "Bob's Chainsaw Repair Copper Bowl" has evolved into a legitimate plan to get local small businesses to join in sponsoring the event.

Bobby Rich and Jerry "Eggs" Agar, who host the weekday morning show on KMXZ 94.9 FM, read a news brief last month that mentioned that this year's Copper Bowl, was - and still is - without a title sponsor, even though the game is less than three months away.

Shortly after it was read, Rich, Agar and the pair's sense of humor got to work thinking about the possibilities.

"We thought, wouldn't it be funny if we went and called some little business - you know, like Bob's Chainsaw Repair - and said, 'Hey, can you come up with $500,000?'" Agar said.

They went through the yellow pages and called businesses that they thought would sound funny as the bowl's sponsor and asked them if they liked the sound of "Welcome to the Bob's Chainsaw Repair Copper Bowl" booming from the public address system at Arizona Stadium before the game.

"We thought it would be funny for one morning," Agar said.

The joke evoked so many calls that they carried over to the next morning. When all the businesses they called laughed at the possibility of them coming up with $500,000, they started joking about getting 25,000 small businesses to each give $20.

It turned out the idea was worth more than a few laughs. Rich and Agar started getting phone calls from businesses that were willing to give anywhere from $20 to $1,000 for the "Tucson Small Business Copper Bowl."

The two started a folder with names of businesses that were willing to give money. They now have about 100 names on those scraps of paper representing businesses willing to collectively give about $10,000.

"It could (work)," Rich said.

One thing that could move this project closer to reality is support from larger small businesses, like banks and car dealers, and Rich said they have spoken to someone who may be able to get this for them.

But Rich and Agar said that even if it does not work, the actions of the small businesses that have shown support have proven that the city of Tucson cares about the bowl and has a lot of community pride.

"What it has shown more than anything is that there really is support for having the Copper Bowl stay here," Agar said.

Weiser Lock, the bowl's sponsor for the previous four years, chose to take a lesser role in the bowl this year, providing $20,000 to sponsor the half-time show instead of $500,000 to be the title sponsor.

The $500,000 title sponsorship does not begin to cover the total expenses of the game. The Copper Bowl foundation is required to pay each team a minimum of $750,000. The NCAA requires that 75 percent of game proceeds go to the two teams. Therefore, if that amount is greater than $750,000, the teams will receive more.

Other funding of the bowl comes through souvenir and ticket sales and other small sponsorships.

Copper Bowl officials say the bowl will be held with or without a sponsor. The Western Athletic and Big 12 conferences have guaranteed that two teams will come to play and ESPN plans to air the game. Support from these organizations will allow the bowl to be played regardless of the sponsor situation, said Larry Brown, the Copper Bowl's executive director.

Brown said the bowl has some prospects for sponsors right now, but would not say who.

He also said he has heard about the efforts of the two DJ's.

"It would be nice if we could get the money that way," he said. "It's a neat idea."

Sue Brooks, marketing director for the bowl, said if they have not found a sponsor by Oct. 1, the Copper Bowl will go forward on Dec. 27 without one. June is the ideal time to have a sponsor locked in for the bowl, Brooks said.

This year would not be the first time the Copper Bowl did not have a title sponsor.

The first game, played by the University of Arizona and North Carolina State University in 1989, did not have a title sponsor. Arizona beat North Carolina State 17-10.

Nowadays, the bowl is played between the third place team for the Western Athletic Conference and the fourth place team from the Big 12, which includes schools like the University of Nebraska, Colorado University and Kansas University.

Weiser Lock President Vern Schroeder, in a news release, said, "Our participation has been very positive for Weiser Lock and for the Tucson community. We strongly encourage the people and business community of Tucson to continue it's strong support of this great event."

And that is exactly what Rich and Agar have in mind with their small business bowl.

Debbie Ashton, owner of Bloomer's Flowers, listens to the "Bobby and Eggs Morning Show" everyday from her shop. She said she was excited about the small business bowl and wanted to participate.

"We thought as a small business, we could certainly contribute, not $500,000, but in a smaller way," she said.

It is a simple thing to do, she said, that would help the bowl, which brings business to Tucson, which in turn helps small businesses. Ashton said she would be willing to give about $100 to help sponsor the bowl.

Rich and Agar have not spoken with bowl officials yet, but said if they get close to the $500,000, they will attend a board meeting to pitch the idea to officials.

The pair, who have been working together for about a year, have taken a break from talking about the bowl for the past couple of weeks to cover some other topics, but they plan to return to the project this week.

Since getting off the subject, Rich said they have been receiving calls from angry listeners who want to talk about the bowl.

He said one caller said, "Come one you guys. Get back to the really important issues of the day - sponsoring the Copper Bowl."

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