Rick D hates our Nashville Predators

I recently ran across an article titled “Why the Nashville Predators Are the Worst Team in the NHL” by a gentleman named Rick D on Yahoo’s Associated Content page. This guy really lays it on thick about his hate for the Nashville Predators. He starts the column off saying “I hate the Nashville Predators. The entire concept of the team - an ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee which had no professional team at the time - makes me shake my head in disgust toward Gary Bettman and those involved in the team's creation every time I think about it.” All I could say was wow. I mean, has this guy ever even been to our city? Does he know that in the short time that the Predators have been here, they have been one of the most successful expansion franchises in the NHL? He obviously doesn’t know much about our professional sport teams because the Tennessee Titans were the first professional team in the state of Tennessee.




So in response to Rick D, I feel like it is only right that I defend our dear city and the franchise. No way is this loon going to get a free pass to talk about our team. This is for all the fans of the Nashville Predators who don’t have outlet to voice their opinion. Let’s do some fact checking and give the five reasons that Nashville is a great hockey town.

1. The Predators are one of the most successful expansion franchises in the league - The Predators won their 100th victory as a franchise on December 6, 2001. With that win, Nashville became the second-fastest expansion team of the 1990s to reach the 100-win mark. The Predators have also made the playoffs five of the past six years. Do you how many storied franchises like the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Edmonton Oilers or the Boston Bruins would do for that type of playoff run?

2. The Predators really have NOT had a big name player – The Preds have had names such as Paul Kariya and Peter Foresberg. But if you look closely at the stats, those players names carried more weight than there performances. Peter Foresberg for example read as follows below:

read as follows below:

2006-2007

17 games 2 goals 13 assists totaling 15 points and a plus minus ratio of + 5

Not exactly setting the league on fire with those numbers.
Paul Kariya on the other hand did have two solid seasons with the Preds his numbers:

2005-2006 : 82 games 31 goals 54 assists 85 total points and plus minus ratio of +6
2006-2007: 82 games 24 goals 52 assists 76 total points and a plus minus ratio of -6 .

Again, pretty good number but Kariya was not the leader of that team. His best years came when he was teamed with Teemu Selanne and was able to rely on him. Neither one of these so called stars were on the upside of their careers upon arrving in Nashville.




3. Tennessee has always been a Football state but – Tennessee will always be known as a football state thanks to the success of the Tennessee Vols and the Titans. However, with the recent success of the Predators, hockey in Nashville has taken off. In fact for this season the Predators attendance was higher than the Avalanche (13,947), Coyotes (11,989), Thrashers (13,607), Devils (15,546), Panthers (15,146) and the Blue Jackets (15,416). The Devils and Avalanche are in hockey markets and both have Stanley cup championships between them and we better attendance than both of those franchises.

4. Nashville has great fans – The attendance may not indicate it but the Predators have a loyal base of die hard fans. You can go anywhere in the city and find them. The best thing about them is their loyalty and dedication to the team. In 2007 when the team was rumored to be sold to billionaire Jim Basille then moved to Canada, the fans were outraged and came out in droves to keep the team here. They are deeply rooted in the community and provide donations to keep the game of hockey alive and well in the state.

5. The grassroots movement – As I stated above, The Predators have been making their mark in the community. They recently made a $150,000 donation to Williamson County’s own A-Game Sportsplex to help serve as a springboard for developing fans in Middle Tennessee. High School hockey in Middle Tennessee is also taking off with over 17 high school teams now. Nashville is quickly becoming a hockey town day by day. As with any expansion franchise, the Predators had to take their lumps initially and had to be built from the ground up. In a state such as Tennessee where football is king, it takes awhile for anything else to flourish. The success of the team as well as their contributions to the city of Nashville looks to be as good as it has ever been.

Now that we have the facts straight, let me address Mr. Rick D. Sir, you probably have never been to our city, so for you to make a biased and uninformative post about our us sir is wrong. Please stay in your city where your pathetic Detroit Lions have been one of the worst ran franchises in recent memory. Nashville is a great city for real fans of all sports. Your article was terrible and by looking at the comments you received, I’m sure you able to see that Predator fans are nothing to mess with. As you stated “Usually I try to avoid being so obviously biased in most of my articles, but the opportunity to get articles published on Yahoo! Sports was something I wasn't about to pass up, even if what they wanted was to be as biased as possible on purpose.” That sounds like to me this was more about ATTENTION and not the right INTENSIONS. So again Mr. Rick D, please know your facts before you jump on a team and city you thought would be ripe for the pickings. Hockey in Nashville is flourishing thanks to hacks like yourself.

Predators

Sportaholic Mid-Week Speed Drills

Miami's terrible debut- All eyes were on Miami's new trio of stars last night in Boston, but it didn't go as well as they would have liked. Boston jumped out to an early first quarter lead that saw Miami only score 9 in the quarter. The new big 3 would go on to score 52 points between them, but also accounted for 15 of the 17 turnovers the Heat had. They lacked the cohesiveness as a unit and that was expected, as Dwayne Wade didn't play but two minutes in the preseason. They did storm back on a furious run to end the third quarter. The Heat will be fine. As the season goes on they will find the continuity they lacked in this game. By mid season, we should be observing the real team. This was also to a lesser extent the debut of Shaq or the big Shamrock (What ever he is calling himself these days) for the Celtics. He finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

Adam "Pacman" Jones rebound season cut short- In what was shaping up to be Jones's best year since his breakout second season with the Titans, the Bengals DB suffered a herniated disk in Sunday's 39-32 loss at Atlanta and was placed on injury reserve. That's just too bad. Pacman was starting to get back into form and looking like his old self before all the self-inflicted chaos he had. Hopefully he can bounce back next year and keep the same attitude that has won him rave reviews in Cincinnati.

Nashville Predators looking good- The Preds are off to a 5-0-3 mark this year. In their most recent win over Tampa Bay, Rookie Andres Lindback made 42 saves. The rookie goalie had some spectacular saves including a couple of in-close saves on Vincent Lecavilier and Ryan Malone. The latest win put Nashville at number 2 in ESPN's power rankings. On a side note, the Predators donated $150,000 to Williamson County’s own A-Game Sportsplex. The move is the latest effort to start a grassroots movement for local and amateur hockey in middle Tennessee. Good move by the Preds. Make sure you go out and support them; their next home game is on Oct 28th against the St. Louis Blues hoping to see everyone there.

Remembering Roy Skinner- Skinner is Vanderbilt’s all-time win leader and the architect of Vanderbilt basketball. He compiled an overall record of 278-135 and an astonishing 181-41 at Memorial Gym, thus coining the phrase in local newspapers “Memorial Magic.” Skinner was a basketball purist at heart. He loved the open floor game and didn’t like to limit his offense. His battles with former University of Tennessee coach Ray Mears were legendary. Skinner was not shy in admitting his dislike for Mears but he also had a deep respect for him as well. Skinner won the SEC's Coach-of-the-Year award four different times (1965, 67, 74, 76). He also coached against the legendary Adolph Rupp and his loaded Kentucky Wildcat teams. In 1966 Skinner, initiated what would turn out to be his biggest accomplishment. He would sign the first black player to play in the SEC, Perry Wallace. Roy Skinner’s accomplishments will always be a part of Nashville and we are a better city because of him. Farewell Roy, you will be missed.






A memorial service for Roy Skinner will be held Saturday, October 30, at 11 a.m. CT at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt University campus

What to watch today: The World Series kicks-off today in San Francisco. Looking for a great series from these two tortuted franchises.

8pm Bulls at Thunder on ESPN


10:30pm Trail Blazers at Clippers on ESPN

CSI: Nashville Edition

As reported by the Tennessean Jim Wyatt, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was seen in Karma Lounge night club Friday night. Fisher was reportedly investigating the incident involving Kenny Britt this past weekend. He must have received a clearance from Karma’s staff due to the fact that Britt made it in the game early in the second quarter.

The funniest thing about the story is the time that Fisher was seen at the club, reportedly around 12 in the morning. Can you imagine listening to your favorite Rick Ross song and bumping into Jeff Fisher? It’s hard to imagine any other coach going to that length for his player’s let alone be in the club on a Friday night. This is just hilarious; I wonder if he dressed the part as well? This has to be a precedent for the first time a head coach attended a popular night club on the Friday night before the game. If anyone knows of any other coach who has done this before please let me know. No word if Fisher had any drinks while attending the club.


This also made me think which coach would look more ridiculous in a club? I was thinking maybe Bill Belicheck (He definitely would be in brawl of some type) or Andy Reid (Can you imagine him in an Adidas sweat suit break dancing)? I know two coaches I wouldn’t mind hitting the club with and that would be Rex Ryan or Mike Tomlin. Ryan looks like he would buy rounds for everyone and just pass out. I would hate to have to try and pick him up though. As for Tomlin, He would be the coolest guy in the room, with his signature shades and creased shirts.



Who do you think would be the coolest coach to go clubbing with?

NBA season tip-off

The NBA season gets underway tonight with two games featuring three of the prohibitive favorites going into this season.

The Miami Heat face-off with the defending Eastern conference champions Boston Celtics and the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers take on the Houston Rockets.

After an off-season in which they dominated the headlines with the free agent signings of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh; Miami finally gets the chance to state their case for the championship. I wasn’t at all thrilled with the choice of Lebron James and the whole “Taking my talents to South Beach” thing. It changed my view of James, who I thought was more of a Michael Jordan type leader. The decision to join forces with Wade and Bosh seems like an easy out for him. Everyone had something to say rather it be negative or positive with his choice. I’m not going to bash the guy for using his rights as a free agent to pick the team of his choice. But I will never view him as the fierce competitor on the level of Jordan, who took his team on his shoulders and carried them to multiple rings. I guess we all should have seen have as more of a Magic Johnson type player.

Boston has flown under the radar as much as a conference winner can. They did add Shaquille O’neal (not the big diesel anymore, more like the big unleaded.), Jermaine O’neal and Delonte West. Those additions will make them one of if the not the deepest team in the league. Their season will hinge on health issues of course as they are one of the oldest teams in the league. The big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen still have their say in the Eastern conference. They are like the old men in the neighborhood who still have enough fight in them to be a cause for concern. The most important player of the team now is Rajon Rondo. His play last year was elevated to an all-star level.This team could very well win the championship OR have multiple injuries and limp to the finish line with nothing.

In the second game of the doubleheader, The Los Angeles Lakers will face off with The Houston Rockets

The Lakers are looking for a three-peat following their championship run of last year. The biggest question mark for this team is the health of their leader Kobe Bryant and starting center Andrew Bynum. Bryant had off season knee surgery and the same goes for Bynum. Kobe was quoted as saying he thinks his knee is 75 -80% going into this season. Andrew Bynum on the other hand will be out until at least late November. The Lakers made some good off season pickups to pick up the slack with Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Theo Ratliff. Even with Kobe not at 100% they should easily win the Western conference crown. I look for Pau Gasol , Derek Fisher and Ron Artest(as crazy as he is) to hold down the for fort until Kobe is back to 100% and Bynum is returns. A three-peat is likely as this team has the experience and talent to duplicate last year’s results.

The Houston Rockets are a team that hinges on the health (this is becoming redundant) of its big man Yao Ming. He looks to recover from a broken foot that has hindered him all of last year. Aaron Brooks took control of the team in his absence and the Rockets also traded for the sharp shooter Kevin Martin. Luis Scola had a nice tournament in the FIBA world championships, leading the tournament in scoring. This team has a lot of moving part but if it comes together and by that I mean in large part the health of Ming, they should be right in the thick of things for the Western conference.

The opening tip-off games are usually good match-ups and this year is no different. I look for Miami to pull out the victory over Boston and the Lakers to overmatch the Rockets. Enjoy the games, I know I will.

World Series Preview: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

One of these teams will end the futility that has held both of these franchises hostages for the last half a century. Texas is making its first appearance in the fall classic and San Francisco has 18 appearances, but since moving to the bay in 1958, this will be only their fourth trip. The Giants haven’t won since 1954 for those keeping count and that was when the say-hay kid Willie Mays was patrolling the outfield.

The Rangers, meanwhile, are the fourth team in the past six seasons to be appearing in their first World Series. Led by the big bat of AL MVP candidate Josh Hamilton and the arm of ace Cliff Lee, the Rangers are looking to make up for lost time. This is a team that was in shambles financially at the beginning of the season. The team was in the midst of being sold and also had to be placed on bankruptcy protection. Enter the former Rangers great Nolan Ryan, who led a group of investors that scooped the team up and have been firing on all cylinders every since. They have a nice balance of youth and veterans including youngsters Elvis Andrus, Netfali Feliz, Nelson Cruz and veterans Micheal Young and the off season addition of Vladimir Gurrerro.

The Giants barely made it in the Playoffs but are definitely making the most out of the trip. A team dominated by pitching, the Giants added a lot of key pieces during the season to entrench the team. The additions included: Cody Ross, Javier Lopez, a call up of rookie Buster Posey and off season additions included Aubrey Huff and Pat “the bat” Burrell. For this season at least all these moves have had a positive impact on the club. Their pitching is off the charts with two top of the line starters in Tim “The Freak” Lincecum, and Matt Cain. The closer Brian Wilson is one of the quirkier guys you will meet in baseball but is also one of the best. It’s fitting that this patchwork of an offense will meet a patchwork of a front office in the Rangers for the World Series.

Now time for the breakdowns:

Pitching: Texas has the best postseason pitcher that has come along in awhile with Cliff Lee and also are benefiting from quality starts from C.J Wilson and the former Japanese league pitcher Colby Lewis.

San Francisco counters with maybe the deepest rotation in all of baseball: Lincecum, Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner.

The Edge: San Francisco

Offense: Texas has the big bats in Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Gurrerro, Ian Kinsler, and Nelson Cruz. They also have a nice platoon of for average hitters in Michael Young, Elvis Andrus and Mitch Moreland.

San Francisco doesn’t have the power of the Rangers but has timely hitting with Buster Posey, Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff leading the way. They will need a big series from Posey and for Ross to continue his hot streak of late.

The Edge: Texas

Fielding: Texas has a solid defense led by the former gold glove winner Michael Young. The Rangers have been playing good enough defense but not the best.

San Francisco’s fielding has been just as solid if not better than the Rangers. Rookie Buster Posey leads the team in that department.

The Edge: Even

The Series prediction: This is sort of a karma infused World Series. It seems both teams haven’t been successful over the past few decades and both are trying to exercise those demons of the past. Pitching is always the most important factor in the playoffs to me and the Giants are deeper in that department. Cliff Lee is amazingly only getting better as the playoff’s progress but he can only start so many times for the Rangers. Josh Hamilton will keep it close and should have his moments as the best hitter in the series. One for sure winner in this series will be Bengie Molina, who after playing for both teams this year is going to receive a ring either way.

 

         The Pick: Giants in 7

Monday Night Review: Disaster in Dallas

If you thought it couldn't get any worse for America's team, you thought wrong. The Cowboys fell to the Giants last night 41-35, but more importantly loss starting Qb Tony Romo for at least 8-10 weeks with a broken Collarbone. That is just a devastating blow to the popular preseason Super Bowl picks. Their season effectively ended with Romo's injury.



The play occurred in the beginning of the second quarter. Linebacker Michael Boley busted through the Cowboys line at full speed and just leveled Romo. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was bad. Romo lay on the ground motionless, grimacing in pain. Boley himself was quoted as saying he heard “Romo let out a little scream.” That scream was surely echoed by owner Jerry Jones, who was witnessing the end of his team’s season. All the Super Bowl talk and being the first team to host and play in the Super Bowl ended on that one vicious hit.



The game itself had such a promising start for Dallas. Eli Manning threw an interception to Terence Newman on the fourth play of the game and Newman returned it to the Giants five yard line. A Marion Barber rush for one yard and than a five yard pass from Romo to tight end Jason Witten would lead to a Dallas touchdown. On New York’s second drive, Manning would be picked off again by Gerald Sensabaugh, who returned it to the Giants 18. From there Romo completed a 13 yard pass to Martellus Bennett but the drive would stall and Dallas would settle for a field goal.



The Giants got back into the game with a good drive that ended with a Hakeem Nicks touchdown catch. On the next drive Romo led the Cowboys to a field goal and the Dallas defense forced New York to punt on their next drive. On the punt, Rookie Dez Bryant made a nice cut up field and was able to find a seam and was off to the races for a 93-yard return. That score made the game 20-7 and that would be as happy as the story gets for Dallas. From that point, New York would go on to five unanswered scores and put the game out of reach. Eli Manning caught fire in the middle of the second and would finish 25 of 35 for 306 yards 4 touchdowns but also 3 interceptions.

Dallas would later add two cosmetic touchdowns going to Dez Bryant but the game was never really in doubt after the Romo injury. The Cowboys now sit at 1-5 without their starting QB. Jon Kitna looked a mess running the offense and could never get it going until the game was out of reach. The season ended all on the Boley blitz in that instant. The question now becomes how far will Dallas fall this season? Will Coach Wade Phillips be able to survive the turmoil that will ensue now? One thing is for sure, for this season the Cowboys are down and out.

Brett Favre injured

The consecutive game streak may finally come to an end and not for the Jenn Sterger accusations. As reported by the Associated Press, Brett Favre has two broken bones in his left ankle and no word yet on if he will be able to play this Sunday vs. the Patriots. He was reportedly injured in the third quarter of the Vikings’ 28-24 loss to Green Bay on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

Brad Childress, coach of the Minnesota Vikings confirmed the report and stated that Favre is wearing a protective boot, but has yet to rule out Favre, who's streak stands at 291 games started. Even without word from Childress can you honestly expect a 41 year old man with two broken bones to go play a NFL game? It sounds like old grey beard's body is finally succumbing to 20 years of carnage in the league. Favre already had off-season surgery to repair his left ankle and was taking injections for it before the season even started.

If this is the end of the streak, than its just a sad ending. I always said that Brett would regret coming back this season because it just be so hard to top the magic that he played with last year. When you couple this injury with the accusations and other off field distractions he has had this year, then I think we could all agree he wishes he would have just stayed on his farm in southern Mississippi with his wranglers on.