Bad Titans News Continues: Finnegan, CJ, & Tix

Just when I was beginning to buy into the Titans a little bit, there have been a few more missteps this week. Not all of them are the team's fault, but they are clouding my confidence in an improved 2011 season.

First: Cortland Finnegan. Here are my thoughts, and I really don't have much more to say on the topic than this: He's a liar. He's a punk. He's a cheap-shot artist. He's an idiot. He's an overrated defensive back (3 Titans had better stats). Oh, and he has Jeff Fisher-stench all over him. He's a big reason the Titans were considered by many to be the dirtiest team in the league last year. His little apology yesterday did nothing for me. He realized he made a mistake, but he's putting on a good face for one reason: it's a contract year. His mini-holdout hurt his value with the Titans, but maybe not other teams in the league. I don't know his true intentions, but he's always had an adversarial relationship with the local media, and he knows how to play them like a piano (although they didn't take the bait this time...the lies were far too transparent). I firmly believe that move was calculated, but, as you can see with my opinions above, I'm slightly biased against him anyway. I really hope the Titans try to trade him. I know there aren't many player-for-player trades in the NFL, but Osi Umenyiora is just sitting there in New York waiting to be traded. Let's make an even swap.

Will Nashville Garner a Major League Baseball Franchise Within the Next Ten Years?

No.

Could NASCAR Be Returning to the Fairgrounds?

It's WAY too soon to know anything (for several reasons), but following the announcement this morning that Nashville Superspeedway is suspending operations, CBS Sports' Pete Pistone speculates this afternoon that NASCAR Racing could return to the historic Fairgrounds Speedway in the future. He writes:

"...the most intriguing story making the rounds is a return to the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, where both divisions raced for years before moving to the Nashville Superspeedway. Former Nationwide Series driver Bobby Hamilton Jr. is now the promoter of the downtown track and has worked hard to resurrect racing at the storied facility."

The thought is interesting, but I'm not sure how rooted in fact it is. Consider this: the fate of the Fairgrounds Speedway rests in the hands of Metro Nashville voters (or, at least, the small percentage that is expected to turn out) tomorrow. On the ballot is the ratification of an amendment to the Metro Charter that reads:

Nashville Superspeedway Gets the Red Flag

Nashville Superspeedway, 2001-2011

Rather than thanking God for a "smokin' hot wife" before July's Federated Auto Parts 300, Pastor Joe Nelms should have prayed for a Sprint Cup race.

That's what it would have taken for Nashville Superspeedway to achieve long-term success. Instead, we have a white elephant among the cow pastures of Gladeville.

After 11 seasons, Dover Motorsports has decided that enough is enough. It is closing Nashville Superspeedway and will not be seeking NASCAR sanctioning for races in 2012.

Shea Weber is a Nashville Predator

I can haz $8 mil?

I'll fully admit this: I don't know a whole lot about how the NHL arbitration process works, but I've been given a crash course over the past 24 hours. I do know, however, that the Twitterverse is overreacting to WeberWatch.

But, in the grand tradition of this baby blog, let's step back and look at this thing from a broader scope. Shea Weber will be wearing the Predators logo on his sweater next year. Right now, that's all we know. Beyond that, though, we'll figure out in due time, I guess. But we're supposed to be taking this one year at a time, right? Are we seriously worried right now about winning the Stanley Cup in 2014? I'm not. I want the Predators to win it in 2012, and I'm sure the Predators want to win it in 2012, too. Nobody in that organization, Shea Weber included, is considering 2011-12 a "building block" year toward a future Cup. The goal is to win it, and win it now. If that means this is the "all in" year (with apologies to Auburn University), then for goodness' sake, this is the "all in" year. I fully understand that it's best to look to the future when making plans, and I really want Shea Weber to spend the best years of his career here, but really, all we can control is what we can control right now, and that's the 2011-12 season that begins in 65 days (but who's counting?).

If we lose Shea Weber next year or the year after, that will suck. Acknowledged. I don't want that to happen. But the team (hopefully) will remain in Nashville, and we will press on with or without him. If Weber opts for the 1-year deal out of arbitration, let's just hope that he was true to his word in that he wants to stay here, and that the short-term deal is only to gauge the franchise as it works toward signing Pekka Rinne and Ryan Suter long-term, too, and maybe even getting a viable goal-scoring forward at the deadline.

The real thing to remember here, folks, is that we don't know everything we think we know. It's mostly speculation at this point. We're trusting reports out of Canadian MSM for the numbers we've heard so far, and we have no way of knowing if those are even right, nor do we know exactly what was said in the hearing. For all we know, this could be very amicable. I trust David Poile. He's proven over time that he knows what he is doing.

Go ahead and tell me I'm naive. That's what the comment section is for.

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UPDATE: Later in the day, we found out that Weber received an arbitration award of a 1-year, $7.5 million contract. My previous statements still apply. The time to win the Cup is now (even if it is followed by a Florida Marlins-esque fire sale). I just hope Poile can surround our "Big 3" with the complementary talent they need to get the job done.

Comcast Introduces New HD Channel Numbers

Okay, so right after I posted that post about "there's nothing to post about", I found something to post about. I'm also trying to set the record for the number of times I can use the word "post", or a variant thereof, in a sentence. I got 4 in the topic sentence. Can you do better? Probably.

But back on topic.

Many sports fans in Middle Tennessee will have some new numbers to commit to memory this fall, as Comcast is totally rearranging its HD tier and moving all the channels up into 4-digit territory (say goodbye to those pesky 200s). These changes went into effect on July 28th, but the existing channel numbers will continue to function through (tentatively) the end of October. After that, though, you'll have to use the new ones, so you might as well get used to it now.

Get a full outline of the changes after the jump...

August

The dog days are here.

I'm not sure that July was the best time of year to begin a new sports blog that is going to keep its focus mostly on Nashville sports. There's really nothing going on. Sure, the end of the NFL Lockout gave us something to talk about, and the whole Shea Weber arbitration thing... but, honestly, with the broad direction that I hope to take this blog, I don't have a whole lot to add that other bloggers already haven't said on those topics. Besides, they know a lot more than me.

So, now we're into August and there's even less going on. (NFL Preseason. Whoopy.) If something gets under my skin, I'll blog about it, but other than that, my fingers will probably go silent for most of the month. But once September and October roll around (and they'll be here before you know it), we'll be in full swing.

So, sit back (preferably in an air conditioned room) and enjoy August for what it is. The best is yet to come.