(From my new Substack, covering Nashville Sports, Broadway and Second Broadway & 2nd)
Plus, read this new article I wrote today for Show Pony Sports Media.
Paper bags, media feuds and a little hope. Welcome to Broadway & Second.
Welcome to Broadway & Second, a new corner of Show Pony Media devoted to Nashville sports.
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I moved here in 2000 to attend Middle Tennessee. This city has been home for my entire adult life, and I’ve watched its sports identity grow right along with it. I want a place to write about that. The teams, the people, the arguments and the things that make being a sports fan here so damn interesting.
And right now? Good lord, the Titans are giving us material.
I had a feeling they were going to win yesterday.
I realize how convenient that sounds after the fact. But I did.
Last week in Pony Ponderings, I wrote about going to the Texans game with my friend Joe. It was ugly. The football was bad, and the diehards were pissed. People were wearing bags over their heads.
Including the guy I went with.
Seriously.
To be fair to Joe, he was doing it to be funny. This man loves the Titans. Think about the money he has invested over the years in tickets, merchandise and memorabilia. Think about the time. The Sundays. The emotional energy.
You don’t get that frustrated without caring an awful lot first.
Sitting there with him, I wondered whether I was actually seeing rock bottom in person.
I’ve borrowed Harvey Dent’s line from The Dark Knight before when writing about this franchise: “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”
Well, it was pretty freaking dark.
But something about everything happening around this team has made me more hopeful than you might expect.
My buddy Jared Stillman has been having a field day.
Jared had his credential pulled earlier this season, and that certainly hasn’t made him any quieter. He has been quite the little rascal lately, reporting on the executive shakeup and sharing what he’s hearing about the organization.
Somebody sure seems willing to talk to Jared. I find the whole thing hilarious, and honestly, I’m impressed.
For those living in the middle of this every day, on either side, I’m sure it can be exhausting. But I grew up outside Chicago listening to sports radio. I know what it sounds like when a city and its teams are having a very public disagreement.
Mike North. Boers and Bernstein. The personalities on 670 The Score who would absolutely shred a local team when they believed it deserved it.
So I look at what’s happening here and think: This feels familiar.
It feels big city.
It feels like a franchise being covered by people who are deeply invested in asking questions, challenging explanations and finding out what the hell is going on.
When I moved here in 2000, George Plaster was the standard. My impression of the local sports conversation was that it was much more measured and positive than what I had grown up with.
There was an understandable gratitude about having an NFL team. The Titans had just gone to a Super Bowl. Eddie George and Steve McNair were enormous figures. Nashville was getting to experience something new and wonderful.
But even as the years passed, I often wanted a little more bite. A little more willingness to challenge the franchise.
Well, we have that now.
Stillman. Braden Gall. Paul Kuharsky. Withrow and Hutton. Buck Reising. The people at A to Z Sports. Different personalities, different approaches, plenty of disagreements.
I love that we have all of it.
Then Easton Freeze did something that really impressed me: He asked the fans.
He put together a survey about their feelings toward the Titans, their leadership and their investment in the franchise. Thousands responded. Burke Nihill acknowledged it, and Freeze subsequently shared an email Nihill sent to fans.
I mean, holy shit. How healthy is that?
A reporter gives frustrated fans a way to express themselves. The response is large enough that the organization pays attention. Now there is something concrete to discuss.
That’s good work.
The criticism still has to be fair. Everybody involved has responsibilities. But a tense relationship between a team and the people covering it can produce something useful.
People care enough to demand better.
And I think there are people inside the Titans who care every bit as much.
Recently, I hosted a panel at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center with Kate Guerra of the Titans and Nancy VanReece of the Nashville Vibe.
It took about two minutes of listening to Kate for me to realize how smart she was.
She wasn’t there to explain pass protection. But meeting her gave me a feeling about the people inside that building. Here was somebody thoughtful, sharp and impressive representing this organization.
That matters to me.
I look at the new stadium taking shape. I look at the direction of the branding and the embrace of the Oilers history, which I freaking love. I understand why fans watching the football would say, “Great. Now win some games.”
Fair.
But I can appreciate those things and still demand a better football team. I can believe talented people work there while questioning decisions being made.
Then, yesterday, the Titans actually won.
They trailed Indianapolis 13–0 at halftime and came back to win 26–20, giving Robert Saleh his first victory as Tennessee’s head coach. Ward threw an eight-yard touchdown to Carnell Tate, and the defense and special teams gave this team a way out of another miserable Sunday.
That’s enough numbers. You get the point.
They had every opportunity to fold. They didn’t.
I still believe in Cam Ward. I believe in his ability when he plants his feet and lets it go. The happy feet and the panic are things he has to correct. He has to get better.
Yesterday didn’t settle that discussion. It gave him something to build on.
And accountability ought to help him. If you’re going to become a winning quarterback in this league, people asking hard questions comes with the territory.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis fired general manager Chris Ballard today after falling to 2–4 with the loss to Tennessee.
Imagine being a Colts fan this morning. You lose to the winless Titans, and the next day your general manager is gone.
Maybe we need to check the train wreck rankings before assuming Nashville has an insurmountable lead.
Did the dawn arrive yesterday?
Maybe. Maybe we’re still a long way from it. They’re 1–5. Nobody needs to plan a parade down Broadway.
But Saleh has a win. Ward has another experience to learn from. Fans are making themselves heard. Reporters are doing their jobs. Nihill is communicating.
I believe Amy Adams Strunk and Burke Nihill want this to work, too. Wanting it has to lead to better decisions and better football, and they should be held to that.
From where I sit, though, I see people playing their roles in a city that has become much more demanding about its professional football team.
Nashville has a little of that big-city sports tension now. I think that’s a good thing.
It hasn’t been pretty. At times, it has been downright embarrassing.
But damn it, I think the Titans are going to find their way.
And when they do, I’ll remember sitting next to Joe while he wore a bag over his head.
That man deserves a little daylight.
Welcome to Broadway & Second.
This is a new part of the Show Pony Media family, and I’m glad you’re here. If you love Nashville sports and have a few opinions about them, we ought to get along just fine.
There’s plenty happening over at Show Pony Media, too. I spent Saturday in Knoxville working for Morgan Wallen Radio, talking to fans in the tailgates and experiencing the Third Saturday in October. It made a huge impression on my college football-loving soul.
The weekend of college football was chaotic, and my co-host on Sirius XM’s Full Ride. Rick Neuheisel joined my podcast, Show Pony Live, to chat about it. Watch below.
Catch up on my last two columns:
My Rocky Top experience: Find my newest column at ShowPonyMedia.com.
“I Hated the 24-Team Playoff. Then…” — What Saturday’s chaos made me reconsider, plus more from my trip to Knoxville.
Watch and listen to Show Pony Live. Rick Neuheisel joined me Sunday to sort through the college football madness. Subscribe on YouTube, and take the show with you on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Want more access to the Pony? Subscribe to Show Pony Media. Go premium for members-only live chats and more of my thoughts throughout the season. And if you want to work on your own broadcasting, interviewing and storytelling, the next Show Pony University class begins November 4. Reach out for details.
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If you would like to reach out, feel free to e-mail me anytime at ShowPonySportsMedia@gmail.com