Nashville....Updating a Previous Story

The question arose a month of so back about Nashville and how it ranks as a true sports town. My reaction was...it's too young to be a "great" sports town. The history just isn't here. Now that's not a good or a bad thing, but something that simply can't be helped. So you know, whatever.

However, Nashville's professional football team isn't making strides.

Albert Haynesworth, the NFL's premier defensive tackle, will test the free-agent market. Haynesworth, a free-agent this year, has been the centerpiece of one of the NFL's nastiest defenses, especially the past two years for the Titans. The man is absolutely amazing. He's virtually unblockable, can stuff the run, and rush the passer. He's a freak; an absolute manchild.

But the Titans, as we've talked about before, don't invest in premier players like this. They don't get into the business of paying the type of money that top 5 players in the NFL demand. So...they had their chance to come at Haynesworth, privately, and they couldn't get a deal done. Now, should they want him back, they have to deal with his price being inflated by the open market.

Maybe, and just maybe, the Titans are hoping the economy plays a roll into the offers made to Haynesworth. That being said, there's a 1957 Ferrari 250 TR going on sale this month that's going to fetch somewhere around $10-15 million. People who own teams have the cash to buy cars like that, anytime they want...football players are no different. So what are the chances of Haynesworth being back in Nashville? I"d say slim to none...the only thing that can help Tennessee is if somehow, the economy does play a hand in his fate, but for a guy like that, don't count on it.

Even if the Titans go out of their comfort zone for a guy like Haynesworth, think about what they are getting. They are getting a guy who not only can rush the passer and stuff the run (better than anyone in the NFL) but draws constant doubleteams. All you can do is put more people on this guy to try to block him. That being said, he creates matchup nightmares and the Titans exploited that this year especially with average talent at linebacker and at the other defensive line positions. When this guy is on the field, you can get away with having adequate players around him because they're jobs are that much easier. So, and I haven't looked at the numbers, but I'd bet you could get pretty close to balanced in salaries if you kept Haynesworth and didn't by any chance, over pay the players around him.

But what this means, really, is this. The Titans aren't committed to taking it to the next level. This is the best player on the defensive side of the ball in the NFL and he wears your jersey. There's no excuse to not get him back in that jersey, a guy who owns a house outside of Knoxville and went to school at UT. This is the ultimate guy for Nashville to build their franchise around, and it doesn't look like they Titans want to do it.

So if you're a Titan fan, how are you feeling about your team's front office not being committed to excellence? And you wonder why people like me acknowledge that Nashville isn't a great sports town? Your marquis franchise sure isn't helping you out.

Dearest A-Rod,

Thank you so much for your time spent as a legitimate home run hitter. In those days, everyone, besides us, thought of you as a great, pure player who could simply crush baseballs and would eventually put away any thoughts of a steroid using home run king.
The question is now...where are you going to go from here? You aren't going to say anything remotely educated to the media about this and because you have the largest contract in sports history, this whole thing isn't going to go away. And since you're such a jackass who can never say the right thing, your ability to be hated by everyone is just going to increase, when you thought it couldn't get any worse.
What, is the excuse now that you weren't on the juice in the post season? That's why you couldn't produce at crunch time? See, the thing is you're so stupid that you'd probably come out and say that yourself.
What kills us, A-Rod, about this whole thing is that No Owens has talked before about how you were a great hitter before home runs mattered to you. When you were a skinny shortstop with range who competed for batting titles...remember those days? You could have gone down as one of the greatest players ever, without the jacks. Now, you're going to go down as the biggest joke and phony in the history of America's greatest game.
You know what? We're not sorry. Sure, you were on the juice at a time when players weren't getting suspended...at least that's when you tested positive or at least the only time we know about. I hope Madonna has a spiritual answer to your problems.
Sincerely,
Everyone