The View From Wisconsin
Just a random set of rants from a Sports Fan from Wisconsin.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Return (TN Trip Journal Part 2)
Everything was set for our return - with regret, of course - to Wisconsin. We got everything packed in the car, and set off back North. We decided to visit a Waffle House off of the Highway 109 exit of I-40 in Lebanon for breakfast. We got out of the car, I stretched a bit, and saw the Tennesseean newspaper box next to the entrance.
My next two words were not printable in a family magazine. Sarah kept asking what was wrong, then saw the headline. I had already pulled out two quarters to grab a copy, which she refused to allow me to keep in the back seat. She told me to put it in the trunk and I could look at it when I got home.
Unless you have been hanging out under a rock (which, by the way, I had come close to doing without 'net access this week), the Nashville Predators have been sold by Craig Leipold to the maker of the Blackberry phone, Jim Balsillie. Balsillie has made no bones about his desire to put a team in the Southern Ontario area, and the Predators have long been a target for cities who have long believed that Nashville doesn't deserve a hockey team.
The only thing that I could think of on most of the drive back home was, boy, Nashville, you've really done it now. On the verge of losing not one but two of your pro franchises, and who knows how long the third could end up staying? I've always said that the Titans were always a pissed-off Bud Adams away from becoming the LA Titans. Of course, conspiracy theorists may be thinking that it's Adams that's behind all this to begin with, but that's just grassy-knoll stuff.
I tried not to think about the sale for the rest of the trip, and I had plenty of other things to occupy my mind. Like, say, the entire state of Illinois. It was bad enough on the way down, but this time we were driving during daylight - and the roads were packed. Illinois state troopers were out in force on I-57, with radar guns and motorcycle units pairing up to nail speeders.
We did have a nice dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's on the East side of Bloomington, though it seemed a bit long to get over there on Veteran's Parkway. With all the severe weather that was slated to come through, we didn't get much of it as we finally pulled into Wisconsin.
My only fear is, of course, that I won't have a reason to come down to Nashville the next time I do so. I had commented to my wife's aunt that 10-12 years ago, the two of them were the only ones that we knew down there. Now, I knew several other people in the Middle Tennessee area, and spent more time with them. Not that I want it to go back to the way it used to be, but it would be sad if I didn't have that common thread with the others (no intentional pun there).
My next two words were not printable in a family magazine. Sarah kept asking what was wrong, then saw the headline. I had already pulled out two quarters to grab a copy, which she refused to allow me to keep in the back seat. She told me to put it in the trunk and I could look at it when I got home.
Unless you have been hanging out under a rock (which, by the way, I had come close to doing without 'net access this week), the Nashville Predators have been sold by Craig Leipold to the maker of the Blackberry phone, Jim Balsillie. Balsillie has made no bones about his desire to put a team in the Southern Ontario area, and the Predators have long been a target for cities who have long believed that Nashville doesn't deserve a hockey team.
The only thing that I could think of on most of the drive back home was, boy, Nashville, you've really done it now. On the verge of losing not one but two of your pro franchises, and who knows how long the third could end up staying? I've always said that the Titans were always a pissed-off Bud Adams away from becoming the LA Titans. Of course, conspiracy theorists may be thinking that it's Adams that's behind all this to begin with, but that's just grassy-knoll stuff.
I tried not to think about the sale for the rest of the trip, and I had plenty of other things to occupy my mind. Like, say, the entire state of Illinois. It was bad enough on the way down, but this time we were driving during daylight - and the roads were packed. Illinois state troopers were out in force on I-57, with radar guns and motorcycle units pairing up to nail speeders.
We did have a nice dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's on the East side of Bloomington, though it seemed a bit long to get over there on Veteran's Parkway. With all the severe weather that was slated to come through, we didn't get much of it as we finally pulled into Wisconsin.
My only fear is, of course, that I won't have a reason to come down to Nashville the next time I do so. I had commented to my wife's aunt that 10-12 years ago, the two of them were the only ones that we knew down there. Now, I knew several other people in the Middle Tennessee area, and spent more time with them. Not that I want it to go back to the way it used to be, but it would be sad if I didn't have that common thread with the others (no intentional pun there).
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, Joseph Houk. All rights reserved.
