Nashville - Nashville Scene - Pith in the Wind - Titans Archives

Posted November 18, 2008 at 05:04:51 AM by Caleb Hannan

tennessee%20titans.jpg
Calm down fellas. We just want them to lose ONE game.

The Titans and New York Giants won again this Sunday, making them 10-0 and 9-1 respectively and making the job of national sportswriters everywhere that much easier. The people who get paid to predict what will happen in the NFL like storylines. They like subplots. And thankfully for them, the two best teams in the league are eager to provide them.

For one, the Titans and the Giants look alike. Punishing offensive lines. Interchangeable, Chinese-fire-drill D-lines that produce in spite of injuries. A multi-headed Hydra of a running game. Largely superstar-free rosters. In short, they both look like good teams because that's what they are: good teams.

Second, the Kerry Collins angle. Collins goes to the Super Bowl with the Giants in 2001. The next year they draft QB-of-the-future Eli Manning, Collins gets pissed about a lowball contract offer and the two sides part ways. It is, oddly enough, a similar scenario to what may take place this offseason. But we digress.

The comparisons work. They make for decent column fodder. And they give us an excuse to say the words COLLISION COURSE (and really, who can resist the urge?).

The Titans are unlike the Giants, however, in one important way: They're still perfect. And that could be a problem...

Continue reading "Arguing Against Perfection: Why the Titans Win if they Lose"...

Category: Hannan, Titans

Add or View Comments | 2 comments

Posted November 14, 2008 at 05:34:34 AM by Caleb Hannan

10-year-old mugshots = No longer relevant.

The sports blogosphere is like a small child. Occasionally it'll say something profound but mostly it exists to entertain. Stumbling about all wobbly-kneed. Crapping in its pants. Downright adorable is what it is. But under no circumstances should it be taken seriously.

Case in point: The rehashing of Kerry Collins previous missteps.

As quarterback of the only undefeated team in the league, Collins was bound to attract the gaze of the drooling, unblinking toddlers that trundle through the interwebs. Problem is, when it came time to satirize, the collective effort displayed roughly the same creativity as a Montessori-aged child's finger painting.

After the jump, two examples of the gruel that's been offered thus far...

Continue reading "The Statute of Limitations on Kerry Collins Jokes Has Passed, New Material Now Available"...

Category: Hannan, Titans

Add or View Comments | 6 comments

Posted November 10, 2008 at 07:02:25 AM by Caleb Hannan

So different yet so alike. And both, obviously, milk lovers.

Up until yesterday, it still might have been safe to assume that Kerry Collins was nothing more than Trent Dilfer 2.0. Remember Dilfer?

Back in 2000, while with the Baltimore Ravens, Dilfer, like Collins, was a backup. When the Ravens failed to score an offensive touchdown for four straight games, Dilfer was handed the keys. A veteran without a terribly strong arm, he personified the back-handed compliment given to QBs of his ilk: a game-manager. Despite that, and thanks to one of the best defenses of all time, Dilfer and the Ravens won the Super Bowl, beating Collins and the New York Giants.

Until yesterday's game against the Chicago Bears, Collins looked like Dilfer's spiritual heir: the stopgap made good in spite of his obvious limitations: advanced age and lack of mobility. In eight games, Collins had yet to throw for 200 yards. This was largely by design.

With arguably the league's best offensive line, two solid running backs and a coach who worships the ground game, thus far this year Collins had never been asked to do much more than not turn the ball over. But now this...

Continue reading "Kerry Collins is not Trent Dilfer 2.0"...

Category: Hannan, Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 0 comments

Posted November 07, 2008 at 03:05:48 PM by Caleb Hannan

Does the jinx still count if the team isn't mentioned?

The Sports Illustrated cover is the grandfather of all sports jinxes. Sure, Madden and Chunky's soup have claimed their fair share of victims in recent years. But the SI cover has been inducing night terrors for decades. And despite what they might tell you about not believing the hype, any fan worth his or her salt would just prefer their favorite team never grace SI's front pages. Ya know, just in case.

That's where this week's SI comes in. For the first time all season, the Titans are on the cover.

Well, technically, Albert Haynesworth is on the cover. And the article isn't really about the team or their undefeated record; it's about Haynesworth's transformation from face-stomper to potential MVP candidate. But he's wearing a Titans jersey! And, if you buy in to this kind of hokum, that's probably enough reason to believe that not only will the Titans lose to the Bears on Sunday, but Haynesworth will be lost for the season as well.

On account of his spontaneous combustion. Go Titans!

For further reading: Sports Illustrated did their own investigation into the curse back in 2002.

Category: Hannan, Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 2 comments

Posted October 13, 2008 at 05:22:47 AM by Pete Kotz

Cortland%20Finnegan.jpg

When you're losing, a sideline shouting match between teammatess is often viewed as a sign of dissension, a lack of discipline and unity, perhaps a warning shot over a coach's job security. But when you're winning? That's just passion, feistiness, a noble competitive streak.

So goes Yahoo's take on the recent Keith Bulluck-Cortland Finnegan dust-up. It's a rather nice story on the Titans' up-and-coming cornerback as seen through the eyes of his high school coach, who admits that Finnegan is something of a psych—but in a good way.

Could it be that the national media are finally paying attention to Nashville's masculine men in powder blue?

Category: Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 0 comments

Posted October 06, 2008 at 05:37:49 AM by Pete Kotz

Eagles fans wear their alcoholism proudly. But are they the NFL's most hammered? (Photo courtesy of Frants photography)

The NFL season’s quarter mark is upon us, which means fans across the nation are preparing to spend the final months locked in a fierce battle with their internal organs, testing the limits of consciousness, heckling incoherently, and fighting with their fellow man over their admiration for the wrong-colored laundry.

But which team's fans are the most tanked of all? Through careful research, we've picked winners(?) in all eight divisions, wild card teams, conference champions and a Super Bowl Champion of Hammeredness. Why? Because football is America's game, and there's nothing Americans are more devoted to than getting really hammered in parking lots. Preferably shirtless. Alas, our early prediction is that the Titans don't make the hammered guy playoffs, since the polite crowds at LP feel a little too much like they mistakenly showed up expecting a golf match. -- Joe Tone

Continue reading "The NFL Playoffs: Who Has the League's Most Hammered Fans?"...

Category: Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 0 comments

Posted September 15, 2008 at 02:15:17 PM by Pete Kotz

Marsha%20Blackburn%20with%20charts.jpg
Martha Blackburn’s logic is registered as a lethal weapon with the FBI

Dear reader, it’s now official: The media has finally surpassed Washington, lawyers, Satan and liberals as the root of all evil. For evidence, we look no further than Middle Tennessee, which has recently suffered a rash of tragedies caused by the Televised & Printed Forces of Nefariousness.

We begin with last week’s Vince Young Saga. After a particularly unstellar game, in which Vince threw with the accuracy of the Egyptian air force, it seems our hero went into something of an emotional tailspin, at which point he repeatedly used the word “suicide” in the company of his shrink. Alas, shrinks have a tendency to freak when their clients discuss whacking themselves. So she mentioned it to Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who happened to mention it to a police SWAT team, and all hell broke loose.

Though we still don’t know the truth of the story – the Titans have been as forthcoming as the North Korean government – it all seems an honest case of youthful drama catapulted into crisis by worried friends.

But who did Young blame? The media, of course. It overreacted.

Then there was Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who’s suddenly running for editor of Ms. magazine.

Continue reading "It’s Official: Media to Blame for Everything"...

Category: Immigration, Kotz, Law and Order, Media, Politics, Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 4 comments

Posted September 09, 2008 at 02:36:25 PM by Caleb Hannan

Look familiar?

Vince Young would probably prefer to forget the past 48 hours.

On Sunday the Titans' QB moped on the sidelines before tearing his MCL. Then last night, VY took his SUV for a spin while friends, family, Jeff Fisher, and half the Metro PD tried to track him down. The saga ended with a midnight pow-wow between coach and player and an assurance from Fisher that it was all just a "misunderstanding"—an unlikely explanation, considering the all-points bulletin and police negotiators on stand-by.

This two-day soap opera comes after Young's off-season reveal that he considered retiring after his rookie year.

If tomorrow's news cycle reveals Young's problems stem from some newly discovered psychological ailment, family tragedy, or some combination thereof, then all bets are off. If, however, these theatrics can't be fobbed off on some form of chemical imbalance, we've got a message for our favorite fly-pattern flinger:

Vince Young, it's time to man up.

Continue reading "Memo to Vince Young: Time to Man Up"...

Category: Hannan, Sports, Titans

Add or View Comments | 6 comments

Posted September 08, 2008 at 10:07:20 AM by PJ Tobia

QB%20Contro%20pic.jpg

Yesterday’s 17-10 Titans victory against the Panthers [Sorry, make that Jaguars] went a lot like many games last season. The defense played valiantly while the offense waited for a playmaker to step up. In this case, that playmaker was Chris Johnson. But the real story of the day was a frustrated Vince Young going down with a knee injury late in the game. Backup QB Kerry Collins stepped in and guided the offense in a 80-yard campaign that ended in a LenDale White touchdown.

This has led online commenters to scream for VY’s job. “Put it in the hands of Collins,” writes “Joy Kat” over at Music City Miracles. “[He’s] someone who CAN get it done!”

Sorry, kitten, but that ain’t gonna happen.

Continue reading "Titans QB Controversy? Not So Fast"...

Category: Sports, Titans, Tobia

Add or View Comments | 3 comments

---------------------------Advertisement---------------------------