E-Mail of the Day

Another great E-mail I received from a Titans fan who also happens to be a good friend of mine.  The email actually begins with a story of a friend who now has connections to Manny Ramirez, which I've left out of here to protect the innocent (and for brevity), but kudos for trying to imply that picking the Titans would assist in my connections to the Dodgers as well. 

dear spires, wait, i mean, single white fan,

disclaimer: as a memphian, i'm probably not supposed to be a titans fan, since the city felt burned when bud adams chose nashville rather than the bluff city but memphians were forced to host the then tennessee oilers in the liberty bowl for a few years while Adelphia Coliseum, known now as LP field, was built in nashville. but as in some of my other sports affiliations i've chose in my life (i.e. choosing at an early age to support the braves when the majority of the paternal side of my family tree has and always will be yankees fans) i elected to choose to support the team.

ok so here are my quick hits on why the titans are and continue to be the only 10 I See:

* JEFF FISHER! to me as someone said yesterday on rick & bubba, he's who i'd want to run my NFL team if i started one from scratch. he's the longest tenured coach with the same team in the NFL being with the team for the past 15 years even when they were in Houston. he played a key role in helping the team trade up to draft eddie george...we all know how great that trade worked in the long run. he's true to his football roots, defense, and the truth of the game. fans, players, other coaches have a strong amount of like and respect for him though he doesn't seem to manage games/make decisions based on what the fans might think. while he's been the coach of the titans, the team has achieved the greatest success in franchise history...first unbeaten home regular season, first ever super bowl appearance, clinch the inaugural AFC South division, first playoff win for the franchise as the titans.

* LP FIELD! did you attend the 2004 music city bowl? if so, you enjoyed the uniqueness that is what is now referred to as LP Field. where it sits right next to the cumberland river, across from downtown which you can reach via the pedestrian bridge, and probably one of my favorite things...that the playing field is below ground level.

* EDDIE GEORGE/STEVE MCNAIR! you know sports, watch sports, read sports, etc so i don't really need to give you too many facts and figures...eddie george is the franchise's leading rusher, ahead of mr. earl campbell. and mr. mcnair, may he rest in peace, shared the mvp award with mr. peyton manning in 2004 and air mcnair holds some records with the other widely known oiler/titan franchise qb, warren moon

* MUSIC CITY MIRACLE! incredible, incredible, incredible! without that play the titans wouldn't have been 1-yd short of the super bowl because without that play the bills would have advanced out of the wild card playoff game rather than the titans. and let's be honest, hearing the call of that play, even if it's on a beer commercial, will and should give you chills every time

*THE NAME! i know the packers hold stake in being the best franchise for fans but when bud adams realized the team needed a new name after the move to tennessee, since clearly there's no oil rigs hanging out across the state, he gave the fans a voice and say in the decision. i'll just say that the name titans seems very fitting to the way jeff fisher coaches and manages his players and the way the players, most of the time, lay it all out on the field (i.e. steve mcnair more than likely playing through an injury during his many seasons with the team)

* HEARTACHE! i'm not going to bring up the frustration and disappointent not making that one-yard created because let's face it no fan wants to reminisce the heartache(i'm not sure i'll ever be able to really discuss what i witnessed at the 2008 national championship game) and you as a faithful fan have endured your fair share of heartache with the tide, lakers, and dodgers. plus, as a titans fan your heart can break when the franchise chooses to not bring back a certain player...i'm not talking pacman, but air mcnair, mr. haynesworth, and jevon "the freak" kearse (but thankfully he's back)

*NASHVILLE! easy to get to---southwest offers great deals from birmingham to nashvegas if you don't want to endure straight up I-65. plus, the city has lots of fun amentities for the historian, outdoorsman, fun-loving fans to go along with the ever enduring southern charm and beautiful seasons.

ok, my friend, i'm going to stop there because i'm sure you receive enough of these emails every day now that you're genuine enough to read and assess. i'm excited about your process and can't wait for you to make some cuts and get closer to your decision.

yours truly,

katie