Only time will tell if the City Paper’s Mark McGee is on the money about the Preds: “Now, buoyed by the new ownership group, a drastic change in the marketing plan, a new lease agreement and a fourth straight trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs, this is a team with a bright-looking future.”

I sure hope McGee is right, but it will be awhile before we know for sure. I’m encouraged by the fan response during the end of the regular season and the playoffs and the rising attendance numbers down the stretch. I’m relieved that the new ownership group appears to understand that now is not the time to rest on any laurels:

“Honestly, the number we talk about is not 14,000,” said David Freeman, head of the ownership group. “Our expectation is that we’re shooting in the 15,000 to 16,000 range. We have that much confidence in what this franchise has accomplished in a very short period of time and where we can go from here.”

It remains to be seen whether Nashville will maintain the firm grip it now has on its second chance with the NHL. I want this team to be in town for the long haul and for a long, long time, and I hope there are many people locally who agree … and are willing to continue buying tickets to prove it. I’m pleased that last year’s crisis is in the rearview mirror, and I’m hoping the rekindled fan support can survive–and thrive–when it’s no longer an emergency situation.  Go Preds!!

I had the honor of participating in a panel discussion today at the Center for Nonprofit Management. The topic, “Meet the Media,” featured local reporters and editors along with yours truly as a local blogger (and admitted non-journalist). I think those in attendance enjoyed the conversation and gained some knowledge along the way, and I certainly hope they did. Here are some things I learned:

• Panel moderator and CNM President Lewis Lavine once worked on the “dark side,” public relations, as I have for the past decade.
• Editor Dave Raiford and the Nashville Business Journal are working on a new design for their print edition that will launch soon. A Web redesign will follow later this year. I’m looking forward to seeing both.
• City Paper Editor Clint Brewer has a three-week old baby at home, and he didn’t sleep so well last night. Never one to spare an opinion, he still had plenty of good and candid insight for the crowd despite his lack of rest.
• WPLN-FM reporter Christine Buttorff, and the rest of the panel for that matter, are out there reading local blogs. They dig Mike and Sean, among others, and said so by name. (I do, too.)
• By the way, check out WPLN’s pretty new Web site. I’ve apparently been listening more than visiting lately and missed this upgrade.
• Tennessean reporter Michael Cass and I are both comfortable arriving casually late (five minutes in this case), more so when we each realize we’re not the only ones who aren’t on time. I think Cass has been one of the best locally at juggling the competing duties of reporting and blogging that so many journalists now have on their plates.
• Something I haven’t learned: Is there a shortcut or subdomain for Metro Dispatch and other Tennessean blogs? The URL I found is one of the longer functional addresses I’ve come across in ages, but at least it works.
• CNM is preparing to launch its own blog later this month. Stay tuned.

There was a lot more useful information shared today, but it’s tough to take notes when you’re participating in a public discussion. (People keep expecting you to say things, you know.) If you work for a nonprofit but missed today’s session, check out CNM’s full-day new media workshop coming up in March.

Clarification: The NBJ will be launching a new version of its print edition soon and a Web redesign later in the year. I’ve corrected that in the original post above, too.

The Preds lost a lot on the ice in the offseason when they traded away Tomas Vokoun and Kimmo Timonen. They also lost a lot in the locker room when these two stars departed. Both players are class acts, and their recent comments about Nashville are evidence of that:

Vokoun is aware of the problems with attendance and corporate sponsorships. He is hopeful there will always be an NHL team in Nashville. “It is a really nice community and a nice place to play,” Vokoun said. “Even after being traded I hope they will find a way to keep the team there. I think it is a big enough city to have an NHL team. There are a lot of passionate fans. I really enjoyed my time there.”

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen, an All-Star this season with the Philadelphia Flyers, checks out his old teammates in Nashville whenever he can since he has the NHL television package on his home television. “When it is a chance to watch Nashville’s games I will,” Timonen said. “They still have a very good team with a very good defense. There is so much skill still there.”

I appreciate the City Paper’s Mark McGee taking the time to interview two beloved and missed former team members.

Nashville’s former mayor won re-election in a 2003 landslide and was widely hailed for his focus on neighborhoods and his smart and pragmatic approach to government. Purcell also received high marks for his eloquence, particularly in describing the city of Nashville in front of audiences local and elsewhere.

Despite these and many other accolades and accomplishments, another take on Purcell has been emerging since the runoff election that made Karl Dean his successor. Yesterday, the City Paper’s Richard Lawson reported on the business community’s “love-hate relationship” with the mayor and Purcell’s habit for “slow-walking” initiatives he didn’t support. The Sounds downtown stadium deal and plans for a new convention center are high-profile examples.

Outgoing Predators owner Craig Leipold was quoted in The Tennessean over the weekend praising Dean for his work in negotiations with David Freeman’s ownership group. I don’t think I’m assuming too much in saying that the following quote speaks volumes about Leipold’s opinions on Dean and on his predecessor: “It’s so exciting to have a mayor that understands the value this team has for Nashville. I was very impressed with his commitment to make it work.”

Privately, I’ve heard one insider discuss the major shift in leadership style that is taking place as Dean begins to make the mayor’s office his own. No one’s sure who knows how to manage a department, the source said, because none of the managers have been allowed to manage in eight years. Everything has been controlled centrally. It all had to come through the mayor’s office. The insider also mentioned that some council members were enthusiastic to have the new mayor meet individually and cordially with them after “having been ignored” for years.

Only time will tell how history regards Nashville’s most recent former mayor. There’s no risk here of another Bill Boner emerging from the aftermath that’s under way, but when the dust finally settles, what will the conventional wisdom look like on the space between the Bredesen and Dean administrations?

• The City Paper’s William Williams says Nashville is a mess. He’s right that our tangled web of an urban core didn’t have the forethought and planning it really needed, and we’re in sore need of more sidewalks even after Mayor Purcell’s emphasis on concrete. This is one thing, Williams makes the case, where Memphis easily bests Nashville. (Gasp!) [Image: City Paper]
• StoryCorps, the living narrative promoted frequently on NPR, is open and listening in Nashville for about one year. This is a chance, as Professor Keating remarked in Dead Poets Society, to contribute a verse to the life’s ongoing poem.
• Letter writer William Masters makes a good point: Most of America’s Founding Fathers were devout Christians, and they had the good sense to make room for people of all faiths to live, work and be a part of the civic and political processes. Thanks, y’all.

The City Paper reports on its own polling this week indicating that Nashville’s mayoral race is headed toward a photo finish. Pat Nolan, omnipresent throughout the months of forums that have showcased all of the candidates, shared his thoughts for the story:

“All the campaigns have been very careful for weeks to not be claiming victory and to say that this was a race that as best they could tell was indeed a dead heat, too close to call and within the margin for error. Now, obviously, each side would have said they had the slight advantage — which I think is possible even within what you’ve got …” Nolan said, adding, however, that the campaigns have indicated an undecided vote larger than 6 percent.

Because the CP poll queried likely voters for the runoff election, it is amazing to me that six weeks after the general election, there are still undecided voters who expect to cast a ballot today or next Tuesday. The race has–largely accurately–been described as dull by many observers, but the runoff campaign has featured more drama (such as it has been) than at any other time since all of the candidates declared. The two candidates seem to me to be very different, and each have their diverse flaws. How is it that people who pay attention, at least nominally, to local politics still don’t know who they want to be mayor?

Why would Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin, who has lifted the ‘Dores from bottom-feeders to national prominence in only a few seasons on the job, want to abandon his emerging powerhouse to relaunch a University of Oregon program that last fielded a team in 1981?

Corbin’s bio doesn’t include any references to West Coast connections that would make Oregon an appealing destination for personal reasons. Neither does his Wikipedia entry.

Is it buy low, sell high? The Oregonian newspaper presents a strong case: “Kilkenny and other Oregon officials recently traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to interview Tim Corbin, whose Vanderbilt Commodores team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of last season. Corbin, 46, is considered one of the leading candidates for the Ducks’ job, if not the top choice. He is one of the hottest commodities in college baseball coaching. After leading the Commodores to a 54-13 record and to the top of the national rankings — on a team that featured David Price, the college player of the year and No. 1 overall draft pick — Corbin was named Southeastern Conference coach of the year. Before hiring Corbin, Vanderbilt had not made the SEC tournament in a decade.”

Is he looking for an even bigger challenge? If so, maybe Oregon is appealing: “Whoever takes the job will have to overcome a slow start in terms of scholarships. In spring 2009, the Ducks will begin competing with about four to five scholarships. The plan calls for them to build to the full limit — 11.7 scholarships — within four years. ‘I think for any coach that will be a major, major concern,’ Serrano said. ‘Even 11.7 scholarships is tough to manage when rosters reach 30 players. It will be tough to field a competitive team with five scholarships.’ The Irvine program started with 11.7 scholarships; it took six years for the Anteaters to finish second in the Big West Conference and qualify for the College World Series. The challenge in the Pacific-10 Conference, where baseball is the most competitive men’s sport, will be greater.’”

On top of those obstacles, UO allegedly attempted to lure away the coach of Oregon State, its biggest rival and, oh yeah, the two-time defending NCAA champs. (Pat Casey declined, though everyone in Oregon is arguing about whether an offer was really made.)

Maybe Brett Hait with the City Paper is right that VU president Gordon Gee’s departure is making Corbin think twice. Whether Hait is right or wrong, he’s asking the right question: “[C]an Vanderbilt keep Corbin around and maintain the dramatic rise of the baseball program? VU held on to Corbin when Auburn came calling in 2004 and again in 2006 when LSU tried to pry him away.” I’ll be shaking my head in disbelief if Corbin departs Nashville for Oregon after turning down two established SEC programs, but Vanderbilt sure needs to do everything else that it hasn’t already done to try to keep him around.

One of those earlier scoops has melted: I have to say that I’m relieved after reading this from Liberadio and this updated item from the City Paper, and Briley’s camp has confirmed it with their own news release, too. Here’s the gist:

Just minutes ago, former mayoral candidate David Briley confirmed that after spending “considerable time talking with both Bob and Karl about their visions for the city, especially as it relates to the environment and sustainability,” he has decided “not to formally endorse either candidate in the race.”

Briley also declared his willingness to help either candidate, if asked, with “issues that are important to the city.” He also felt certain that with or without his endorsement his supporters would choose whichever candidate they felt would move the city of Nashville forward.

I have not kept it a secret that I don’t think Bob Clement is the best candidate to serve as mayor, and I’ve been saying that for nearly a year. I’d have liked to see Briley endorse Dean, but until a little while ago I had expected him to remain ambiguous about his support the way he just did.

Chalk this one up to the rumor mill and, ultimately, to much ado about nothing. See all the trouble that some quick-typing journalists and bloggers can get into when someone hangs out in East Nashville with a political opponent?

In revealing the remaining undisclosed members of the prospective local ownership group for the Nashville Predators, The City Paper is doing its best Baskin-Robbins impersonation today with its second major scoop of the hour:

A source close to the Nashville ownership group has revealed the five previously unnamed members of the local group wanting to buy the Predators hockey team. The five are Chris Cigarran of Healthways; Tom Cigarran of Healthways; Joel Dobberpuhl, an investment manager in Franklin; De Thompson V of Thompson Machinery; and John Thompson of Thompson Machinery. They join David Freeman of 36 Venture Capital LLC., who is the leader of the group, Herb Fritch of HeatlhSprings and William “Boots” Del Biaggio of San Jose, Calif.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Nashville has more than its share of major players these days. I’ve heard of all of these investors, save Dobberpuhl, but I had not heard any of them mentioned as possible members of the ownership group.

Feeling clueless about who that “source” is? Take a wild guess, but base it on this last line from the paper’s story: “The City Paper is owned by wholly owned subsidiary of Thompson Machinery.” Considering that the ownership group has taken several weeks to develop, I’m honestly amazed that the news of the Thompsons’ involvement hadn’t leaked out prior to now. Is a scoop still a scoop if the boss tips you off? (Yes.)

It does make me wonder how long the paper had to hold on to the news, but regardless, I’m plenty happy to know. All of you gentlemen have my sincere thanks and my earnest support in seeking the Preds. You have done tremendous work so far that can only benefit our city. THANK YOU!

The City Paper is reporting that David Briley is about to endorse Bob Clement for mayor. As the first (and possibly only) candidate to endorse either Clement or opponent Karl Dean, this will likely prompt plenty of speculation about how this development affects the campaign.

At-Large Councilman David Briley may be making an endorsement in the Nashville mayoral race later today. Bob Clement’s mayoral campaign issued a press release Saturday saying Clement and former mayoral hopeful Briley, who landed fifth in the Aug. 2 general mayoral election, spent about two hours campaigning together this weekend at East Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest. Briley, when asked this morning if he is leaning toward endorsing Clement, responded simply, “I’m going to issue a press release later today, and I’ll just let that speak for itself.”

I can think of a few questions right off of the bat:

• Will this signal a shift in momentum back in Clement’s favor?
• Both Briley and Dean have maintained throughout the campaign that they are friends. Exactly how nasty did things get behind the scenes between them for Briley to endorse Clement?
• At the West Nashville Presidents Council forum and other events, Briley took repeated shots at Clement for his policies and for borrowing elements of Clement’s “green mayor” platform. Briley did not do the same for the most part with Dean, so what has changed for Briley to make this endorsement?
• How will Briley’s supporters react to this endorsement? Are they likely to embrace the endorsement and vote for Clement?
• How will the public react, given that Briley was last among the five major candidates in the general election? How much weight will this endorsement carry?
• What has Briley earned (if anything), in terms of promised support for future initiatives or even a position within a possible Clement administration, in exchange for making this endorsement?
• Is this a purely political calculation by Briley, or in his heart of hearts does he think Clement will do a better job as mayor than Dean will?
• Will this endorsement have any consequences for Briley with the electorate?

This is perhaps a surprising, if not entirely unforeshadowed, development in the campaign, one that is sure to generate more questions than answers. If nothing else, it means this probably won’t be a quiet week leading up to next Monday’s runoff debate.

It sounds like a revived Franklin Cinema might not be exactly the same venue it was before it closed earlier this year, but when it comes to a community treasure such as this one, it’s much better than bulldozers:

If the deal goes through, the Heritage Foundation wants to use the facility both for film showings and cultural events including lectures and music performances. Rick Warwick, staff historian for the Heritage Foundation, said the model would be along the lines of the concept used to keep Nashville’s Belcourt Theater preserved . . . But whatever the cost, Warwick said the theater has so cemented itself in the hearts of Franklin residents that the project is worth pursuing stridently. “It really was, for many years, the main social event of the town. It’s an era that has a lot of memories, and maybe it will come back again.” Warwick said. “[Franklin Cinema] is too much a part of the heritage of Franklin to let it disappear.”

This is great news from the Heritage Foundation via today’s City Paper. I hope the cinema reappears soon.

Speaking of the Signature Tower, I have to disagree with City Paper reporter William Williams that even the building’s name is impressive:

Make no mistake: Signature Tower will command attention, given its sleek design, sheer height, dramatic 200-plus-foot spire, and location in the epicenter of downtown. Heck, even the name “Signature Tower” is attention-grabbing, as Giarratana could not have nailed a more direct moniker for his behemoth building other than had he opted for “One of the 50 Tallest Skyscrapers on the Planet.”

I think the tower could be a great addition for the city, but in my mind the name is sugar-free-vanilla bland. Signature Tower sounds almost generic to me. It might as well translate as “impressive structure” or “tall building.”