I thought this news about new Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nick Zeppos was refreshing:

A university spokesperson confirms to Rex that Zeppos has opted to stay at the home in Cherokee Park where he and his family have lived since 1989, when he came to Vanderbilt as a law professor. He will use Braeburn, the Belle Meade mansion that VU renovated at a cost of $6 million during the tenure of Chancellor Gordon Gee, for ceremonial and entertainment purposes only.

There is one small difference in how Zeppos and Bredesen have each chosen to live. The Zeppos’ property is appraised for taxes at a $527,000 — a modest sum for the home of a man occupying such an august position. Bredesen’s Chickering Drive home and surrounding land holdings, on the other hand, have a total tax-appraised value of nearly $12.3 million.

I think it’s admirable that Zeppos has lived in the same house for nearly 20 years. Since it’s in Cherokee Park,his home likely isn’t a McMansion. I find it encouraging that someone working in such a visible capacity is choosing to live in a modest home (albeit one that has appreciated considerably while Zeppos has owned it). It also means that we’re neighbors, since I live on the side of Sylvan Park closest to his neighborhood.

I don’t fault Governor Bredesen for choosing to live in his more expensive home, either, though: Keep in mind that Bredesen is voluntarily accepting only $1 as salary during his time as governor (not that he would need the money). I’m sure Zeppos is still taking full paychecks from Vanderbilt, though they may pale in comparison to the $1.1 million that former Chancellor Gordon Gee reportedly received.

TSU professor and official state poet Dr. Harriette Bias-Insignares is calling on men of all ages to alleviate the socioeconomic ills that are leaving so many young males, particularly African-Americans, on the outside looking in in American society. Dr. Bias Insignares will sign her new book, Power & Glory: Brothers on the Journey, tonight at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Green Hills.

It’s time for men young and old, rich and poor of all ethnicities, professions, and religions to come together and reach out to today s young men and provide moral support, guidance, and encouragement. The inspiration for the book comes from the life of my father … and the way he approached the many roles men must play that define manhood: husband, father, son, brother, friend, mentor, colleague, citizen, and leader. I wrote this book to honor my father. Bias-Insignares wants to revive the conversation between the generations and create a bond, a sense of mutual investment. She wants young men to be exposed to the experience and wisdom of an older generation. I hope that men will see themselves as every father, the universal fathers who will invest time, talent, and resources to improve the prospects for young men.

With a school board election a week away and Metro Nashville Public Schools under direct state oversight, there’s a lot of change coming in the near future for our local school system. Schools and parents are often easy targets for those looking to point fingers and lay blame for what is clearly not working in our culture. Long ago, I might have argued that parents alone could be the difference between whether a child succeeds or fails, and in some cases that may still be the case. Looking at my own upbringing, though, I can unquestionably say that the influences that kept me headed in the right direction (assuming that’s where my compass is pointed) were a cast of hundreds, if not thousands, of people I encountered along the way. I am grateful to (nearly) all of them.

There is plenty to be done to improve our schools, and there are plenty of parents who can stand to take on more responsibility for raising their children. As a married adult without kids, that’s easy for me to say. What’s more difficult is to acknowledge that each of us shapes many lives beyond our own, and that, in my opinion, we have a responsibility to make those opportunities to influence as positive as we possibly can. I’d have never admitted it at the time, but Hillary was right: It does take a village–and good parents and good schools–to raise a child.

With former marketing executive Steve Violetta out the door, the Preds announced today that the franchise is discontinuing its Premium-Plus pricing policy. Implemented at the beginning of this season, the policy substantially increased single-game ticket prices for high-profile games such as matches against the Detroit Red Wings, the season opener and the season finale.

Violetta, incidentally, departed Nashville for Detroit, where the Wings have also recently experienced attendance problems. The Wings don’t have Premium-Plus pricing, either, and seats are still available for Tuesday’s game against the arch-rival Colorado Avalanche.

The Preds’ Premium-Plus policy was intended to increase revenue for a franchise which direly needs more funds, but it had an unintended consequence: Instead of filling the coffers, it led to decreased attendance at previously popular games. Preds’ President of Business Operations Ed Lang explained the reasoning in a news release:

“Our ownership group is committed to filling the Sommet Center on a regular basis,” Lang said. “While we recognize the need to increase our revenues, we want to do everything possible to have a sold-out building for the most desirable games and making tickets to those games more affordable helps us accomplish our goals. We want to be a fan-friendly and responsive organization and believe this decision demonstrates ownership’s objectives.”

I think the Premium-Plus policy was a mistake, and this is a good-faith gesture by the new ownership group toward its fan base. Thank you, Freeman and company!

Retired NHL player Igor Larionov, a former Detroit Red Wing and Soviet national team member, will be in Nashville next Tuesday (December 11) to promote his “IL” brand of wine. Larionov will appear at Frugal McDoogal’s and will sign wine bottles from 3 to 5 p.m.

Larionov was one of the very first Russian-born players to defect and play in the NHL in the 1980s. As a Soviet player, he centered the team’s famous “KLM” line. Some experts project that Larionov will be elected to the Hockey Hall of fame next year.

There have been plenty of rumors for weeks that the new Preds ownership group is not enamored of executive vice president of business affairs Steve Violetta, who is reportedly heading to the Detroit Red Wings. A hardcore hockey veteran who helped launch the Ottawa Senators and spent time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and baseball’s San Diego Padres, Violetta hasn’t made a lot of friends in the city’s business community.

The writing has been on the wall for a while that Violetta was likely to be fired if the local ownership group moved forward with its purchase of the team, but it’s easy to make one person a scapegoat for what have been lackluster, at best, ticket sales for the franchise. I think Violetta is an intelligent and experienced guy who isn’t necessarily the most personable fellow in town, and his skills may be better suited for more traditional hockey circles and cooler climates. Detroit is probably a much better fit for the Central Michigan University graduate.

Paul Nicholson hinted at this change in leadership a week ago. The early response in Michigan appears to be mixed, and hopefully it will be a successful shift in direction for both franchises.

Hockey fanatic Steve Williamson (above) has begun a unique quest to see a game in all 30 NHL arenas in 30 consecutive nights, and he’s selected the Preds-Red Wings game on Thanksgiving night for his trip to Nashville. He’s posting regularly about his trek across the NHL landscape, including a missive from Montreal last night. (Hat tip to James Mirtle for the heads up.)

Not that Yzerman. Mark Yzerman, brother of former NHL superstar and current Detroit Red Wings vice-president Steve Yzerman, is moving to Nashville, where he will begin working for a health care company in Cool Springs later this month. No word yet on whether Mark will be buying Preds season tickets, but if he does, I think it’s safe to guess which jersey he will be wearing when Detroit comes to town this fall. Mark co-authored the book, “Believe: The Official Book of the 1997-98 Red Wings Stanley Cup Championship,” which according to Amazon.com is currently out of print.

I was encouraged over the weekend not only by Peter Forsberg’s excellent play and game-winning goal against Detroit, but also by reading the following further explanation in The Tennessean about his decision to decline Coach Trotz’s request that he participate in the shootout at the end of Thursday night’s game with Montreal:

Forsberg explained Friday why he told Trotz he’d prefer not to be one of the top three shootout participants in Thursday’s game against Montreal. Forsberg wound up shooting fourth and slipped to the ice before getting off a quality attempt. “To be honest, I don’t think I’m the best goal-scorer in the league,” Forsberg said. “If you look at the statistics, I’ve got more (assists) than goals. I think this team has a lot of breakaway guys.”

I was admittedly being a little hard on Forsberg, but I suppose that’s because of the level of expectations that superstars tend to generate. As I mentioned on Friday, we’re all human, even athletes and other people who excel at a high level of performance, but one thing that distinguishes superstars is that they tend to outperform the rest of the field sooner or later and on a regular basis. Two things that distinguish great athletes from great leaders is the ability to acknowledge one’s strengths and weaknesses and the ability to see how one’s skills can best align with the rest of the team’s talents.

Forsberg broke out of what might be considered a mini-slump and recorded his first two points as a Predator as Nashville downed the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime in front of a sellout crowd. Keep in mind that this is the second consecutive week that Forsberg has downed the Red Wings by scoring the clinching goal:

In his final appearance with the Philadelphia Flyers last week, Peter Forsberg scored the game-winning goal in a victory over the Detroit Red Wings. It might not have been a showdown game — the Flyers long had fallen out of playoff contention — but it did provide yet another example of Forsberg sticking it to the best team of the last decade.

Keep in mind that this appeared in an article that ran in Saturday’s paper, prior to that night’s heroics by Forsberg. I’m not expecting that Forsberg–or any other Pred–will score every game, but I’m glad to see him begin to contribute. I imagine that we’ll see a lot more assists, goals and, hopefully, wins in the near future, thanks to Forsberg and the rest of the Preds.

The Red Wings were the better team on the ice last night in Detroit, period. They defeated the Preds 3-0 and effectively answered the bell in this first matchup of the young 2006-07 season.

Detroit came out flying in the first period while Nashville looked a half-step behind. The Wings carried the play for much of the period, and the Preds took too many penalties. Robert Lang tallied on the power play to give Detroit the only score it would need. Nashville gave up an unnerving 20 shots in the opening frame, too. The Wings also heavily outperformed the Preds in winning faceoffs, which never helps.

Niklas Lidstrom added a score early in the third that gave the Wings an extra cushion. Though the Preds never tallied, they did sustain increased pressure during the period before allowing an empty-net goal late.

Here are a few isolated observations I had during the game, too:

• Martin Erat continues to play extremely well. He is as physical as ever, and his stickhandling is spectacular at times.
• Josef Vasicek had his first ice time in a few weeks returning from injury. I didn’t notice him in the first period, but he was aggressive in the second. It’s good to see him healthy again.
• Henrik Zetterberg is blazing fast. He blazed past Paul Kariya in one stretch, and that’s a tough thing to do.

The Preds finally return home tonight with a chance to bounce back against the Colorado Avalanche. Nashville’s overall and road winning streaks had to end eventually, and here’s hoping that the team can get back on the right track quickly after this setback in Detroit.

The Preds (9-3-1) and Red Wings (10-4-1) meet up at Joe Louis Arena tonight for what promises to be a great early-season matchup. Both teams are red hot and among the heavyweights in the NHL’s Western Conference, but for maybe the first time, they are truly equals. Statswise, they look awfully balanced, and their rosters are much more comparable than at anytime in the pre-salary cap era. Tonight should be the first in what will likely be eight exhilarating games that will help decide the Central Division.

I’m wondering how the Preds will come out after a long six-day break. They were playing extremely well through Saturday’s road win in Minnesota, and I hope the time off will not change their momentum. The Wings have arguably the two purest scorers who will take the ice tonight in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, but the Preds are a balanced offensive force these days playing a much more physical game. This is another measuring-stick game for the young Preds, even though the players will likely deny that. Go Preds!!