The Predators begin a five game in seven night stretch tonight with the first of three in that timeframe against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Preds may be catching the Blue Jackets at the right time as Columbus is battling some serious injury problems. The team lists Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov, Duvie Wescott, Bryan Berard, Pascal Leclaire and Jody Shelly as out for tonight’s game. Adam Foote is nursing a back issue, he is listed as probable.

The Predators have been very consistent... Not getting too high or too low, unlike last seasons streaky nature. Coming off a game I called schizophrenic, a fantastic first period, a lousy second period, a tight third and a wacky OT, the Preds managed to squeeze two points out of Anaheim.

The first game of this home and home with Columbus begins at 7pm tonight... join Greg Pogue and I at Rippy's for the pre-game at 6pm... Listen in at www.wnsr.com. Game coverage begins at 7pm on 104.5 The Zone, TV on Center Ice only.

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Now, a rant... Here we go again...

Why is it when a businessman makes a sound business decision must the media trumpet up every negative connotation that could be found and start playing Chicken Little. Craig Leopold announced he was looking for a local owner to partner with, to sell "up to 40%" of the ownership stake. Never mind that this was first announced in 2002, when Gaylord Entertainment pulled out of the ownership group... let's make it a biiiig deal. The sky is falling... we're reporting a five year old story!!!

Here are the facts...

> Craig Leopold has stated publicly numerous times that he wanted to add local ownership. Why the Tennessean didn't know this is beyond me.

> It is known that local ownership is good for business, good for marketing a sports franchise. Just ask the Nashville Sounds ownership group.

> The Predators have a good deal with Metro... no question... however, if it is such a "sweet" deal, how come parking revenue isn't part of it, like a LOT of other NHL markets? How come the team has to fight for every arena upgrade that is owed them in the contract with Metro (and not just for the Preds, to keep the arena viable for other events like NCAA tournaments, etc.?)

> The Nashville Predators are currently 23rd in the league in attendance as a percentage of filled seats at 86%, higher than Phoenix, Florida, Boston, New York Islanders, Washington, New Jersey, Chicago and St. Louis.

> The team is up about 8% in year over year attendance for the same number of games.

> Attendance is ALWAYS better later in the season for this market, once the Titans finish their season. It's just reality...

> Yes... there were less than 12,000 in the arena for the Ducks game. A marquee matchup... Tuesday night games are a difficult sell in this market. The NHL didn't seem to market this game as a marquee matchup... where was Versus? Covering another Red Wing game... I'm no rocket scientist, but I could see when the schedule came out that this game had the potential to be what it was.

As a fan, I am truly sick of some members of the sports media looking for reasons to kick this franchise. The Nashville Predators have been a model citizen in the Nashville community. Helping schools, developing great relationships with charities, getting involved in programs that have a real impact on the youth of our community, all while staying out of night court. Do we see stories on that??? on the front page??? No... of course not. How many front page stories have we seen about a team that is 29-11-3 as it stands today? How many front page stories have we seen about a team that is sending its' coach to the All-Star game for the first time?

The Nashville Predators have been good for the development of downtown, driving 45+ nights of business to restaurants and bars (remember, during the lockout year, a couple of bars and restaurants went out of business as a direct result of the lack of home dates due to the lockout).

Congratulations to the Tennessean for unearthing a five year old story and reporting it as new news. What's next?? I heard that Jimmy Hoffa may be missing as well, they may need to look into this emerging story.

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Postscript - For a fair look at the story (including the understanding that it is old... check out Mark McGee's piece in the City Paper... IMHO, he's the best active hockey writer in Nashville.

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