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Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
As someone who is reasonably fond of Nashville and spends a fair amount of time there during legislative sessions, I wish it were true, as Nashville Native and Memphistenguy suggest, that Nashvillians lack any animus toward our town.
All I know is that many of the denizens of Capitol Hill are forthright in their disdain for ol' River City. There used to be a DJ up there, too, who couldn't stop complaining on air about Memphis as "the only city built on a bluff and operated on the same principle."
And there was the alt-weekly publisher up thataway who, when the 2000 census appeared to show that Davidson County had passed Shelby County in population, rushed into print an article about Memphis for the apparent sole purpose of having a subhead containing the phrase "Tennessee's second-largest city."
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part II”
Sore losers, much?
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part II”
We are bigger, badder, and crunker than Nashville. If we see Nashville as our rival, it lowers us. Rather than feel slighted, we shake off the haters.
We understand that Memphis can't be the location of everything that is awesome in the world. We've already got Elvis, blues, barbecue, aquifer water, the Tigers, the Grizzlies, and Justin Timberlake (undecided on that last one).
It stinks that Sabrina the Teenage Witch isn't on the air anymore too, but time marches on and sports teams move. All good things must come to an end.
A more reasonable proposition for why a person might not accept the Titans is because they aren't a very good football team.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part II”
That Tom Hanks reference in Cast Away was priceless, lol.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part II”
The weekend the Pittsburgh Steelers came to town was incredible. Thousands and thousands of Steeler fans descended on Memphis. The 50,000 that day was very much a pro-Steelers crowd. This really ticked Bud Adams off who took the team to Nashville for the 98 season. As for that rainy Sunday, I'll always remember the Steelers fans tailgating all over the fairgrounds. A group of them invited me to join and I was glad to accept. It just doesn't get any better than Iron City beer at 11 am on a Sunday morning.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
I remember growing up think the Tiger/Ole Miss football game was a huge rivalry, only to arrive at Ole Miss to discover they thought of it as a scrimmage. I think the only people in Nashville who really hate Memphis are the politicians.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
@nashville native-----I totally agree with you on it being one way. I still have tons of friends in Nashville. Most love Memphis. Never heard them talk ill of us. Lol, you could have left the "feel better" off though, lol.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
Lifetime Nashville resident and UT alum here. Love Memphis: y'all have the best dry-rubb BBQ in the world and a shedload of soul.
I think the Memphis/Nashville beef is sort of a one-way street. It's a lot like the Vanderbilt/UT beef. Vanderbilt hates UT with a passion. They would give up anything to see UT suffer. UT doesn't really think much about Vandy, even in serious down years like we are experiencing now.
Nobody I know in Nashville wishes ill of Memphis. I was really excited when y'all got the Gates Foundation grant and wanted Memphis to win the Google Fiber experiment. Just sorta funny when these occurrences of one-way disdain come along.
Feel better
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
Go, Houston Oilers! Oops... I wonder whatever happened to THAT team...?
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
And when I say not blaming BNA-I mean the city and citizenry itself.
We certainly can, and do, blame the state govt. that convenes there and resides there.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
David is correct about the stadium.
However, no one's blaming Nashville for us not having a team.
We hated the fact that BNA got a team with little to no effort.
The state money made the diff.
Where was that money and state support when a stadium was discussed for Memphis?
Wasn't there. Goes to the step-child image Memphis has in the state(please-no diss to step children).
We were left to our own devices as far as financing a fabulous new stadium for the NFL.
We couldn't afford it without state money. And neither could have BNA.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
If I remember history right....Memphis finished third in the 70's expansion race. Losing out to Seattle and Tampa Bay. Then Memphis finished third in the 80's expansion race. Losing out to Charlotte and Jacksonville. Then Memphis lost out on the Oilers to Nashville in the 90's. And were not even getting into Clarece Saunders who owned Piggly Wiggly and builder of the Pink Palace who said no to the NFL with a Memphis team back in the 1930's or so. When the NFL asked his Memphis team to join.
To try and place the blame on Nashville because they have a team and we don't is a little misguided. If Memphis had committed to a new stadium, especially in the 80's, we probably would have landed a team over Jacksonville. But Memphis insisted on the Liberty Bowl and still does to this day. So I don't see it as Nashville taking our team...Nashville leaders did one thing that Memphis leaders would not do...build a new stadium. If you hate Nashville, then you might as well hate Seattle, Tampa Bay, Charlotte, and Jacksonville. And by the way, that Jacksonville team is one that is rumored to be in danger of moving. Just as Houston was. You can always try and sway them...but it would still take a new stadium that leaders here have refused to build.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
Mr Akers misunderstands Southern "hate."
I only hate Bama the third weekend in October; when they're playing Notre Dame or USC or Michigan, I'm yelling my head off for them. My SEC neighbors are my cousins, mostly the same as me: drawling and gentle, with a bit of flavor: AL has it's steely industrial energy, MS it's charm, LA flavor, KY it's gentility, and GA is pure rugged tradition.
Arkansas, however, is a wasteland of lazy, drooling, ignorant gaptooth idiots without any redeeming value and of no flavor or letters or legacy, so I hate them, their pig, and wish they all go back to Texas/SWC/wherever and take Missouri and A&M with them. That, sir, is hate.
Also, though it's an ironic point, Tulane, Sewanee, and GaTech quit the SEC; we wish to hear their names no more. That is another kind of hate.
As for Nashville: there is no one in Nashville from Nashville, so it has no identity whatsoever. I don't hate them; like, say, Pittsburgh or San Francisco or Toledo, I take no note of them.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
Transplant's perspective: As an immigrant to and lover of MEM (of 8 yrs), I feel tremendous indifference towards the Titans, and towards most things Nashville. Indifference, as in no hate, no affinity. Maybe it's because of their modern country music, which does elicit hate immediately upon sensation. No co-workers, friends or neighbors seem to care about the Titans either. Nashville really feels further than 200 miles away. I saw way more passion for the Titans (and Predators) in Bowling Green, KY when I lived there.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
The bottom line is that you have to pick a team and follow it. I wasn't around during this hoopla about Memphis getting screwed but what I know is that when I saw Eddie George and Steve McNair play (bless his soul) I did not hesitate to follow Titans. It just made sense to follow TN. I really don't care what Nashville thinks about Memphis. They are a little bit country and we are a little bit rock n' roll.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
As I'm no longer much of an NFL supporter, I don't have a strong opinion, but at the time I loved pro football and I was very disappointed when Nashville got that team. However, I was also a realist, and I knew Memphis would never get an NFL team, no matter how much I wished and clapped. We're not a football town. For me, they are the Tennessee Titans, so I watch them occassionally out of regional loyalty. And yes, the hatred between states is real. When I lived in East Tennessee, the people there hated anyone and anything from Virginia. And just get anyone in Memphis talking about Mississippi drivers.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
@oldtimeplayer----I thought you were from Memphis? If you were, you should know that team never was meant to be here in Memphis long term. It was just a holding spot until the stadium was built in Nashville. That deal had nothing to do with the economics of this area. I lived in Nashville during the mid 90's. Nashville median income was the same as Memphis' median income during that time. Nashville's growth didn't happen til both professional franchises hit the city.
The relocation was due to the fact that Memphis was not gonna support that team based on the emotional issues surrounding us not having a team after years of trying to get one. One thing I know about Memphis and people in general, they spend money on things they wanna spend money on.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
i don't hate the Titans, never have and never will. Really, I am a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.
Studies were done by numerous firms about the viability of having a pro football team in Memphis. The bottom line in every study was that the median income of the area was just not enough to sustain filling up a 60,000 plus stadium, win or lose, mostly lose for the first 5 years.
Unless the UM wins or the Grizzlies win, you won't even fill up Fed Ex Forum.
Just look at the location of Nashville. The metro area and the area within a 200 mile radius is financially better off than Memphis.
Yes, relocating to Nashville was strictly a business decision.
So, don't hate, work with government to get more industry here paying decent salaries and we probably can get a professional NFL team.
Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part I”
@Drift Boat-----Titans choosing Nashville over Memphis was not the issue. If you were here growing up during the Showboat days and all the days that we pursued an NFL franchise, then you should understand. Nashville was attending to the "Dolly Parton's" of the world, then out of the clear blue sky they got an NFL team. No years of struggle to get a team. No passion for the NFL. Then, all of a sudden you have one? That was a blatant slap in the face to every resident in Memphis that was emotionally tied to the pursuit of an NFL franchise. We were left at the alter wondering what had happened. Don't bring your team to Memphis thinking that we would support your team when the team was not planning on being here but a couple of years. Believe me, Misery didn't love company during those years..... I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that whole time frame. I don't think I will ever truly move on.
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Re: “Why Memphians Should Hate the Tennessee Titans, Part II”
I'm still not buying the hate. Is it because they didn't stay in Memphis, even though they were never going to stay in Memphis? That the NFL was mean to us and hurt our feefees? From a business sense, it was stupid of Adams to not drop a little cash here and try to build some local support for the future Nashville team, but he was also dropping a lot of cash buying out Houston so maybe his wallet was a little thin. In any case, he didn't really have to spend anything to get local support, as evidenced by the origin of this two-part Titan Tantrum.
I think it's great that Tennessee has an NFL team. I've never been to a single Titans game and have no plans to go to one, because they don't really interest me. What little money I have for local sports entertainment goes to the Tigers and the Griz. In fact, I am ordering some Griz tickets today and taking my boys to their first NBA game.