[BigFatCat999]

Using the speculation tag for a different form of speculation

When you are unemployed and wondering what to do next with your life you tend to spend a lot of time thinking, (Well, I do anyway. BTW anyone know any sports equipment manufacturers. I think I figured out that whole paralysis/concussion issue thingy.) You tend to do things like find out how many 15 goal scorers teams have. (Only two teams in the NHL have more 15 goal scorers than the Preds: NJD, and BOS w/ 7 2 others are tied with Nashville w/ 6; PHI, CHI.)

But back to the topic at hand. Nashville's hockey history and sociology is interesting. When Middle Tennessee lured auto manufacturing to the area they drew a large number of Detroit fans to the area hungry for hockey. They missed their Wings. With their numbers and voice they pulled the NHL to Nashville. Yes, for the first 5 years or so, the Nashville Arena/Gaylord Entertainment Center/Sommet Center/Bridgestone Arena was Joe Louis South. A sea of red which drove Pred fans NUTS and created a seething hate and rivalry.

Fast forward to the Balsillie mess. The fans developed and added to the 50 year history and they weren't going to let go of their damned team. The Predators fan base was the red-headed step child of southern sports. A niche sport within the SEC dominated sports world. If you followed my theory on the development of Southern Sports, yes the hockey was an oddity but also the fact that professional sports as a whole is seen almost as a second tier of sport in the American South.

While I was up here in NY state I watched the fan base galvanize and strengthen. You see Southerners love a good fight and they will take exception more than any other American culture I have seen to any slight to their character and their status.

Old terms like 'carpetbagger' came out of the woodwork to describe Balls. And, as much as some fans like to discredit him, George Plaster saw it first and saw it coming. He had a HUGE distrust of Jim Balisillie right from the start and as one of the large voices of the sports world he pushed the message of fighting for the Preds and seemed to be the only MSM member to be for the team.

Which leads to point three: The Tennessean Business Section. They saw the Preds as a sexy story combined with the lack of coverage of the Preds in the sports section, the paper became the enemy. With that, and the lack of positive coverage from traditional hockey media outlets in Canada: TSN, ETC. the Preds fans took matters into their own hands, again, and created one of the most developed and deep blogospheres in the sports world. Enriched it to a point where we have aggregate sites like smashvillians.com that collect the newest headlines and inform you where your favorite Preds blogs update.

The Red Wings, Balls, and the TNesean are the unholy trinity for Pred fans but you can make a damn good case without them the fanbase would not be where it is now. Arguements could be made of the 'Gold Record' crowd that was rooting for teams like the Knights and Dixie Flyers but the unholy trinity above added character to this group. Scoff at it you will, but I will stand by this.