Hockey in Nashville

Help me out here, Nashville. Why, exactly, should Jim Balsillie keep the Predators in Nashville if he is successful in his desire to buy the beleaguered franchise. The guy wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario and he already has 12000 deposits down on season tickets should the team move to the Copps Coliseum. In Nashville, we can't even get that many people in the building after signing Jason Arnott and Paul Kariya and trading for Peter Forsberg.

Look--I am always against franchise relocation when it involves a team in any sport with any kind of legacy that matters. The Penguins leaving Pittsburgh? Are you kidding me? After all of those Stanley Cups? Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis? I mean, the legacy of Mario by himself and everything he has been through personally; medically; and professionally should means that the team has to stay there forever. Even the bobbing mullet of Jaromir Jagr left a lasting impression. Who doesn't get a kick out of looking back at his old hockey cards? If only for the comedy of those pictures alone the team should never be allowed to leave the greater Pittsburgh area!

But Nashville? I know about as much about country music as Tony Kornheiser knows about a full head of hair but I know that Nashville does not need an NHL team. I mean, I am sure the rink and the town and the ownership threw money at the league and all that so they felt that they had to accept the Nashville expansion bid but c'mon, wouldn't Nashville be NASCAR country? Aren't they ropin' dogies or whatever down there? Last thing the average Nashvillian needs is to try and pronounce Marek Zidlicky...you know--one of the better players on the Predators.

What have we learned from Jim Balsillie and his attempts to purchase the Penguins and Predators? Well, that the guy is responsible for BlackBerries (I guess I don't know anyone important enough to own one) and that he is hell-bent on putting another team in Canada. Again, what is so wrong about that? If I am Gary Bettman, at this point of the game, I'm fixin' to cut-and-run. You already got the expansion money. Nashville failed. The Predators long and storied 8-year history needs to be wiped off the record. Let the Predators go to Hamilton and give Canada another team. Most American hockey fans are purists who are Canadian sympathizers. We agree with the move. Let Nashville have an American League team if they really want one. I've seen what happens when you take a major league team and you replace it with a minor league team up close. Trust me, the AHL team suffers for the NHL team's sins. If Nashville actually is a burgeoning hockey town, let's have the fans prove it.