Titans Winning Streak Keeps All Happy…

It’s October 8, 2006, and the Titans have just lost their fifth straight game to start the season. It was Vince Young’s second start of his NFL career in Indianapolis, and the game showed a glimpse of hope for this squad, especially after they got beat up by the Cowboys a week earlier. What nobody knew was that the potential they showed against the Colts would turn into victories so soon. Just one week later, the Titans went into a hostile Washington, DC environment, and led by Travis Henry and Young, came out victorious. Never did 1-5 look so good in the record books, not just for the players, coaches, or the fans, but also for us in the media.

Dating back to when I started my career in this business about five years ago, I found out quickly that the enterprise is much easier on a day to day business when the teams you are covering are actually doing well on the playing field. The viewers don’t want to listen to negative publicity about their favorite teams, and trust me, we in the media don’t want to have to talk about it either. Now two months and a .500 record later, my job, Chris Stout’s job, Joe Dubin’s job, and Brandon Fisher’s job is made a bit easier due to the simple fact that the Titans are winning.

When you have a bad day at work, would you want somebody coming into your office and asking you what went wrong and how you’re going to fix it? Well for over a month, that’s what we in the media had to do over at the Titans practice facility and in the locker room after those first five games. That’s why that one win in DC on October 8 was such a relief. Chris Stout and I was able to go into the locker room, talk to the players and Coach Fisher, and it be a much more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Now imagine how much fun it is to talk to these guys after they’ve won their last five, and seven of their last nine.

Back in DC after that win over the Redskins, did I imagine I would be covering a 7-7 squad that is still eligible for the playoffs? That’s a definative no; for me, for you, and for anybody else. But now, expectations for 2007 are so much higher than they were even two months ago, and if the Titans don’t make the playoffs next year, well…my job, Chris Stout’s job, Joe Dubin’s job, and Brandon Fisher’s job, isn’t quite so simple anymore.

Nathan Brooks
Sports Producer/Photographer
nbrooks@wkrn.com

PRO BOWL SHUTOUT…CHANGE THE VOTING!

Alright, I know the Pro Bowl is the dog of pro sports all-star games. But the current voting format has got to change. Making the votes final in the 2nd week of December is just wrong. Why can’t the NFL wait until the final week of the season? So many things happen in December and it really hurt the Titans chances this season. The biggest travesty is Chris Hope being left off the AFC squad. Hope leads NFL safeties with 112 tackles and he’s got 4 interceptions. All this guy does is show up and produce. If the voting deadline was the final week of the season Hope would be a shoe in. His INT for a TD against the Jags was all over national TV. Throw in the Titans 5 game winning streak and the votes would pour in.

There is still a chance a Titan could be named to the AFC roster. Hope, Pacman Jones, Kevin Mawae, and Vince Young are all listed as one of 4 alternates in their respective positions. Jones is listed as a returner.

VOLS BASKETBALL IMPRESSIVE….

I spent Monday night at the GEC watching Tennessee play Oklahoma State. The Cowboys came into the game unbeaten at 11-0. This is a team that could go deep in the NCAA tournament. But I’m not here to talk about the Cowboys. The Tennessee basketball team worked as hard if not harder than any team I have seen in person for many years. Just to clarify, I spent the last five seasons covering Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest. I can honestly say that nobody worked as hard as Tennessee did Monday night. Bruce Pearl has this program going in the right direction with nothing other than hard work. In college basketball it is about out-working your opponent. You don’t need 5 blue chippers to have a great season. Yes, you need good talent. Bruce Pearl is taking good talent and turning it into a cohesive unit that works their butt off. UT fans have a lot to look forward to in the years to come.

FOR THE TITANS TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS..

Alright folks here is a breakdown of what needs to happen for the Titans to make the playoffs. First and foremost they must win their final two games at Buffalo and at home against the Patriots. Then they need some help. The Titans need the Bengals to run the table or at least beat the Broncos and Steelers. Then the Titans need the Broncos and Jets to lose their final two games. It doesn’t stop there. The Titans need the Steelers and Jaguars to lose at least one of their final two games. If that happens the Titans are in as the last wild card team and would be seeded 6th in the AFC Playoffs.

Is it possible, yes. Is it likely? You tell me. How can you say it won’t happen after what has happened the last 5 weeks. Anything is possible with Titans crew.

5 IN A ROW! ASK THE COACH…..

If someone would have said to me October 8th “I’ll bet you the farm the Titans will win 7 games this season”. I would have said “YOU’RE ON”. The Titans won their 5th straight game Sunday beating the Jags 24-17 and improving to 7-7. I am out of superlatives to describe this teams turnaround. I asked Jeff Fisher after the game if he had ever been a part of a game were his defense was on the field for what seemed like all day and still win. He said “no”.

But 3 defensive touchdowns more than enough to win and keep your playoff hopes alive. Tonight on Sports Extra we go 1-on-1 with Jeff Fisher and Keith Bulluck. And David Thorton joins us live. Maybe he can loan me a new superlative. I’ve already used up remarkable, incredible, fantastic, unimaginable and many others.

Hope to see you tonight on Sports Extra. Let me know if you’ve got a superlative to describe the Titans 5 game winning streak.

………A complete 180…

Just watched Adam Jones return an interception for a touchdown against the Jags. Could hear the crowd cheering for about 5 miles away.

I think Adam and I might be speaking prematurely, has finally found his niche. He knows that this town wants to love him, wants him to do well and by doing good on the field and off the field, he will have all of that.

This guys has unreal talent, so quick, such cat like quickness and just knows how to make plays. He is only 23, already has 9 million in the bank and will get only better. If I was 23 and had that much money, I would have probably lost my mind. Now what he has done off the field isn’t great and he should be called to the carpet for that and he has been.

Hopefully by realizing that this town wants him to succeed and wants him to do well, on and off the field, he will.

The Calm Before the Storm…

If you’ve had that same empty feeling the last few weeks that I’ve had, well it should vanish fairly soon. Of course I’m talking about the absence of college football from your household television. It’s been a couple weeks since conference championships were decided and Florida jumped over Michigan into second place in the BCS. That of course meant the Gators received the challenge of matching up with Ohio State in the BCS Championship game on Monday, Jan. 8th. If you listen to the supposed experts on the matter, Florida doesn’t even stand a chance in Glendale, AZ, but in my biased opinion, I’m expecting a good game. I’m not going to predict a Gator victory, but I believe they’re going into the matchup feeling they have something to prove, and hopefully they take the pride of the Southeastern Conference with them.
What I really want to touch on is this break between regular season and the bowl games. Why is it necessary for college football to spread the postseason out like it does. I understand they want to keep their names in the spotlight as long as possible, but every year, all it does is create controversy over the stupid bowl system. (I’m not going to dwell on that at the moment.)
Good luck to MTSU as they face a tough Central Michigan squad in the Motor City Bowl on December 26. The Blue Raiders are a talented squad, and I hope they pull out the victory, but I have a feeling that CMU will just be too big and fast in this matchup.
Also, the Vols are headed back to a New Year’s Day bowl. They will face unranked Penn St. down in Tampa in the Outback Bowl.
And don’t forget the Music City Bowl, personally my favorite due to my alum, the Kentucky Wildcats coming to town. They’ll face Clemson, which features one of the best running back tandems in the country, on December 29. Good luck to all local teams, and of course we’ll be all over the action, bringing you all the highlights. Stay tuned for more…

Nate

……….Brentwood Academy still Looking…

One of the top high school jobs is still without a head coach. Earlier this week, BA head coach Carlton Flatt retired after 34 years and about a billion games won and state championships.

Now the search is on for the next head coach. Rumor has it that Kent Austin was going to get the job but a disagreement between Coach Flatt and the headmaster of the school stopped that.

Then the obvious choice would be Pope John Paul Head Coach Jeff Brothers. He played at BA, played at Vandy and is a great coach and an even better person. But Coach Brothers has pulled his name out of the hat for the running to be head coach.

Something is amiss at the school when one of your vaunted alumni, Brothers, pulls his name out and then Kent Austin isn’t given the job.

The word I am hearing is that MBA head coach Jeff Rutledge will be offered the job. Rutledge, the former Alabama QB, has been at MBA for several years and he has done a great job.

It will be an interesting week for sure.

AT LEAST PAC DIDN’T BREAK THE LAW

Pac-Man Jones has been making the news of late for his play on the field, but yesterday all the talk was how Pac and Frank Wychek had a touching conversation after practice. Frank had been criticial of Pac earlier in the year for all of his off the field problems and for the most part Frank was right. In this day in age in media everyone wants to be opinionated on certain aspects of sports and if you bash someone expect for them to come right back with some opinions of their own. Wouldn’t you? The fact that Pac Man stood up for himself shouldn’t be news worthy. Unfortunatley it is. I talked about it in my sportscast last night. Now if Pac returns a punt for a touchdown or picks off a pass that seals a win for the Titans, now that’s what i call news. Too bad Pac will not talk to the media afterwards. I wonder why?

FISHER PICKS GIANTS…..ASK THE COACH

Jeff Fisher said tonight on Titans on 2 that in his mind the Giants win was the most dramatic of the last three. Fisher said you can’t really compare the three, but the 21 point fourth quarter comeback gets his vote for most dramatic. Fisher also said that he can’t remember looking forward to a game like he is looking forward to Sunday’s tilt with the Jaguars. Both teams are still alive for thep layoffs even though the Jaguars at 8-5 have a better handle on their destiny. The Titans need to run the table and hope several other teams implode the final three weeks. It is hard to believe that 13 of 16 AFC teams are still alive for the postseason.

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope to see you Sunday night on Sports Extra at 10:30pm.

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