Star One Smart Blog's

UPDATED! Vince Young apoligizes, Fisher doesn't...

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So here we go with another season of Titans Football, and I'll start blogging the home games I attend (most of them, since I have season tickets.) An advance warning: I can't take pics with my little Sigma 300mm zoom lens that are as good as those monsters the pros use, so the ones I post will probably not be field pics, but of other subjects that catch my eye...

Also, remember, that Blogger pictures seem little, when you see 4 or so in a row, but when you click on the things, they actually show up as the monsters I upload (usually around 200 DPI...I could do 576 DPI for a 4 X 6 picture, but that's overkill, and I reserve that for the good ones...

Game 1, Preason, Redskins...So, we're sitting in the stands, enjoying the camaraderie, and watching the fireworks and hearing the National Anthem, just like it should be. Washington wins the toss, and doesn't do much, actually loses the ball. So here come the Titans.

I'm sitting there with the zoom lens, and what do I see behind center? Kerry Freakin' Collins. WTF?? Where's Vince Young?

I'll bet the buzz over that stadium, during that first set, rivaled a swarm of bumblebees over an overripe honeysuckle patch...bzzzz, bzzz, where's Vince? bzzz, bzzz, that's the Kerry Collins I remember!

When he lost the ball in the first set, he got booed.

During that period, several cell phones were in use: "WTF are the announcers saying? Where's Vince?"

The word in my section was that Vince Young was penalized for some infraction that happened Monday after practice, and wouldn't start. That's as much as we could figure out, by word of mouth, during the game.

And, the Titans lost in the last 1:14, by two scores. The had led 6-0 until 1:14 in the 4th Quarter. No offense, but the Offense Stunk with Kerry Collins. Granted, it's preseason, but as a gentleman remarked to me in the stands, "You fight like you train". Or, you lose if you surprise your team with a non-starter...oh, nevermind.

So, later, on 103.3, I hear that right before the game, Fisher yanked Young because...Friday night, he slept at his home, not in the player's Hotel.

Well and good. Two stories, the 'Monday Night' story, then the 'Friday Night' story. Which one to believe? And why did Fish wait until right before the game to announce his plan to bench Vince Young?

I'll tell you why...there were 100 reasons. The temperature was well over 100 degrees, at around 5, and several people I know were not going to the game. Too damned hot. (Turns out a nice breeze kept things cooled off, except maybe the walking parts to and from the Stadium.)

Point is, if Fish had announced that VY wouldn't play, those stands would've been much empty.

I feel like Fish punished the fans as much as he did Vince. Why didn't he fine him, or make him run laps, or have Albert Haynesworth sit on his face, or something else that would have allowed him to play...and keep the fans happy?

Sure, he can set the rules, and it's great he can bench Vince to set the example that no one is above the rules, but for chrissake let him punish Vince, not ME!

Hmmmph. Don't let it happen again, Fish. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

Oh yeah, some pics...


Let's see, walking over the Pedestrian bridge, I'm confronted with the new sculpture the city fathers paid bucks for (actually, it looks like the remnants of one of Opryland's Theme Park rides that was demolished for the Opry Mills Shopping Center...I guess they picked that stuff up on the cheap, and foisted it off on the city for a few million...I'll just call it the 'Opry Mills: We lost our Theme Park to a Shopping Mall' Statue.)

Hmmmph.

Then, the gotta-have boat(s) pic. Never fails.

A section that's obviously reserved for the Sheriff's Trustees, the ones who've earned a night out.

And, the new Jumbotron, with the pic of the National Anthem singer (don't know his name, sorry....)

Some of these are self-explanatory.

It's late. More, later, maybe.

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UPDATE 7:30 AM (or so) Sunday

Was I a little hard on the Coach? Maybe so, but still...
And another thing...if Vince was a 'last minute' cut, what effect does that have on the team's morale?

And, if he knew Saturday morning he was in deep doo doo with Coach, how did Nashville's Media not get wind of it?

At least you run a tight locker room, Coach. No bugs or moles in there...

See ya next week!

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8/14/07, oh, about 7:00 AM or so...
In today's Nashville City Paper, Terry McCormick writes up VY's apology.

I left this comment:

Hmmmmph.

Now, where's the apology from Fisher? I posted "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" when I blogged my entry at about 1:00AM Sunday morning, and I still think my anger annoyance is correctly directed at Fish.

Dumb #1: Fish yanks the starting QB right from under a nascent team that's badly in need of some positives to run (and throw) with. Puts in Kerry Collins (who can't throw), who obviously wasn't ready for it.

Dumb #2 The Titans organization doesn't tell anybody about what's happening. Fans are literally 'on the hot seat', wondering WTF is going on; I had to find out from a neighbor in my section who was on his cell phone.

Would've been nice to announce this about, oh, noonish, so people could make a decision as to whether to face the heat. I heard a guy last night on WLAC who said he could have fried an egg on his! And he would have stayed home if VY was sitting.

Dumb #3: This one for all our local media. Guys, if you're gonna sit by the fax machine and wait for a press release from the Titans, then how are you going to find out anything that isn't cherry picked and hand delivered by the Organization? It's probably nice to keep the Titans happy with you, but that's not in your job description now is it? Get you a mole, and use him.

If Fish is gonna play Tom Coughlin, then our local Media needs some New York attitude as well...

Oh, I looked back through my pics, and found just one of VY hanging out in his sweatshirt. Sorry, not a good one; I wasn't really looking for him out of uniform...