A peek inside Nissan Stadium – Titans – Week 1
Editor’s note: before I write some truly insignificant stuff here I want us all to think about our friends and families in Florida and all over the Southeast, who are going through what is sure to be a tough week.
Editor’s note 2: I am not a professional writer and this will not be a blog about the Titans, but about the experience of being at Nissan Stadium for a Titans football game.
One of the most anticipated events in America each year is opening weekend of the National Football League. Well, here we are. The Titans opened the season today against the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders. They are still known to be from California’s 5th most undesirable city. Soon the Raiders will make Las Vegas their home. I was concerned about whether Raider fans, who dress and act outrageously on game day, would be allowed across the California/Nevada border next season but looking at some of them today at Nissan Stadium it appears that TSA is not paying close enough attention. And why each week are there so many fans of the “other team”?
Most of the time you can tell from the crowd cheers how the home team does. Often at Nissan Stadium the cheers for the bad guys are just as loud. Booooo.
I am watching the game from the Press Box. It is not really a box. It runs about 125 yards along the Titans sideline. I guess that there are over 200 people here. Most of them official representatives of their newspapers, radio stations, blogs, the NFL, TV stations and Internet hangers on.
While official, most of them are here to eat (and they really like to complain about the food) play fantasy football, talk about college and high school football and visit with friends. There is a lot of laughter but no cheering or swearing. It is interesting to watch the game with them because there is no cheering. It’s not like they don’t care but the #1 rule in the press box is no cheering. Unless you’re Mike Keith.
This must be an important game because CBS assigned their number one team. *Whispering Jim Nantz and Tony Romo along with my favorite, Tracy Wolfson.* Also, a shout out to Tony for wearing a St. Jude’s lapel pin.
Because I am not here to tell you who won or lost, or why, I decided to provide some really important extracurricular information. I did not count ALL of the jerseys in the stands but I can report that Marcus’ number 8 is the number one Titans jersey. DeMarco Murray is second and there seems to be a tie between Derrick Henry and old Steve McNair jerseys. Based on his performance today I think number 18 will increase throughout the season. The SOBLV Raiders’ fans seem to like Derek Carr’s number 4 and number 24. That belongs to Marshawn Lynch.
Well, there was a huge Country Music presence at this first game. There was a takeoff of “Friends in Low Places” on a video that, I think, was designed to make everyone treat everyone else kindly.
Then, even before new Titan Eric Decker played in his first regular season game, his wife, Jessie James Decker, sang the national anthem. If this was any indication, they are going to be welcomed well to Music City. I should add that I am thrilled she was not required to wear a helmet.
Half time entertainment was provided by Hunter Hayes. A few lucky fans were invited to watch Hunter Hayes from the stage. Playing before 65,000 fans should be really important for an artist. But my guess is that 40,000 were off getting beer and getting rid of earlier beer. Still Hunter played in front of more people than a full Bridgestone Arena crowd. I’ll check record sales next week.
The Titans saluted the Nashville Predators by naming them the 12th man in the pre-game ceremony. Let’s hope that their playoff success rubs off on the Titans.
The Tians also saluted the Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue squad in pregame ceremonies. It was great to see REAL heroes on the field even before our sports heroes came out.
Not matter the final score, it was a great day for some football in Music City!
Charlie Cook
Program Director
